The falling price of sex
Published: Saturday, October 15, 2011, 7:14 AM
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Star-Ledger Editorial BoardThe Star-Ledger
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The bad news: Since the recession officially ended two years ago, household income has fallen 6.7 percent to $49,909, according to a study by Census Bureau officials.
The good news, at least for men: Sex is cheaper.
In other words, American men are getting more bang for their buck.
And we’re not talking about the price of goods on the professional sex market; we’re talking about personal relationships. Researchers say women are hopping into bed more quickly — and they’re not asking for a long-term commitment or a ring or an “I love you” first. Some aren’t even asking men to buy them a drink.
According to Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota, the price of sex is “how much one party has to do in order to entice the other into being sexual.”
Vohs has targeted how costly sex has become for men, in particular, and she finds the price is plummeting.
In many cases, sex is free. Researchers found that 30 percent of young men’s sexual relationships involve no romance at all. No dating. No flowers. No movie. Not even a flirty text message.
Just “wham, bam ... what’s your name again?”
Besides, in a recession, it’s a low-cost distraction. (And she doesn’t even care if you have a job.)
Researchers say women have lost control of the nookie market. Partly to blame: the pill, the push for sexual equality and widespread access to porn — in high definition, no less.
And then there are the numbers: At colleges, where 57 percent of the students are women, some women are using sex in order to compete for a man’s affections.
Of course, that behavior works against women when they get out of school — because, by then, men are used to getting sex for nothing, or next to it. Women who keep their price high can’t seem to find men who will meet their demands.
Women aren’t likely to regain control of the market, because they’d all have to agree to say no to nookie at Walmart prices — or, in Republican terms, pass a tax increase on the sex creators.
That won’t happen, so cheap sex, like $3 gas, is here to stay. The free market has created its own stimulus program.
The falling price of sex
