5 Shocking Things Many Women Don’t Know About Sex
Do you feel pretty knowledgeable about safe sex? Of course you do, right? But wait, according to a landmark study of people ages 18-29, many young adults have some seriously dangerous assumptions and beliefs about pregnancy and STD prevention. The startling news, in the following glamour.com exclusive ...
According to a major survey of young women and men by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, most people agree that it's important to practice safe sex, but many have no idea what that means. The organization gave glamour.com an exclusive look at some of the (shocking and crazy!) things that some young people believe:
MYTH: "If you haven't gotten pregnant (or gotten someone pregnant) yet from unprotected sex, you probably won't."
(A shocking 59% of single young women think it's at least slightly likely they are infertile if they haven't gotten pregnant from unprotected sex.)
FACT: Just because unprotected sex hasn't led to pregnancy yet doesn't mean you're infertile, unless a doctor has concluded that you are. If you have unprotected sex on a regular basis, you have an 85% chance of pregnancy within a year.
Related: The four biggest sex myths, according to a major sexual health expert.
MYTH: "Being on the pill is more risky to a woman's health than pregnancy or childbirth."
(More than one-third [37%] of single young adults say that taking the pill for a year is riskier to a woman's health than having a baby.)
FACT: Having a baby is 20 times more risky for women than taking birth control pills for a year.
MYTH: "Two condoms are better than one."
(28% of young men believe using an extra condom provides extra protection.)
FACT: Two condoms are actually worse than one--and doubling up can increase the risk of pregnancy. When there's more than one condom, the friction between them can cause the latex to tear. One condom, used correctly, protects against STIs and provides protection against pregnancy.
A few other surprising findings from this survey:
*Young people still believe that having sex standing up is an effective way to prevent pregnancy (sorry people, this is absolutely false--you can get pregnant standing up, sitting down, in a bathtub, in bed, on a couch, in a car, and the list goes on).
*90 percent believe they have all the knowledge they need to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. Yet, six in 10 say they know "little or nothing" about birth control pills and three in ten say they know little or nothing about condoms.
Do you, or have you ever, believe(d) any of these myths? Are you surprised to find out that so many young women do?
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