Casual Sex is No Different than Casual Hugs: So stop being so judgmental about it!

Casual Sex = No Different than Casual Hugs (so stop being so judgmental about it!)

You hear people all the time talking about people (in particular, women) who have a lot, or even a little bit, of casual sex, as being “used up”. A lot of people have this idea in their head that anyone who is able to have casual, meaningless sex is incapable of having truly meaningful sex, because they don’t view it as something significant and emotionally intimate.

(The last guy I called my boyfriend before the wonderful gem I’m with now used to pick fights with me over that all the time. It drove me NUTS because, while he was still willing to have sex with me, he thought it was OK to ask me about my sexual past and then bring it up all the time as a way of making me feel bad about myself and “lucky” that he’s with me at all. Needless to say, that relationship did not last long.)

Anyways, while I can sort of understand the perspective, it’s also long boggled my mind that people think of sex as something that permanently damages a person. It’s not. It’s a perfectly natural human thing to do and any significance attached to it comes not from the act itself, but from the relationship you have with the person you’re doing it with.

Think about it like this: it’s like hugs. Some people are huggy people – they hug everyone. They hug their colleagues. They hug old high school acquaintances who they happen to run into. They hug their kids’ friends. They hug their friends’ spouses. They hug, hug, hug all day long. Most of those hugs are completely meaningless and hold no more emotional significance than a firm handshake. Yet, no one would EVER claim that a person who gives lots of hugs to lots of people is “used up” and incapable of giving a truly meaningful, emotionally intimate hug.

Casual Sex is No Different than Casual Hugs: So stop being so judgmental about it!

Just because you hug 6 people a day as a way of saying “hello”, doesn’t mean something more when you give a real deep, encompassing hug to your spouse, your best friend or your mother. Even if you hug everyone you meet, when you hug your spouse it means something more. Maybe not every time. Maybe sometimes you hug your spouse just for the sake of it, but sometimes when you hug that person it’s a deeper, more meaningful, highly emotional act.

Casual Sex is No Different than Casual Hugs: So stop being so judgmental about it!

So why do we pretend sex is so different?? It’s not. Just because I’ve had casual sex with other people in the past, doesn’t mean that I’m incapable of having meaningful sex with my boyfriend now. When I have sex with my boyfriend, sometimes it is just a fun little romp, but a lot of the time it’s a very deep, very meaningful and highly emotional act. I feel close to him. I look him deep in the eyes and bare my soul to him. I feel like two bodies coming together as one. I can feel ALL of these things with my boyfriend, and having had meaningless romps with other people in the past doesn’t change any of that. It doesn’t impact our connection or the meaning or the emotional bond that my boyfriend and I form during sex. The way I feel during sex with my boyfriend is something completely different than anything I’ve ever felt during sex with anyone else. To me, that almost makes it MORE special. If every sexual partner I’d had in the past was someone I was once “in love” with, wouldn’t that make this relationship feel less significant than it is? I don’t know. But just because my history of casual sex makes the sex I feel with my boyfriend feel more meaningful to me, doesn’t mean I’m gonna go around and judge other people who have had “meaningful” sex with 2 or 3 different people and say that their current relationships mean any less.

Casual Sex is No Different than Casual Hugs: So stop being so judgmental about it!
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  • ok i didn't even read the take, but this title... i could not respectfully disagree more.

    • I died a little bit reading it...

    • Perhaps you should read something before commenting on it It's a fucking analogy used to illustrate a point, not a literal comparison... SMH at all these people who don't understand what a godddamn analogy is. This is like fifth grade English for goodness sake...

    • Agreed.

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  • I'm sorry but comparing hugs to sex is really reaching... It's like comparing a tree branch to a snickers. Anyway, the truth is every time you have sex with someone different (relationship or casual) you give a piece of yourself to that person and vice versa. There is a transference of energy and you can pick up their good or bad energy. It's dangerous on soo many levels to view sex in this way VS a hug. When you engage is sex w/ someone you risk your health, self-worth, etc the list goes on.. what do you risk with a hug?

    • There is nothing inherent in the act of sex that involves "giving a piece of yourself" to a person or risking your "self-worth". It's a physical act which, like a hug, can be incredibly and overwhelmingly meaningful, or just a basic, physical act. We as human beings attach meaning to it.

    • That's fine, and you can believe that... but just sleeping around is also selfish. You giving yourself freely to a guy prevents that guy from wanting a real committed relationship (perhaps) with someone else. And there are studies proving all this. "Researchers examining the mental health associations of hookup sex also report that participants who were not depressed before showed more depressive symptoms and loneliness after engaging in casual sex. "The point is it's damaging to women, men and society.

    • Your comment is so right.. I don't know why you have down votes So here one up vote from me... Really mature comment 😊... with there were more girls like you

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  • Sooooo wrong! Many have said it, and I repeat it: I'll just refer to hellionthesage reply - that pretty much covers it.

    "Casual Sex is No Different than Casual Hugs". My wife and I had many people we hugged. It was a sign of friendship and nothing that was improper about it or disrespecting our marriage. But we certainly did not have casual (or ANY) sex with other people! Before we met and married, we had sexual relationships with others, at different levels. But never at something so casual as to compare it with hugs. Good Grief!!

    As many have said, so much wrong in this.

    • How do so many people here not understand what an analogy is? Jesus fucking a cracker...

    • I understand analogy: a likeness or correspondence between things. And those two are not alike. Maybe you meant hyperbole. But your details still point to making them to be about the same, which they are not. You keep on throwing out YOUR definition of analogy, ending in "alike in some way". Every definition I have seen of analogy is on the likeness or similarity of two things without any clause like "in some way" which defeats the idea of the similarity. And you stressed the similarity by saying "no different". So to answer your question about how many people on here do not understand what an analogy is, I can definitely see one...

  • Just casual sexxx? What is sex then? Why you worry about hugging?

  • don't know about that sista! Sex releases chemicals, it is supposed to have a bonding effect... whether it triggers or not, to keep the two together to raise the offspring that may show up. A hug is generally a pleasant greeting, which may have similar effects, but not as powerful.

    Maybe people are more desensitized these days, I don't know. This just sounds like a justification. It may work for some. There is no way around the fact that sex is about as close as you can get being inside someone else/have inside and exchange fluids. That's intimate.

  • You can't expect people to take you serious with a title like that. If someone has the community market between their legs and they are proud then good for them if it didn't bother you then why write this take. People that actually value sex within a relationship and wants a partner that feels the same way will be on the same page with how they feel about being with someone that has more casual partners than meaninful relationships if they have had any long term relationships at all. It is what it is. If you happen to find someone that doesn't give a fuck then you should be worried.

  • Yes, there's no difference. A hug is just like having someone's private area inside of you.
    The hunger games are based on a true story too ^_^

  • I agree with what you are saying.

    I am also intelligent enough to know what an analogy is and understand that it is not supposed to be exactly the same thing because I am not fucking *stupid*.

    I can understand that you can have casual sex and yet, are able to really fall in love with someone and become monogamous. This is in part because we are human beings and not robots. Which means, we can change, we evolve. Our goals change in life. There may be a moment when all you want is to meet new people and have casual sex, there are other moment when you may want to settle down with someone you love and who loves you. Sometimes, I want vanilla ice cream, other times, I want chocolate. That doesn't mean that either chocolate or vanilla is better. That also does not mean that chocolate ice cream is a slut !

    I trust @Asker will understand my analogy. If someone tells me that ice cream has nothing to do with relationships, I will answer to you only by using ill fitting analogies !

    • *Applause!* Everyone seems to be taking the analogy soooo literally.

    • It'a not about being "intelligent" it's about MORALITIES and understanding what you do effects others. But go ahead and live in your "me world" that is what this generation is all about anyways... Really sad.

    • @Lioness "intelligent enough to know what an analogy is" "It'a not about being "intelligent" it's about MORALITIES" No, no, I am pretty sure it's about analogies since moralities is a completely different and unrelated word here... How is having casual sex affecting others?

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  • There's no difference because I don't get either of those things.

  • I agree , yes and no , until we remove the issue of disease , pregnancy and the responsibility that could entail , It will be hard to change mentalities and justifiably so, I wish it could be as a casual hug, I would love that , If I think for myself only , sure I wish the society had that mindset , but still , I would use my intelligence and wisdom to make choices that are healthy and that probably mean that I would take as many hugs as I wished. As a collectivity , as much as those who wish it was that easy to enjoy such pleasure , the risks would still be there and there would be a price to pay , emotionally, psychologically and financially on the health care system.

    We can wish and hope that such great pleasure be so easily viewed and shared , like the Bonobo monkeys do, but we are not there and will society evolve in that direction, I'm not sure if it would be a step forward or backwards , but to focus on desire of sexual pleasure as a motivation to enjoy life more. I don't know , a part of me ( my ability to enjoy such pleasure ) screams yes, but at what cost , really at what cost , We are not ready to go there and maybe we should never go there. If I wasn't so use to listening to my dick , ( I listen to it but act rarely on it ) I would say it should never become like a hug , Great question to my half ass answer.

  • I will let Marshall have the honors...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3ummmR-Y4
    • HAHAHA Awkward silence and then... xD

  • If people have judged you for your choices, you have my sympathy and apologies. They are wrong and should not be saying things like that to you.

    That being said, I understand that you're making an analogy, but it's not a very good or very accurate one. I say this because you can hug someone to say hello or good-bye, to show love and affection, to show encouragement, or to show comfort and support. While both sex and hugs are physical expressions, to say that one is like the other is not a valid argument because I don't see how a hug could be "meaningless".

    Think about it for a second. Most people probably wouldn't hug a coworker, let alone for no reason. However, in the case of, say, a mother and child, there is already that existing bond, likewise with a husband and wife. A kid could be sitting there playing video games. Mom could walk by and hug him and give him a kiss. Junior might ask why and mom could reply "because I'm your mommy and I love you." A husband could walk by his wife and give her a hug and a kiss "just because." I would strongly hesitate to say that those are "meaningless" or even "casual".

    Or let's take it further and observe someone standing on a busy street corner wearing a sign that says "free hugs". Why does someone do that? What reasons would there be for that? Someone out there today needs a hug? Needs a laugh? Someone is new to the area and doesn't have any family or friends there? Even then, I wouldn't call those "meaningless".

    So again, to compare sex to hugs is very inaccurate. Sex is meant to be the most intimate expression of a man to a woman AND of a woman to a man. The way I see it, there's no middle ground here. Either sex is meaningful or meaningless. A hug always has some kind of meaning to it. If a man has a bad day, he wants to go home, drink a beer, and go to bed. If his wife has a bad day, she wants to talk about it. One might offer the other a hug and a kiss. What would it say about either of them if the first thing that came to mind was "I'm getting some"?

    And again, I know you're making an analogy, but are you sure you want to put the image in someone's head that when they hug their mother, father, grandparents, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, or even their pet, that they're having sex with them? I know that's not what your suggesting, but that is the image that you're generating. Are you sure you want to do that?

  • You can't get herpes from causal hugs...

  • No woman has ever gotten pregnant by accident, from a casual hug. But they get pregnant by accident, from having casual sex though.

  • Depends on what you define as being judgmental. I mean, my views on promiscuity are simple - if a woman sleeps around... by all means. I don't mind. I can be her schoolmate, coworker, friend or even best friend. Her sleeping around is none of my business and, if at all possible, I would sleep with her myself if I am not in a relationship, she has no diseases and she's down for it.

    But I would not date her. I don't want to have a partner with that kind of mentality. This means I wouldn't judge her for her life choices as a whole but I would judge her based on criteria I have for a female partner. Am I the wrong somehow?

    • No, I don't think you're wrong for that. I don't understand it, tbh, but there's nothing wrong with it. Personally, I feel like if it's the only thing about her you don't find attractive, you night br cheating yourself out of something great, but you can't help it if you aren't able to look past it

    • I think this is wrong personally. You are not what you ask for in a partner, that makes you a hypocrite in my eyes.

    • I agree woth kambo. You can sleep around but your future girlfriend can't?

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  • If by casual sex you mean a friends with benefits situation or sex with someone you know relatively well but aren't in a relationship with, then I'm inclined to agree with you. On the other hand, if by casual sex you mean sex with someone you don't know, then I cannot agree that it has no increased chances of having negative psychological effects. This is true of both men and women. There have been studies that have confirmed this.

    The reason why I think some men and women have problems with their partner having casual sex is that they question "Is the sex *we're* having meaningful?" That's probably a function of their own insecurities.

    The problem I have with casual sex is that most (and PLEASE note I said *most*, not by any means all and not you, Sara413) people who engage have an increased risk of never asking the questions that need to be asked, those questions being "What will you do if there is an unintended pregnancy?" and "How do you feel about abortion?" Most people I know in committed relationships ask these questions before getting sexual. Most people I know who have one night stands don't ask these questions (again, please note, I said "MOST," I didn't say or even imply "all").
    Now, people are inclined to say that protected sex eliminates the necessity of asking these questions. Having known several children whose existence is the direct result of failed contraception, I cannot agree. Yes, even with protected sex, these questions should be asked and I feel they are much less likely to be asked if it's a one night stand as opposed to a committed relationship. I've never known ANY couple engaged in a one night stand to go get checked for STDs. I have known MANY in committed relationships who have done precisely that before getting sexual. Again, safe sex vastly reduces your risk, but getting checked and having safe sex vastly reduces it even more (and that's what I'd like to see).

    • Your second paragraph is bang on. I can see where you're coming from with the rest. I personally have always gotten checked for stds after every new partner and always used condoms and was always prepared to abort if one slippef past the goal post. I can only hope that others who engage or have engaged in one night stands are also responsible.

  • "Casual Sex is No Different than Casual Hugs"

    Except they ARE different, so yeah.

    • analogy noun anal·o·gy \ə-ˈna-lə-jē\ : a comparison of two things based on their being alike in some way : the act of comparing two things that are alike in some way Note the key words "in some way". Also note that I described the specific aspects of the acts of hugging and sex that are alike. Analogies are hard, apparently...

    • No, this is a false comparison.

    • The are both physical acts you do with another person that release endorphins and tons of oxytocin esp when attraction is involved. ...

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  • sex is a very personal thing. you're literally letting someone enter your body. i dont agree with casual sex.

  • Awesome. How about you come over and we hug each other til you can't walk?

  • Casual sex is a much bigger deal than a casual hug, you're deluding yourself if you think otherwise.

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