25 year old Raj, a media executive loves living life in the fast lane, his motto of life is to “Work hard and Party harder!”. Being young and successful has led Raj to live a brash life, which includes drinking binges followed by plenty of one-night stands with strangers that he meets at various pubs. His point of view about casual sex is quite simple, “Casual sex is fun and easy, as there are no hangovers like attachment and relationship attached to it! Why wouldn’t I indulge in it then?
There are many more like Raj in today’s date, where one night stands, sex with multiple partners and casual sex have become a commonplace amongst the youth in India. Given India’s still prevalent conservative views about sex, this rising trend of casual sex amongst the youth is soon becoming a major cause of worry.
The main factor that’s causing the worry is their blatant disregard for safe sex or any such precautions. With AIDS quickly spreading its tentacles far and wide in India, the practice of casual sex has a huge potential of turning harmful to the many Raj’s of today!
Casual Sex
To begin with, let’s understand what is casual sex? To put it simply, casual sex is a term given to sexual intercourse between two consenting adults, who are not involved in a relationship or have any feelings whatsoever towards each other. Casual sex is driven more towards a fulfillment of one’s physical needs than emotional ones, which makes it even more attractive to the youth of today.
Another reason why casual sex maybe on the rise as of today is because, sex within a relationship is deemed proper and accepted by the society, while casual sex brings with itself a sense of rebellion, excitement and adventure thereby giving it increased acceptance amongst the Indian youth.
Is Casual Sex harmful?
Not only Casual sex, but sex with multiple partners and willingly indulging in risky sexual behavior can prove to be harmful to an individual. Casual sex not only has the potential to afflict the individual with AIDS but it can also lead to trust and emotional issues later on in his/her life.
Following is a list of some points that make Casual sex and sex with multiple partners harmful to the individual in question,
STDs or Sexually transmitted diseases have been on the rise in India, as of lately. And with the dreaded AIDS being on the rise, the risk of contracting various STDS such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Herpes doubles with Casual sex. Having sex with a stranger (or with strangers as in the case of sex with multiple partners), that you know nothing about in regards with his sexual history puts you at a higher risk of contracting the HIV virus.
Casual sex can lead to an increase in the chances of the female getting pregnant as with casual sex, there is no guarantee of protection being used. And even if one were to use a condom with engaging in casual sex with their partner, there is still a high percentage of the pregnancy occurring as condoms can tear during the act.
Swallowing I-Pills and other emergency and oral contraceptives has plenty of harmful side effects on the female body and if seen from a medical point of view are not worth the risk, as even these contraceptives do not guarantee complete success in avoiding the pregnancy.
- Risk of developing infections
Casual sex or sex with strangers, while having no risk of emotional attachment has a considerably high risk of spreading genital infections. These genital infections are mainly caused due to the spread of bacteria and germs during the intercourse itself or during oral sex.
Bacteria develop in the genital regions especially when there is a lack of hygiene maintained for long periods of time and during a hot and humid weather, as the warmth and slightly moist conditions of the pubic area are more than enough to foster the growth of bacteria.
The most common infections are that of yeast and the Urinary Tract Infection.
- Emotional Issues at a later age
Research has indicated that individuals who indulge in casual sex at early ages (read - teenage years) go on to develop trust issues at a later age, and find maintaining a meaningful relationship a bit difficult. While the above finding was attributed more to the individual's personality, the research also indicated that these individuals don't suffer from much emotional scarring as a result of their risky sexual behavior.
Depression occurs mostly with females who indulge in casual sex or with multiple partners. A study published in the Journal of Sex Research, found that amongst the individuals who were involved in casual sex, 18% of the women expected the one-night stand to turn out to be a romantic alliance as opposed to just 3% of the men. While it is common knowledge that casual sex or one night stands have no emotional strings attached to them, the 18% figure of women translates to high levels of depression amongst those indulging in casual sex.
Sure, Casual sex may seem an attractive option to the young, with its promise of excitement and adventure, but without the use of proper precautions it can turn out to be quite harmful for the parties involved. However one must remember that the best form of protection is abstinence!
