The Argument for ‘Cheap’ Sex

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“When sex is dirt cheap, we’re much more likely to go at it like rabbits. Couple O has been together for 15 years and has a great sex life. They keep it affordable. If they’re tired, they make it quick. Maybe they don’t even bother to take their shirts off.”

Now first off, these insights don’t come from guys, as you might expect, but a pair of women: Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson, authors of a new book called Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes. I ran across their treatise on “cheap” sex at the Daily Beast.

Secondly, the authors are using terms like “cheap” and “affordable” in an economic sense. As they write:

Economics is all about the allocation of scarce resources, and the key to a happy marriage is, in many ways, finding smart ways to allocate your own scarce resources—the hours in your day, money in your bank, your sex drive, your patience, or the sheer willpower it takes for you to stay awake a minute past 10 p.m.

By that reasoning, foreplay, having romantic dinners, and dancing around the issue to have sex or not are poor uses of time and resources. It’s much better, the authors say, to be transparent about one’s desires and simply get down to business. By doing so, you’ll make the most out of precious resources at the same time you’re improving your sex lives and your relationship as a whole.

The “cheapening” of sex, therefore, is a way to get more bang for the buck, economically speaking.