Sex Life

In human sexual activity, a sex life is that sector of a person's day-to-day existence which involves sexual activity. It is the psycho-social opposite of involuntary celibacy. It can be claimed that the concept of "sex life" is separate from the overall topic of human sexuality because "sex life" alludes to an area of life involving sexual activity that may be taking place, rather than the sexual activity itself. Thus, from individual to individual, the existence of a "sex life" may or may not actually exist.

In general parlance that involves the term, it can have many sub-meanings and social layers, but generally includes the following:

• The individual is able to, on an either regular or semi-regular basis, enter into voluntarily agreed and consensual situations involving partnered sexual activity, i.e. an activity other than solo masturbation. This would inherently mean there is at least one other person per situation, with or without sexual intercourse, and regardless of whether or not these situations are sexually monogamous; i.e., a "sex life" can be had just as easily with a long-term sexual partner as it can with multiple partners in rapid succession over a lifetime. The idea of 'regularly or semi-regularly', of course, can and does vary, but as a general rule, an individual cannot be said to have a "sex life" if his or her access to sexual situations other than masturbation is limited to once or twice per year at best (excluding voluntary abstinence), or if the individual is involuntarily celibate.
• Presuming the above is true by default, the individual who has a sex life is then able to explore and deepen his or her existing sexual skills and also, when s/he desires it, is able to have the opportunity to learn new ones and to "grow" as a sexual being.
• The individual is able, because of these factors, to have an "area" of his or her overall "life" that involves sex in a way that is somewhat similar to how athletes have an "area" of their lives that involves sports or how musicians have an "area" of their lives that involves music. A person with a secure and constantly developing sex life is inherently able to regard their sexuality as an active part of themselves, and although a secure sex life does not necessarily mean that the person will always feel self-confident or sexually attractive, consistent access to sex and the ability to deepen and broaden one's sexual skills provides a certain psychological assurance of sex appeal that people who do not have a "sex life" tend not to have.

Several sources say that in humans, any frequency of sexual intercourse might range from zero (sexual abstinence or its opposite, involuntary celibacy) to 15 or 20 times a week. In the United States, the average frequency of sexual intercourse for married couples is 2 to 3 times a week. It is generally recognized that postmenopausal women experience declines in frequency of sexual intercourse and that average frequency of intercourse declines with age. According to the Kinsey Institute, average frequency of sexual intercourse in US is 112 times per year (age 18-29), 86 times per year (age 30-39), and 69 times per year (age 40-49).