There are many adults in this world who go without sex for much longer periods at a time than two weeks, and still manage to live. While sex might seem very important, especially to teenagers, it's not a fundamental need like oxygen, water, warmth, or internet access.

I didn't read the original study, but how many people would be having sex during that period anyway? There are a considerable number of people who aren't having sex on a regular basis (whether by choice or not). I'm middle aged and single, and my chances of having sex in the next two weeks are basically nil - whether I have internet access or not.

While the commentary makes for nice defenses from the work perspective, but how about a few from the sex perspective.

I would like to see what impact it would have on the numbers if internet porn coupled with masturbation was to be on the shelf for those two weeks while they simply bettered their minds by reading such erudite on-line musings as found here. Or cut out the ability to click on You Tube and watch hour after hour of people getting hit in the groin.

No, limit it just to work and intellectual betterment issues.

The answer, Ms. Berman, lies on our darker side. We want our porn and our you tube videos. To hell with current events.

You're Penthouse, but instead of Vaseline smeared on your camera lenses, you have it smeared on your corneas, blurring all you see into some softporn fantasy, where all feminist women contemplate is sex, sex, and sex.

Why don't you give a shit about something other than hits?

We see this in Salon's output all the time as well as much of the rest of the media. If anything falls outside the experience of someone who hasn't matured past, oh, 28, then it never happens.

When the reproductive imperative continues to chemically addle one's ability to maintain any kind of journalistic perspective, one gets articles like this.

whereas sex is often about feeling disconnected...not surprising that a lot of people would trade one for the other

The internet is not better than sex, but living without sex for two weeks is easier than living without the internet.

Imagine if we'd asked people twenty or thirty years ago to go without the phone for two weeks. That kind of survey would likely have gone the same as well.

And I, for one, Tracy, do feel as though there is a place for this kind of discussion on Broadsheet. Feminism isn't explicitly about the sexual, but it does have something to say about the sexual. Injecting intelligent discourse onto that subject is a worthwhile act.

Sorry about that! The article I had read before yours was a TCF. My apologies.

It is so sad that there are not more people that think like you.

Alas, I have given up trying to inject intellectual discourse about sex, sexuality, and sexual fantasies into broadsheet threads.

You want to talk about sex everyday. Broadsheet should make you happy everyday!

would you give up sex for ice cream? what about frozen yogurt?

I'm 46 and due to excessive introversion I've gone many years without sex, but since with the exception of one week I've never had sex on a regular basis, referring to sex involving a partner. So, while I obsessed about sex and would have greatly preferred to be making out with rather than fantasizing about someone, I was used to having to make do with fantasies. Once I got hooked onto the internet, however, doing without it for even one week was ghastly. I've actually gone nearly two years now without a television and I don't really miss it all that much. But due to the research I do as well as my social networking, going without internet connection for any great length of time would be painful for me.

but what is the excuse for old people confusing hormal decrepitude with enlightenment.

or something

I'd like to get a breakdown of how often respondents have sex.

I'd go two weeks without the internet, television, telephone, and print media for some good sex; hell, maybe even without food.

So, do these folks have low expectations from sex? Are they so satisfied that they can take a break? If the internet died for two weeks, would everyone's sex lives improve?

But I want to spread discourse about good sex.

None of the Broadsheet threads are about good sex, and few of the letter writers are pro-sex.

An article about the internet being more important than sex, is not going to produce a thread where the discourse will be about good sex (and feminism).

With a name like "Bigguns", I thought pro-sex articles and threads would be to your appeal.

As a 22 year old male college student who has gone without sex since I graduated high school and who can't live without the internet for more than a week, I totally agree. Also, my online gaming habit might make it difficult to put sex before internet access. Is it difficult to inform an eager woman that you need to cap another high level skill for your paragon and you already have 42 minutes invested in this mission so you can't have sex right now? I hope so...

Perhaps the writers are as sexually frigid

As they are intellectually rigid?

I don't see that much sex in here (at least not much more than I see in Ms Havrilesky's discussion of movies), and though I myself have nothing against the topic, I admit I would like to see some more posts on actual problems, the situation of women (and -- why not? -- men) in today's world, etc. But the three of you have picked my curiousity: what would you like to see here? If you were the main editor of Broadsheet, what would you strive for?

So this is a gender-specific blog and you said not one word about the gender difference in the survey results? What's up with that?