Sexual abstinence

Sexual abstinence, also called sexual restraint, means choosing not to engage in sexual activity. People may abstain for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical, moral, religious, or other reasons. It falls under the broader concept of chastity. Celibacy is a form of sexual abstinence usually driven by personal or religious beliefs.

In some societies, social norms require abstinence before marriage, and in certain countries, it is legally mandated. While successfully abstaining does prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, simply trying to abstain without success offers little protection against either. For this reason, access to other birth control methods, including emergency contraception, is advised. Historically, promiscuity was discouraged in the ancient world for both health and social reasons.

History

The philosopher Pythagoras, active in the 6th century BCE, believed that sex should only occur in winter, not summer, and that it was harmful to male health year-round because semen loss was dangerous, difficult to control, and physically and spiritually draining—though he thought it had no effect on women. This idea may have blended with Zoroastrian concepts of good and evil in Gnosticism, which later shaped Christian and Islamic views on sex. However, others argue that Christianity’s emphasis on premarital abstinence predates Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism, tracing its roots to the Old Testament, where virginity was legally required and marriage was strongly protected, as seen in Deuteronomy chapter 22.

For centuries, and especially before the 1900s, many believed that sexual abstinence offered significant health benefits. For men, a lack of abstinence was thought to reduce vitality. In modern times, this argument has been framed biologically, claiming that ejaculation depletes vital nutrients like lecithin and phosphorus, which are also abundant in the brain. Conserving semen, it was said, allowed it to be reabsorbed into the bloodstream, aiding healthy body development.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche noted positive physiological effects of abstinence, suggesting that the reabsorption of semen might stimulate feelings of power and energy, and that abstinent priests and hermits experienced the highest levels of such power. Before the sexual revolution of the 1960s, many medical professionals believed that losing nutrients through seminal discharge caused numerous mental and physical diseases in men, and that conserving semen led to greater health, vitality, and intelligence. Masturbation was similarly blamed for bedwetting and hairy palms. Early 20th-century American alternative health writer Walter Siegmeister, also known as Dr. Raymond W. Bernard, claimed additional benefits of abstinence.

In his 1957 essay "Science discovers the physiological value of continence," he argued that there is a clear internal physiological link between sex gland secretions and the central nervous system. He stated that losing these secretions, whether voluntarily or not, harms the nutrition and vitality of nerves and the brain, while conserving them revitalizes the nervous system, regenerates endocrine glands, and rejuvenates the entire body. Society’s views on abstinence have shifted over time. After the sexually liberal period of the Industrial Revolution, the early Victorian era embraced chaste values, followed by a new puritanism from the late Victorian period into the mid-1900s.

This major transformation often influences discussions of sexual behavior in the later 20th century. World War I sparked a return to sexual freedom and indulgence, though many people still outwardly conformed to earlier moral standards of premarital abstinence. After World War II, the social importance of abstinence declined.

The introduction of the first oral contraceptive pill and widely available antibiotics reduced many consequences of casual sex, while social morals also changed. By the 1970s, abandoning premarital chastity was no longer taboo in most Western societies, and the opposite became common. Some cultural groups still valued the moral purity of abstainers, but abstinence became part of a broader reassessment of moral values. Early 20th-century feminist and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger argued that sexual abstinence led to greater endurance and strength, calling it a sign of the best of the species.

She wrote that while sex cells are meant for reproduction, other elements in sexual fluid are the essence of blood, nerve, brain, and muscle. When redirected into building and strengthening these, she claimed, people become more enduring and magnetically powerful. She also warned that a girl could waste her creative powers by brooding over a love affair, with effects similar to masturbation and debauchery. British ethnologist and social anthropologist J. D. Unwin, who worked at Oxford and Cambridge, studied 80 tribes and six known civilizations across 5,000 years of history for his 1934 book Sex and Culture.