Screengrab of a FaceTime call between Bel and the author.
Welcome to 'Are You Getting Any?', a column that asks a generation rumoured not to fuck if they in fact fuck.
BEL, 20
Frequency of sex: 7/10
Intimacy levels: 8/10
How do you feel generally about the people you fuck: 8/10
How happy are you with the amount of time you have for sex: 9/10VICE: Hi Bel! When was the last time you had sex?
Bel: Last night with my boyfriend.Oh how nice. Thatâs caught me off guard. I was so used to everyone in lockdown complaining about still not having sex.
I was pretty lucky! It hasnât been all good though, my sex life really changed since the start of lockdown to where we are now.
Advertisement
Itâs definitely made us stronger now doing it. There were points where we were like, âMaybe we canât and weâre not as compatible as we thought.â The environment youâre in is really important to how you connect with someone. You can have a great relationship but if you have a really bad environment, where you donât have enough space to be apart or to do your own thing, all the little things piss you off more than they normally would.
Yeah, it definitely did because we werenât really having sex during lockdown. Itâs kind of funny, I was reading a lot of articles even in VICE of people saying that they were so horny during lockdown and that they couldnât wait to get out and have sex again. I was like, âI never want to have sex again!â It was a chunk of things. I wasnât feeling myself, I wasnât confident in myself because I hadnât been going out and started gaining a bit of weight. I lost who I was for a little bit. He was really supportive through it all and he understood why I wasnât in the mood when he was. It did put a bit of a strain on our relationship, I think we went two months without having sex. I think thatâs a lot of time, my friends were really shocked about that.Now that lockdown is easing and youâre living apart from your boyfriend, is your sex life back to normal?
Yes. Thatâs definitely improved our sex life. Weâre having a lot more sex now.
Advertisement
Iâm quite extroverted and before this, I liked going out quite a lot. Not necessarily clubbing but just going out to see people and going to pubs. When I didnât have that, I stopped putting effort into my self-care. Going a few days without looking after myself and that affected my self-esteem because I was getting bad skin, and I just felt like I looked gross all the time. Iâm excited to go back to uni, though.Generally, is sex important to you?
For me personally, no. Sex was never a big deal for me. I think itâs because of my past relationship. Sex was sort of an expectation and I wasnât really ready. After that I was like, âEveryone talks about sex too much. Itâs too much pressure and everyone is hyping it up too much.â But when I met someone who I really connected with and who respected my boundaries and didnât try to guilt trip or manipulate me into doing something I didnât want to do, thatâs when sex because enjoyable again. I was like, âI see why people talk about it all the time. I see why thereâs songs about it! It can be fun!âFor a lot of people, starting uni means thereâs the freedom to shag about. You started uni with a boyfriend, how was that for you?
It was weird because I spoke to some of my friends who have been in long-term relationships and going to uni, a lot of people are having sex quite a lot. Thereâs a big pressure to get some because, you know, freedom and no parents or whatever. With my relationship, weâve talked about maybe being open in the future because I want to experience more with women because I havenât had the opportunity to do so.
Advertisement
My boyfriend is quite understanding about it. Weâd have to have a lot of conversations about our boundaries and things that would upset him or things that wouldnât. Weâre not there yet though. Iâve had relationships in the past where theyâre just like, âNo!â I completely understand it, not everyone is that easy going. While weâre young and in our twenties, we donât have to just follow the traditional rules so if we want to experiment âthatâs our lives. Weâre allowed to make those decisions.How did you meet your boyfriend?
We met on Tinder, actually. Itâs weird because I hate Tinder. I had been single for less than a month, so it was quite a quick unexpected thing. I just went on Tinder because I was ready to move on and see other people and hook up. He was the second person I ever spoke to on the app, and then we went on a date. I was having a Halloween party the next day, so I invited him and he came and met all of my friends. Weâve been together ever since. Iâm very fortunate because I know Tinder is not easy to meet people on and actually keep a conversation going.So, what do you think of the British Medical Journal research? Is social media to blame for us all shagging less?
As a generational thing, Iâm not too sure. You know, there are nudes and OnlyFans is really popular at the moment. Everyoneâs making money selling sex online. If people are selling sex online, they arenât having more sex in their own personal lives. I can see that affecting it because if you canât get with someone you can just buy someoneâs OnlyFans and feel like you have a connection with someone when you donât.
Advertisement
Well, I was on antidepressants when my boyfriend and I started going out in 2017. I came off them in November 2019 and I definitely think SSRIs completely knocked my libido. Itâs so much better now. Reflecting back on it now, I can see the sex wasnât as good and I wasnât as happy with it. I definitely think it could be medication and lack of security with things like, especially with university students.Are you seeing the research reflected in your real life too?
With my few single friends, I can definitely say theyâre having less sex because theyâre being more cautious about who they want to let into their house. This pandemic has really opened peopleâs eyes to the fact that anyone can carry anything, and you donât know at the time. Youâve got to be really careful with who you interact with.Yeah, I guess hooking up with someone youâve only just met is off limits for most people.
Before it was like, âOh oops,â but now, if my friend is like, âI brought this guy back that I donât know,â Iâd be like, âWhat are you doing? Are you trying to get sick?â Itâs so irresponsible now. Itâs crazy to me how much society has changed from the beginning of this year to now with our attitudes towards things. We used to go to festivals and concerts and interact with people all the time. Friends have had sex with randoms at a festival with someone they just met. You canât imagine that now.Yeah, even someone brushing up against you when youâre at Tesco is like, âughâ. Have you seen the sex âguidelinesâ they released? No kissing and you have to wear a mask.
Who is doing that though? Before that it was like, âHold on, let me get a condom.â Now itâs like, âLet me get the condoms, the masks and the hand sanitiser and this.â Itâs too much work. I wouldnât be in the mood after all of that if I was single.@nanasbaahIf youâre 18-30 years old and want to be featured in the Are You Getting Any? series, send an email to nana.baah@vice.com with the subject Are You Getting Any?