Myth Busters
Sex and relationships are all over the media - TV shows, movies, music.
But is everything we see in pop culture true? Find out here.
TV Shows: Fact or Fiction?
Q: Can you really get a kidney infection from holding your pee for too long?
A: Maybe!
On the show Euphoria, Rue is so depressed that she can't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Depression can definitely cause a lack of motivation and changes in energy levels, causing some people to do destructive things towards their health. However, in real life, she would first get a UTI, or urinary tract infection. This is an infection at the level of the bladder and the urethra. It often feels like burning when you pee and can easily be treated with antibiotic pills. These structures are lower or more downstream from the kidneys which make the urine (pee) in the first place. From the bladder, the bacteria can travel up to the kidneys, causing a more serious kidney infection.
Drinking lots of water and going to the bathroom to pee regularly is a good way to help prevent UTIs, as well as kidney stones. Otherwise, urine sits in your bladder waiting to be flushed out when you let yourself pee. Just like in a bathtub of warm water with a clogged drain, bacteria can grow in your bladder.
Q: Can you really be gay if you’ve been married to someone of the opposite gender your whole life?
A: Yes!
Everyone’s path to figuring out their own sexuality is different. Even if you understand your own sexuality, it may take time for you to be ready to share it with others. In the show Grace and Frankie, Sol and Robert were both married to women until their 70’s, when they decided they wanted to come out of the closet. Some people may be married to the opposite gender yet still identify as gay, because they are bisexual or pansexual. Or they may be romantically attracted to the opposite gender but sexually attracted to the same gender. Everyone is free to define their relationship in any way they want. Being honest with yourself and with others generally helps yourself and others from being hurt by your choices.
More Myths!
Myth: Sex burns a lot of calories.
Truth: Although sex does burn calories, it does not burn that many. It is estimated that 30 minutes of sex burns 85 to 150 calories. To put that in perspective, you need to burn about 3,500 calories to lose one pound of body weight.
Myth: Women always experience orgasm from penetrative sex.
Truth: A lot of the time, women actually do not orgasm from penetrative sex. A 2017 study showed that only 18.4 percent of women orgasm from penetrative sex alone. That same study found that 36.6 percent of women needed clitoral stimulation for them to orgasm during penetrative sex.
Myth: Sex negatively affects sports performance.
Truth: Although highly debated for many years, sex seems to have little impact on athletic performance. Some studies even suggest that sex may positively affect sports performance.
Myth: You can tell if someone has an STI.
Truth: Many STIs do not show symptoms. This means you could have an STI and not know it. Therefore, if you are having sex, you should be getting tested regularly. The Violet Project offers free home-based STI testing to anyone under the age of 26 living in Maryland.