It is an understatement to say that this mirror held up by French research to the sexuality of a representative panel of the French population aged 15 to 89 was eagerly awaited. Preliminary data from the Context of Sexualities in France (CSF) survey, a titanic work financed by the National Agency for Research on AIDS, Hepatitis and Emerging Diseases (ANRS-MIE) and carried out with Inserm and Santé Public France, have just been made public. Previous surveys of this type dated from 1992 and 2006. That’s an eternity: since 2006, a lot has happened – poor HIV/AIDS figures, the increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) but also the the appearance of new prevention tools, more visibility of sexual violence, the intrusion of sex on social networks, the #metoo wave, the health crisis…
In total, this survey covers five years, 31,500 people, in France and overseas, responded to a telephone questionnaire (34% acceptance), 12,906 others completed an online questionnaire (61% ), and 4,872 participated in bacterial STI screening. The selection of individuals is based on the generation of random telephone numbers to participate in research by questionnaire and/or focus groups and it is only in a second step, once selected, that people discover the theme, thus avoiding major biases. So much for the method.
What can we learn from the mass of data thus revealed? Is it gender equality as Libération very nicely headlines: “Little by little, equality is making its bed”? Or is it freedom, the key word of this study (fewer “desire-free” relationships)? Or the question of “borders” particularly around the norm of heterosexuality and the rest which clearly appears in movement, with boundaries between genders which are clearly blurring in this study compared to that of 2006. Or is it finally the qualitative aspect that we retain with this slight but notable increase in sexual satisfaction, a notion with vague contours, since 45.3% of women and 39% of men declare themselves “very satisfied” with their current sexual life?
First report later for the “covid generation”
Data relating to masturbation are increasing, particularly among women aged 18 to 69: 72.9% today assume this solitary sexuality, compared to 42.4% in 1992 and 56.5% in 2006, joining in this meaning is not far from men, 92.6% of whom declare that they practice onanism. A highly anticipated figure which deserves to be widely analyzed qualitatively concerns the median age of first sexual intercourse: 18.2 years for women and 17.6 years for men. It appears to be in decline for this generation, which is also the “Covid generation”, the one which experienced the impact of successive confinements in 2020 and 2021. A decline therefore which questions as perfectly analyzed by the project manager of this Nathalie Bajos study, the very definition of the term “sexual intercourse” which itself was not defined in the study. However, if the French start making love later, it also takes longer in their lives. In 2023, 56.6% of women and 73.8% remain sexually active after the age of 50. This prolongation throughout life is more significant in men than in women – knowing however that satisfaction with one’s sexuality decreases more quickly for men than for women.
If the French also make love with more partners – 7.9 for women compared to 16.4 for men over a lifetime. But here too it’s all a question of definition and the focus groups will bring a lot to the precision of the response to anonymous questionnaires with this classic assertion recalled by Nathalie Bajos: “Women only count the men who have counted while the men count the blows of a day”. Obviously the information concerning prevention at the start of sexual life is not good and confirms the various studies, notably those of WHO Europe on condoms. Among the youngest, only 75.2% of women and 84.5% of men used a condom during first sexual intercourse, according to this survey. Conversely, the condom is increasing as a contraceptive tool to the detriment of the pill after the IUD. However, we know its limits and we cannot say that it is a feminine appropriation.
Men little destabilized by feminism
For those who imagine that the rise of the #metoo movements negatively influences men’s perception of sexuality, this study is intended to be reassuring at this stage. As the three authors stated, “equality between the sexes continues, it appears that feminism does not destabilize men in their virility. Since 2006, in fact, men’s satisfaction has increased a little.” As expected, we observe a considerable increase in orogenital practices already initiated in previous studies, which will impact prevention campaigns against STIs. With the limits of “all condoms” gleaned by some specialists and to perhaps revisit the state sexual health plan which runs until 2030.
Another notable data, in 2023, 8.8% of women and 8.9% of men aged 18-89 report having had at least one partner of the same sex during their life. Which is much more than in all previous studies. But as the authors point out “sexual orientation refers to several dimensions which do not always overlap: attraction over the course of life, practices over the course of life and current sexual identification”. This means that future epidemiological studies will have to be inventive to qualify practices beyond defined “groups” such as MSM (men who have sex with men), heterosexuals, Bi or other identities (LGBTTQQIAAP + *) .
The fact remains that we are only at the beginning of what CSF-2023 will produce in terms of valuable information to guide public policies and research. For the moment, the whole thing is more demographic than sociological. It will be necessary to refine, produce qualitative data, cross-reference the data with the major sociological movements that have crossed France since 2006 beyond #metoo, including the economic crisis of 2008, the health crisis, the loss of confidence in science ( Raoult effect), anti-medication movements (covid effect), the influence of porn but above all of omnipresent sexuality on applications. And last question that will never be answered: do the French lie about their sexuality?
* Professor Gilles Pialoux, infectious disease specialist, vice-president of the French Society for the Fight against AIDS (SFLS), editor-in-chief of www.vih.org.
* lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, pansexual allies the + qualifies “others”.
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