What were some incorrect things you believed about sex?

[Sam W]

Those can things you either just assumed (like how I had a friend who assumed babies were made by kissing when we were little), or things that you were taught in some perhaps less than stellar sex ed. And, this is not to make fun of people for thinking these things, but more to highlight the ways in which misinformation about sex gets spread.

[Snorkmaiden]

I believed that having different kinds of sex for the first time (including intercourse) with my (then) boyfriend would connect us in such a deep way that we would probably always remain together, or at least feel a deep connection for the rest of our lives.
That turned out to be... not the case. We're not friends anymore and I'm not interested in spending time with him. No special connection remains. Fortunately, no regrets, either!

[Kittens]

My silliest false belief about sex was probably that sex is just a one time thing. All I ever heard about when I was a kid was about someone's "first time". I never knew anything about second, third, or however many times. So, I never really thought about what happened next. After I had sex for the first time it wasn't that hard for me to accept that it's something that I should definitely do more than once

Another belief I used to have was that sex is always about pleasing your partner and would never feel good to me. When I was 13 I went through this weird kind of sexual abuse. The guy was about 60 and did all of these terrible things, but it was under the guise of love. He even claimed that we had a healthy sexual relationship. Not having really any exposure to what a healthy sexual relationship was, I accepted that abusive experience as normal. With a good deal of therapy, work on myself, and supportive partners I have gotten over that view and come to realize that sexual abuse is not sexual experience. I've learned that sex is pleasurable both ways, and that even pleasing your partner can be pleasurable. I now have an actual healthy relationship and sex life and am very happy about that.

[Peonies]

Up until the time I was about 8 or 9, I thought that when you wanted to have a baby, you went to the doctor and got a shot in the stomach! That was something I formulated in my own mind though.

Some of the more serious things though came from poor sex ed later on in school. I believed that birth control methods were far less effective than they really are. For instance, a teacher once told us that condoms only work about "half of the time" and that people will try to tell you they are safe to lure you into having sex with them. I was also told that birth control pills were "only for married people". Up until I was around 17, I only knew of the pill and male condoms as far as birth control goes.

[Peonies]

Oh and also - if you had sex you WOULD DEFINITELY become pregnant. Like, every time you had sex.