No. Hell no.

I mean, some said yes, but “gross, messy, not for me, never done it, hard pass” was a common response.

I don’t remember the first time I had period sex. Know why? It wasn’t significant enough to remember. Because for me having period sex is like having regular sex: there’s liquid, there’s pleasure, it ends.

I don’t have (and never have had) a hangup about my period. I vividly remember being in 7th grade with Osiris shoes and close to 8,000 clips in my hair when my geometry teacher told me to,

“Hide your tampon when you walk to the bathroom, sweetie.”

I have pretty much had the same attitude (different hair style) ever since.

Naturally, I was saddened when I realized that the general population doesn’t share this sentiment. So saddened that I decided to do an anonymous survey of 500 men and women to gain more insights into people’s opinion on period sex.

Let’s dive into the results, shall we?

Being the cofounder ofThe Flex Company, I talk about periods and sex a lot. It’s my job, yes, but I also just really, deeply, genuinely care about this space, and the lack of education and conversations being had.

So I talk. I talk about sex with people on the bus. I talk about sex with my employees and coworkers. I talk about periods with male entrepreneurs and innocent bystanders at my weekly lunch spot. And it’s never awkward. I’ve talked abouthow I built deeper connections, faster by talking about sex with strangersand it’s true.

The only people I can’t talk about period sex with? My parents.

It’s not awkward because they’re my parents, and we’re talking about sex. It’s awkward because of their general view on the topic.

My survey gave me more insight into why:

…AKA my parents.

Speaking of Conversations

The majority of people feel the need to “prep” their partner by giving them a heads up about their menses prior to having sex.

I admit I’m one of these people, and I struggle with doing it because I want to be this ultra-proud feminist with a fuck you attitude (to my period and boyfriend). But at the end of the day it feels like common courtesy to me.

And according to my study the majority of the population agrees.

But What AboutMen?

Not only do they not want to have the conversation, a large percentage of them don’t want to have period sex.

Case in point: I was at a Y Combinator dinner recently talking to a male founder about period sex when he:

1. Started laughing nervously that I was talking about this in a public place
2. Admitted to never having tried period sex because it’s “dirty” & “messy”
3. Admitted to enjoying anal (cuz that’s not “dirty” & “messy” amiright?)
4. Wasn’t open to trying it with or without FLEX
5. Started talking about something called “blowjob week” which I’m assuming is a week every year where he blows off his job…still TBD

And theLadies?

Women are 2x more likely than men to be unwilling to have sex with a new partner due to herperiod.

Is that really surprising though?

Society teaches us that our periods are embarrassing, and that our bodies should look like Heidi Klum post-baby-pre-surgery-circa-99.

The good news is that despite period sex being uncomfortable to talk about or being perpetually known as unsexy, people still want it.

We’re making progress.

What’s REALLY TheProblem?

So what actually sucks about period sex?

Is it the embarrassment and stigma or something else?

Turns out, it’s the cleanup.

Period sex isn’t the problem.

The problem is our perception of things unknown.As it pertains to sex, that could mean our attitude toward anal, gay/lesbian, swinging, domination, voyeurism, etc. As it pertains to life, that could mean our attitude toward religion, race, gender, politics, trying a new food, etc.

If there is something you’ve never done because you’re scared or embarrassed or (worst of all) set in your waysjust because, I urge you to do it. Or talk to someone who has done it. Explore a new perspective.

For me, that’s LSD and white chocolate.

For you, I hope that’s period sex.