# Is menstrual sex common in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872 "2017-05-04T20:57:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ztransform](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/48db29/32.png) [@Ztransform](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ztransform)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/21 "2017-05-05T07:09:35Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Seconding; were women not taught to hide having a period we wouldn’t worry about our partners seeing physical evidence that we have a period. There’s no reason, health-wise, to avoid period sex. In places they still are: [Chhaupadi: The Nepalese ritual that shuns menstruating women](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p051dfmw) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/22 "2017-05-05T08:45:17Z")
> [@meganfrisbie](#): > > Men flatter themselves thinking women abstain for their benefit. Most of them feel like absolute hell at that time and simply do not enjoy it My wife does not like it because of this. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/23 "2017-05-05T08:47:51Z")
> [@meganfrisbie](#): > > Men flatter themselves thinking women abstain for their benefit. Most of them feel like absolute hell at that time and simply do not enjoy it I think this would be the biggest factor, given that Surveys Show that 2/3 of all women Report some Kind of uneasiness during period, from slight “Feeling shitty” all the way to “heavy cramps, want to stay in bed sleeping and pain Killers”. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/24 "2017-05-05T16:26:19Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Second this. IME the tendency seems to be increased horniness. Thirded. I’ve had incredible sex with menstruating women, thanks to the extra horniness they’ve experienced. Also, there’s a whiff of kink to it, just off vanilla. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/25 "2017-05-05T17:28:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’ve had girlfriends who actually have a heightened sense of arousal during this, ahhh period. I’m not one of Leaffan’s exes but one of my signs of PMS is that my sex drive becomes my sex overdrive. The few times I’ve had occasion for menstrual sex (in the US, one American guy, one British) the gents were totally squicked by it and wouldn’t even cuddle. I’m still kind of offended by it, lol - it’s not as if being allowed to use them for a backwarmer would have given them their periods! ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/26 "2017-05-05T17:54:45Z")
Have done it; never a personal like, though I did date a girl for a few years whom was VERY into it - having to do with her reactions to the hormonal cycle. Generally, I avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/27 "2017-05-06T23:31:30Z")
My wife falls between both categories regarding sex during the time of the month. I know when it happens, or is about to because she turns into a hormone-fueled lust driven sex-fiend. But we engage in a LOT of select types of foreplay to get me riiiiiiiight to the edge of orgasm, because intercourse quickly becomes painful for her. I’m okay with it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ztransform](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/48db29/32.png) [@Ztransform](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ztransform)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/28 "2017-05-08T08:11:16Z")
\*I’m not one of Leaffan’s exes but one of my signs of PMS is that my sex drive becomes my sex overdrive. The few times I’ve had occasion for menstrual sex (in the US, one American guy, one British) the gents were totally squicked by it and wouldn’t even cuddle. I’m still kind of offended by it, lol - it’s not as if being allowed to use them for a backwarmer would have given them their periods! \* It makes sense for women to be most sexually receptive around ovulation. The biological purpose of life is to reproduce life, so evolution has apparently primed women to feel most sexually aroused when they’re most likely to get pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/29 "2017-05-08T20:06:07Z")
Uh… ovulation and menstruation generally do not take place simultaneously; the hormones that trigger them are antagonists (roughly speaking, stuff involving hormones tends to be more complicated than that). Did you confuse both words? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872/30 "2017-05-08T20:17:20Z")
> [@Ztransform](#): > > \*I’m not one of Leaffan’s exes but one of my signs of PMS is that my sex drive becomes my sex overdrive. The few times I’ve had occasion for menstrual sex (in the US, one American guy, one British) the gents were totally squicked by it and wouldn’t even cuddle. I’m still kind of offended by it, lol - it’s not as if being allowed to use them for a backwarmer would have given them their periods! > \* > It makes sense for women to be most sexually receptive around ovulation. The biological purpose of life is to reproduce life, so evolution has apparently primed women to feel most sexually aroused when they’re most likely to get pregnant. Assuming a regular period, that time would be, roughly, halfway in between periods, not during menstruation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-menstrual-sex-common-in-the-us/785872.md?page=1)