Maybe you have already asked yourself this question: Do I have sex too often - or too rarely? It is not surprising that such questions arise, that we are afraid of missing out on something. It seems as if people in Western countries are living in the sexiest time ever. Or are we even having less sex than before...? Today we can live out our desires much more freely than the generation of our grandparents or great-grandparents. Sex only within marriage or only to make babies - at least in Germany and France this is no longer the norm. Thanks to the sexual revolutions, more equal gender roles and fewer taboos. But surprisingly, this liberalization has not led to us having more sex with other people. Quite the opposite. International studies from the USA, Germany and Great Britain show that people have been having less and less sexual contact with others over the generations. The reasons for this collective turn-off are discussed in various studies: the economic crisis and the climate crisis are stressing us out too much. We are taking psychotropic drugs and eating the wrong foods. Social media and long working hours are stealing our free time. This of course affects our bodies and our desires. But these explanations are not enough. Our desires cannot be explained by hormones and physical factors alone. Our sexuality is something socially constructed and changes over time, say cultural scientist Beate Absalon and sexologist Konrad Weller. And if we look back in history, we see that since the establishment of sexology as a new discipline in the 19th century, through the sexual revolutions to today's mainstream culture, our desires have been a product of social negotiations. There is no ideal biological frequency. How often and how we have sex with other people depends on our culture. The reason why we are having less and less sex is part of major political developments - both positive and negative. Science documentary series, directed by A. Dannecker, M. Fedorova (D 2024, 25 min) Sources and further links: These studies from the USA find that the frequency of sex has decreased... https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper... https://www.researchwithrutgers.com/e... The proportion of adults who do not have sex at all is also increasing: https://www.ifop.com/publication/la-s... Stress or taking hormones and medication can affect our desire. The pill is also such a medication: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/... and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35435... The influence of porn on our sexuality is not so clear: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33724... Why do people have sex? Scientists have documented 237 reasons: https://labs.la.utexas.edu/buss/files... The German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch introduced the term "neosexual revolution" - for the development after 1970: https://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfur... In her book "Not giving a fuck", the scientist Beate Absalon examines the supposed opposite side of sexuality from a cultural-historical perspective: apathy, asexuality, celibacy and dysfunction: not-giving-a-fuck Young people want fewer sex scenes in series and films, as shown by the 2023 "Teens and Screen" survey: https://static1.squarespace.com/stati... The works of art and the studio in this episode: https://www.carolinaamaya.com/berlin-... Music in this episode Peaches: Fuck the Pain Away The Weeknd: Jealous Guy Chapelier Fou: Philemon Doja Cat: Juicy REM: Everybody Hurts Labrinth: She Certainly Looks The Part #sex #sexuality #42 Video available until 29/09/2027 Link to the media library: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/115510-... Subscribe to the ARTE YouTube channel: / artede Follow us on social networks: Facebook: / arte.tv Twitter: / artede Instagram: / arte.tv