The Kids Are Alright

Sex is something which has natural association with youth—raging hormones, infinite possibilities and many, many naughty discoveries. Or so we hope and pray. Given that such a large proportion of Indians are young, what’s the point if they aren’t reaping true dividends—sex, and lots of it—in keeping with their demographic? Which is why we at Outlook decided to focus on this demanding segment (ages 18-35) in the Outlook-Skore Sex Survey 2012. Our findings show that, although late bloomers (most of the youth surveyed had their first sexual experience in the early 20s), urban youth are experimenting and more open about attitudes to sex. There’s a clear relaxation here in views on virginity too. There’s also greater acceptability about casual sex in the urban arena (almost 65% respondents acknowledged having what is now referred to as ‘buddy sex’ before marriage). This growing ease and comfort with sex is evident in two startling disclosures: one, 30% of urban youth don’t think there’s anything wrong with homosexuality (29% of urban males admit to having had a homosexual experience at least once). And, secondly, urban youth are talking about the elephant in the room: incest. A stunning 73% of our sample agree that incest is a big issue in India. All this may not add up to a sexual revolution yet but one thing is for sure, our youth are definitely speaking a new sparkling, sexual language.

• 25 Percentage of young urbanites who have sex 6-10 times a month. Some 2% said they had sex more than 30 times in the same period.
• 15.5 The average age of boys when they get to know about sex compared to 16 years for girls.

• 64 Percentage of young urban males who think that virginity is not important to a prospective relationship.
• 30 Percentage of young urbanites who don’t find anything wrong with homosexuality.

• 65 Percentage of urban males who feel that sex is extremely important for them; the figure is 52 per cent for women.
• 84 Percentage of youngsters in Jaipur in the 18-35 age group who are least satisfied with their current sex life.
• 20 Average age when young urbanites have their first sexual experience. In Calcutta, it’s 15 years for men and 17 for women.

• 49 Percentage of unmarried males who will break off a relationship if they find their partner is not a virgin; 70% women won’t marry a non-virgin.
• 29 Percentage of young men who have had a homosexual experience at least once.
• 82 Percentage of women who are in a stable relationship; the figure is 77 per cent for males.

• 96 Percentage of young men who are satisfied with their current sex life; the figure is
  91 per cent for women.
• 29 Percentage of young men who claim to have more than one sexual partner compared
  to 19% women.