Where does sex typically happen for people without beds?
July 10, 2011 9:31 PM Subscribe
Where do couples from floor-sleeping countries have sex?
I was wondering, in countries where people sleep on the floor, where do they usually have sex? Do they just have sex on the floor? If it's a country where they have a sleep pad type thing that they store during the day, do they pull it out and set it up and then have sex on it and then put it away again? That seems kind of awkward. I was going to get rid of my futon and buy a one-person sleep mat but I'm wondering how that will work out with a partner.
I was wondering, in countries where people sleep on the floor, where do they usually have sex? Do they just have sex on the floor? If it's a country where they have a sleep pad type thing that they store during the day, do they pull it out and set it up and then have sex on it and then put it away again? That seems kind of awkward. I was going to get rid of my futon and buy a one-person sleep mat but I'm wondering how that will work out with a partner.
People in Japan also own beds too, y'know. Not everyone sleeps on a futon on the floor. Plus there's a whole industry in Japan of "love hotels," where you can basically go specifically to get your bone on.
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:44 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:44 PM on July 10, 2011
Where do people who live in a van have sex? Where do people who are camping in the woods have sex? If two people want to have sex, they'll find a way. They always do :)
The problem with a one-person sleep mat isn't sex. It isn't even the post-sex cuddle. It's the after-post-sex-cuddle. If the other person wants to stay the night... what then?
posted by 2oh1 at 9:56 PM on July 10, 2011 [5 favorites]
The problem with a one-person sleep mat isn't sex. It isn't even the post-sex cuddle. It's the after-post-sex-cuddle. If the other person wants to stay the night... what then?
posted by 2oh1 at 9:56 PM on July 10, 2011 [5 favorites]
I live in Japan, where people sleep on futons (much thinner than American futons!) on the floor. They also have sex, unsurprisingly, on the futons.*
Of course, the floor the futon goes on is usually a tatami mat, which is pretty soft itself.
And people take off their shoes religiously before going into the house.
These things are why the whole futon on the floor thing doesn't really translate to other countries so well. The entire infrastructure isn't in place to support it.
* Or they don't. They tend to sleep as a family, which surprise surprise is bad for the sex life, which surprise surprise, leads to an incredibly low birth-rate.
posted by zachawry at 9:56 PM on July 10, 2011
Of course, the floor the futon goes on is usually a tatami mat, which is pretty soft itself.
And people take off their shoes religiously before going into the house.
These things are why the whole futon on the floor thing doesn't really translate to other countries so well. The entire infrastructure isn't in place to support it.
* Or they don't. They tend to sleep as a family, which surprise surprise is bad for the sex life, which surprise surprise, leads to an incredibly low birth-rate.
posted by zachawry at 9:56 PM on July 10, 2011
Best answer: I lived in the Marshall Islands for a year on an island less than 1 sq mi. The village had just a couple hundred people, no electricity and no running water. Many people lived in homes made primarily of pandanus leaves, but a lot of families had more modern homes- yet almost none had furniture or even pillows- just tons of thick velour blankets made in China. In the traditional dwellings, cooking takes place outside, but the more modern rooms were kind of like studio apartments with everything in one room (bathrooms outside except for the local king's homes).
First sexual experiences almost always happen outside, in the night with clothes partly on.
Sex between unmarried people also happens almost exclusively outdoors. Married couples would also have sex outside most of the time- sometimes on woven palm leaf mats near their homes. Children run free and everyone is related and they love to visit and chat - bwebenato. Privacy doesn't exist as we know it. It is all about the ground.
posted by maya at 10:25 PM on July 10, 2011 [7 favorites]
First sexual experiences almost always happen outside, in the night with clothes partly on.
Sex between unmarried people also happens almost exclusively outdoors. Married couples would also have sex outside most of the time- sometimes on woven palm leaf mats near their homes. Children run free and everyone is related and they love to visit and chat - bwebenato. Privacy doesn't exist as we know it. It is all about the ground.
posted by maya at 10:25 PM on July 10, 2011 [7 favorites]
The floor. The sofa. A chair. The shower. The bath. The kitchen counter. The dining room table. The garage. In the car. Standing up. Bent over whatever (chair, table, sofa, pile of boxes, motorcycle, chest freezer) is convenient. In a park. In an office. In a hotel. Etc.
It may or may not the the case that I once had a lover who, in the year+ we were involved, only had sex in a bed once. Be not limited by location.
posted by mollymayhem at 10:27 PM on July 10, 2011 [4 favorites]
It may or may not the the case that I once had a lover who, in the year+ we were involved, only had sex in a bed once. Be not limited by location.
posted by mollymayhem at 10:27 PM on July 10, 2011 [4 favorites]
As DoctorFedora said love hotels is one of the answers. See 3:20-4:03 of BBC Sex In Japan documentary.
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 10:41 PM on July 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 10:41 PM on July 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
"I live in Japan, where people sleep on futons (much thinner than American futons!) on the floor. They also have sex, unsurprisingly, on the futons.*"
This matches my experience of living in Japan. In a bedroom your "floor" is made of woven straw, so even without a futon it's pretty comfy for various activities. During the day you put your pillow and blanket and futon away in a closet (didn't understand Japanese pillows -- way too stiff and uncomfortable).
Japan and Korea (where I live these days) both have love motels wherever you go. This is probably because people tend to live in apartments rather than houses, so even going into an apartment bloc with your lover makes it pretty obvious what's going on. Koreans usually sleep on western-style beds fwiw.
posted by bardic at 1:49 AM on July 11, 2011
This matches my experience of living in Japan. In a bedroom your "floor" is made of woven straw, so even without a futon it's pretty comfy for various activities. During the day you put your pillow and blanket and futon away in a closet (didn't understand Japanese pillows -- way too stiff and uncomfortable).
Japan and Korea (where I live these days) both have love motels wherever you go. This is probably because people tend to live in apartments rather than houses, so even going into an apartment bloc with your lover makes it pretty obvious what's going on. Koreans usually sleep on western-style beds fwiw.
posted by bardic at 1:49 AM on July 11, 2011
Is that culturally acceptable with the girls/boys you might bring home? Some people might not bat an eye, but I am used to some padding when I sleep and/or have sex, and I'm not sure what I would do if I were faced with a one-person sleep mat. It might be okay if I were really into what we were doing, but it would for sure be an issue when it came time to cuddle up and/or sleep.
posted by mrs. taters at 3:12 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by mrs. taters at 3:12 PM on July 11, 2011
And yes, sex in other places is fine and good, but I think the sleep mat limits your choice of partners.
posted by mrs. taters at 3:13 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by mrs. taters at 3:13 PM on July 11, 2011
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