What do you define as 'Sex'?

[i, coomber]

Maybe it's because I'm a virgin, or maybe it's because I'm British watching an American show, but I have to admit that sometimes I'm not entirely sure what is meant by the word 'sex' in all of this.

Does it refer specifically to sexual intercourse, or to sexual activity (heavy petting, oral etc) in general?

Or do different people have different definitions?

[Nick Malaguti]

Well I guess it depends on the show you're watching, but I think most times sex means sexual intercourse. So if some couple is going to "do it" for the first time, they're probably going to go "all the way," by which I mean have sexual intercourse.

As a Brit I'm sure you have all sorts of slang for shagging. Also, if you have any specific instances, I might be able to assist more in decoding the deeper meaning.

[i, coomber]

Thanks for replying, and yeah, I'd tend to agree with you in that I would define the word 'sex' as meaning sexual intercourse.

The main reason I was asking is after reading the comments on the MTSS site about sex vs abstinence, I got the impression that most people seem to view the argument as well as sexuality in general as 'all or nothing'. My apologies if I simply misunderstood, but I don't remember much mention of any middle ground in the comments, or in the MTSS episodes either. The only time it seemed to get mentioned was when someone commented rather matter of factly 'heavy petting and groping still counts as sex, even if you didnt “get off”' and I just wondered if this was a generally held view or not. The opinion I got from most of the others is that either you choose to go all the way with your partner(s), or you abstain from sexuality altogether.

My personal opinion is that I want to wait for someone I care about before going all the way, but that doesnt mean I wouldn't/haven't abstained from exploring my sexual likes/dislikes in other ways. As I seemed to get the impression that I am alone in this opinion, I thought it best to clear up the definitions incase it is just me misunderstanding them in some way.

And yes we do have all sorts of slang, most of which tends to describe a specific act and (if you know what you're talking about) are generally self explanitary as well.

[Nikol Hasler]

We will be tackling "define sex" in a future episode, since there is a really murky line. Seems that a lot of American kiddooos think that they are remaining pure by only taking it in the rear! Scary.

I love the British word "snogging".

[Nick Malaguti]

But snogging is just kissing! You've got to do better than that. And whose to say that taking it in the rear doesn't leave you pure...

[i, coomber]

I've heard of British kiddooos who only take it in the rear to remain pure as well. I never did figure that one out.

And I like the word 'boinking'.

[Leah]

In my health class sophomore year we watched a video in which a lady described sex as 'any time any part, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, comes into contact with someone else's 'underwear zone'.'
Then again, she was The Abstinence Lady from Texas giving a talk to a bunch of eighth graders on why they should stay abstinent. So.
(My own definition? I'm not sure.)

[Simon]

Wow that sounds ridicules.