After Julia Fox revealed she’s been celibate for 2 years, therapist reveals benefits of abstaining from sex
The hottest trend in the bedroom? Celibacy.
On Monday, Bumble vowed to remove its anti-celibacy adverts after backlash from those in favor of voluntary celibacy — and even Julia Fox revealed she has spent more than two years abstaining from sex and has “never been better.”
The 34-year-old actress and author of the best-selling memoir “Down The Drain,” also appeared on the Today Show this week to promote her new show, “OMG Fashun,” and admitted that celibacy is, contrary to popular belief, “so amazing.”
“I feel like ever since I sort of de-centered men and put me in the center, my life has just taken off like exponentially,” said Fox, who has romantically linked to A-list rappers Drake and Kanye West in the past. “It’s like the proof is in the pudding.”
She assured women they “don’t have to say forever,” but being celibate can help them learn to “be comfortable being alone,” which she said was a “huge struggle.”
While it may seem shocking in an age where hook-up culture reigns supreme, the sex recession — fueled by a wave of young people, some of whom are going “boy sober” — actually has its benefits.
New York psychotherapist Christina Mancuso told the Daily Mail that the decision to be celibate could be associated with religious beliefs, focusing on career or wanting “to be in control.”
“They may date often but save intimacy for someone who they build a relationship with,” she explained, noting that celibacy is “not suitable or desirable for everyone.”
It’s easy and comfortable to turn to sex as a crutch for validation and instant gratification, she added, but “cultivating the ability and the confidence to recognize our own worth in allowing someone to get to know us personally is a lot harder.”
When seriously dating, Mancuso said that coitus too soon can hinder the ability to know someone “authentically.” Not having sex, then, “allows room for that early stage of excitement and anticipation” that accompanies learning about one another.
“The minute that intimacy comes into play it skews someone’s ability to perceive that clearly,” she explained.
“There are then too many intense emotions and often when brought in prematurely, they can be the demise of what has even yet to develop.”
Abstaining from physical intimacy, she added, can give singles the space to “recognize what they actually want and need.”
“If someone is interested in you and you don’t have sex with them and they don’t call you back, then you figured out sooner than later who they are and what they are looking for,” she explained.
“You will also feel so much better knowing that you didn’t give that person more than they deserve before figuring that out.”
