ABSTINENCE
Abstinence
doesn't necessarily mean taking holy orders from God, and
you don't have to be a virgin to do it. People may choose
to abstain from sexual intercourse or activities where semen
can contact the vagina for a time because of personal beliefs,
religious beliefs, safety concerns about pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs), or simply because it just makes
sense to them at a particular time in their life.
Remaining
abstinent from sex may include any and all sexual activities
(e.g., kissing, touching, oral, vaginal, anal sex, masturbation,
etc.), or may just be with regards to actual intercourse;
there are no set rules (unless your abstinence is based
on your religious beliefs.) As such, people abstinent from
sex may choose to engage in other activities such as kissing,
touching, hugging, masturbation (solo or mutual) with no
intercourse and ejaculation well away from the vagina.
Although
the risk of pregnancy is essentially zero with abstinence,
contracting a sexually transmitted disease is possible with
activities where the genital regions or secretions of one
partner come in contact with some part of the other partner.
Even skin to skin contact can transmit STDs (e.g., crabs,
herpes, venereal warts, molluscum). See our STD
Online Guide for more information on these and other
sexually transmitted infections.
It's
perfectly normal and okay not to have sexual intercourse.
It may feel like everyone else out there is having sex all
the time, but they're really not. People have a wide range
of sexual expression ranging from touching, hugging and
kissing, to heavy petting, to sexual intercourse. Analyze
your own feelings. Is this something you really want to
do for yourself, or just to please your partner? Are you
being overtly or subtly pressured into having sex of any
kind just to keep the relationship intact? Remember that
you are in charge of your own body; don't let anyone pressure
you into something you may not be ready for. If your partner
truly cares for you, he or she will respect you. And
don't forget you can remind them of that fact!
