90% of young people are aware of the importance of consent

Adjo for pornograhia, followers of multiple and always early meetings ... The received ideas on the sexuality of young people are numerous.But what does their sex life really look like?How do they tame their intimacy in a hypersexual (and deconfined) world?To find out, 20 Minutes and Durx have teamed up with the Institute of OpinionWay survey in order to carry out a #mejeune* study on the sexuality of 18-30 year olds in 2021.Between consent, communication and practices still taboo, these young adults speak to us with open heart of their sexuality and break, at the same time, a good number of prejudices.

They are nearly 700 men and women to have answered the call.They are all between eighteen and thirty years old, they are in a relationship or singles, heteros, homosexual or bi, with or unemployed and they live in town as in the countryside.In short, they are a representative sample of those called "young people" and they told us what their sex life was in 2021.

First - and pleasant - surprise: 69 % of respondents say they have a "fulfilled sex life" and 32 % of them say that "confidence between partners" is the key.A solid base for serene sex, but which remains to be qualified for Pauline Carlier, sexologist specializing in young adults."More importantly than confidence in your partner, I think you have to focus on self -confidence," said the practitioner."If I know myself and if I love myself, then my sexuality will only come out of it".

« La vraie clé d’une relation sexuelle épanouie est la confiance en soi»»

The study reveals that, behind confidence, arrives "listening to the other" with 26 % of the responses.For our specialist, again, we must distinguish verbal communication from bodily communication."We can exchange orally without listening to the body of the other".In sex, more than elsewhere, it is therefore important to communicate with words as with gestures.

Knowing how to listen to yourself, trusting yourself is also the path that leads to informed consent.Consent which seems to be mastered by no less than 90 % of respondents according to our study. Une réponse écrasante qui a énormément surpris Eléonore Quarré, directrice d’études au département Opinion & Politique d’OpinionWay."Not later than last year, the percentage of young people who are aware of the importance of consent in their intimate relationships would have been much lower," said the specialist."Consciousness of consent even exceeds that of wearing the condom with 86 % of the responses, which proves that this is an omnipresent subject in public opinion," she added.

« La réponse massive à la question du consentement est une véritable surprise de ce sondage»»

For Pauline Carlier, our sexologist, it is important, however, to retreat on this percentage."This massive response, although very encouraging, is more echoed with consent to the law than with regard to the humanities".In other words, if these young surveyed seem to master the nuance between yes and no, those that our sexologist receives in his office still seem lost on this subject."Today many young adults do not consent for the right reasons and in the right way.»»

To truly consent the therapist says that the sexual proposition must be the subject of a real discussion with oneself and with your partner, otherwise you do not really consent.A discussion all the more important since the proposal of the partner is the first reason (57 %) given by the surveyed to test a new position or experiment with sexual practice.There are then two notable differences: discussions with friends are much more incentive among respondents (26 %) than from their male counterparts (16 %), who draw, for some, more their inspiration in pornography (21 %against 9% in women interviewed).

A generation that embodies a form of liberation, but persistent taboos

Another teaching of this survey: six out of ten respondents say they have no taboos once passed under the sheets.A figure to bring closer to the 77 % of the 18-30 year olds who say they are the type to vary the pleasures, or to want to explore new.Does the preconceived idea which draws up a unbridled portrait, embodiment of a form of liberation of manners, of the youngest would be fair?Yes and no.The rest of the panel (37 %) has a very precise idea of the things he does not want to hear about. Et si l’on retrouve dans le trio de tête « les jeux de domination»» avec 36 % et « le sexe à plus de deux»» avec 40 %, c’est finalement le sexe anal qui reste le plus gros tabou des sondés avec 42 % des réponses.

Car s’il semble « intégré par 30 % des jeunes, la plupart d’entre eux ne le pratiquent pas et le considèrent encore comme un mystère»», nous décrypte ainsi Eléonore Quarré.Even more edifying, if 35 % of men assimilate the practice to the notion of pleasure, almost as much women bring sodomy closer to the concept of pain. Pour notre sexologue, là encore rien d’étonnant : « Les hommes ont une prostate et, de fait, ils éprouvent des sensations que les femmes ne connaissent pas»».

Conversely, it is according to Pauline Carlier, the lack of knowledge of their own body and discussion with their partner who would make anal sex still difficult for women. « Pour que ces dernières prennent du plaisir dans cette pratique, il faut qu’elles se laissent aller à un jeu d’exploration personnel très riche et une écoute de leur désir très poussée»».In our study, 40 % of men interviewed but above all one in four respondents confessed that she did not have a good knowledge of female pleasure.So, when we know that the majority of respondents who declare that they have fulfilled sexuality practice, among other things, anal sex (60 %), we say that happy that 18-30 year olds still have their lives in front of them.

*Study #Moijeu 20 Minutes - Opinionway for Durx, carried out online from July 9 to 16 with a representative sample of 728 young people aged 18 to 30 years (quota method).

Want to participate?

Si vous avez entre 18 et 30 ans, vous pouvez participer au projet « #MoiJeune»», une série d’enquêtes lancée par 20 Minutes avec OpinionWay, en vous inscrivant ici