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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that real life sex isn’t like TV?

211 replies

Namechanged1800 · 01/03/2026 10:47

After re-watching Bridgerton, am I wrong I thinking people aren’t having this kind of earth-shattering sexy time (I’m looking at you Duke of Hastings…) in real life?! Or have I just been missing out…

OP posts:
Garythehairyfairy · 02/03/2026 23:01

I mean, I doubt it would look as good as bridgerton if anyone filmed me and DH but I (thankfully) reach my pinnicle.

ISpendTooMuchTimeOnMN · 02/03/2026 22:28

@Namechanged1800

I know I've already commented on this, but I hadn't watched what you were talking about and was commenting on TV sex generally. Were you just talking about the bath scene in the finale of s4?

MandemChickenShop · 02/03/2026 20:09

I find sex on the telly really uncomfortable, especially since we got a flat screen TV.

Joystir59 · 02/03/2026 17:49

Lesbian here. Sex can go on for hours sometimes when there's the time and inclination and include passionate fucking. It's not, as depicted often on TV, a breathy sighing thing with no real contact.

Cyclebabble · 02/03/2026 16:52

I read somewhere once that the pleasure obtained from sex can range from life changing/life memorable, to that you get from drinking a cup of tea. I think I would agree with this and I have had sex at both ends of this spectrum.

FeliciaFancybottom · 02/03/2026 16:31

BananaramaNananana · 01/03/2026 19:26

After 3 hours in the bath pleasuring "him", then overnight into day when sore down there, nipples cracked, sleep deprived, mouth dry, limbs aching - no it's not mind blowing after enduring 20 years of it at least weekly. The odd time maybe initially but after that you must be joking, it's torture.

If this is your experience, then you're being abused.

ISpendTooMuchTimeOnMN · 02/03/2026 15:32

Papster · 01/03/2026 19:18

Only in the first month or so

Not true for all people!

Barnbrack · 02/03/2026 13:18

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 11:51

Of course they do, given the chance. But probably not with men.

Have you maybe not realized you're gay?

Barnbrack · 02/03/2026 13:16

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

That's very sad, do you ever enjoy sex? If not then what's the point?

Disturbia81 · 02/03/2026 12:56

BauhausOfEliott · 02/03/2026 12:42

Nope, that's just you I'm afraid. Pick better men. Or if you're gay, pick women. But don't spread utter bullshit about women's sexuality that simply isn't true.

It's a really misogynistic standpoint to suggest that straight women can't enjoy sex with men.

Well said.
I love fucking men 🖤

BauhausOfEliott · 02/03/2026 12:42

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 11:51

Of course they do, given the chance. But probably not with men.

Nope, that's just you I'm afraid. Pick better men. Or if you're gay, pick women. But don't spread utter bullshit about women's sexuality that simply isn't true.

It's a really misogynistic standpoint to suggest that straight women can't enjoy sex with men.

NovemberMorn · 02/03/2026 12:35

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 11:51

Of course they do, given the chance. But probably not with men.

Well, each to their own.
Pesonally I have loved sex with men, not a lot, but quality over quantity suits me very well.

wandererofthekingdom · 02/03/2026 12:03

Simonjt · 01/03/2026 19:21

I mean I’ve never continually rearranged the bedding so nothing but my shoulders are visible.

Why do none of the men in Bridgerton have syphillis? Surely Benedict is responsible for super gonorrheoa however you spell it.

I mean I’ve also never picked a table/worktop etc that has loads of things on it that I’ve had to sweep off with my arm before sitting on it.

No one seems to get cramp during sex, calf cramps are a bastard and then you’re screaming for a different reason.

The most realistic sex scenes I have ever seen are in heated rivarly, particularly one in the last episode to the point that you feel you’re intruding by watching.

I mean it doesn’t have to be earth shattering, but you should be having a great time.

I think this about Benedict too, I know Bridgerton is all a fantasy so they've probably decided STDs don't exist, but I do think the poor girl what will he give her!!

RomeoRivers · 02/03/2026 12:02

DH and I were watching Bridgerton the other day and I said how nice it was to see real sex instead of the kind you usually see in films 😂

So yes OP, some people really are having this kind of slow and passionate sex. The poll results are a bit sad really.

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 11:51

BauhausOfEliott · 02/03/2026 09:38

Nope, women enjoy sex as much as men do.

HTH.

Of course they do, given the chance. But probably not with men.

Whitengold · 02/03/2026 11:03

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

That is really sad. I think, over the years, I've may have held back on occasion to avoid looking like a sex maniac who enjoys it too much. I've never "performed"

Disturbia81 · 02/03/2026 10:40

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

Nope. You sound like someone who doesn’t like sex.

WeepingAngelInTheTardis · 02/03/2026 09:53

Yabu, this is realistic for my relationship. Not all the time obviously but most of the time.

JacquesHarlow · 02/03/2026 09:48

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

There it is... exactly what I was talking about earlier in the thread.

Mumsnet seems to be filled with people who want to fall over each other to explain how much sex is a patriarchal construction, and that any sensible woman has long forbidden their DH from coming anywhere near them ("and he loves it and totally agrees with me")

Triskels · 02/03/2026 09:47

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

It’s genuinely sad that you think real life sex involves female performances of enthusiasm.

Whitengold · 02/03/2026 09:40

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

That is absolutely not the case her. If anything I enjoy sex more than DH does.

BauhausOfEliott · 02/03/2026 09:38

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

Nope, women enjoy sex as much as men do.

HTH.

The13thFairy · 02/03/2026 09:02

Namechanged1800 · 01/03/2026 10:52

Well yes, but are people actually having this kind of sex in real life?!

People actually have this kind of sex very often. It is a performance that women enact in order to make men feel good about their prowess. It's just pretend.

Disturbia81 · 02/03/2026 08:23

financialcareerstuff · 02/03/2026 05:34

I haven’t watched this series yet OP. But I have to say until the age of 40, I’d had only normal, good often sex, which did not look like in the movies, it wasn’t a caricature of terrible, but it was a pleasant 20 mins, with reasonable satiation and some high points.

at the age of 40 I met a man with whom I discovered a ‘ten floors higher’ level of sexual excitement, and rumbustious table-breaking, Vase-smashing ecstasy., and it was a revelation. It is good this man treated me well in other ways, because I would have been incapable of breaking up with him and going back to what I think of now as ‘normal human’ sex. Honestly, he could have charged £5000 a night and I would have paid it (until going bankrupt!) I remember thinking at the time if most people knew sex like that existed, there would be riots in the streets for it . he’s my husband now. Eight years later, we’ve calmed down a bit but God, I still have eyes-roll-back-in-head , tap-out-from-ecstasy experiences at least a few times a month, with a lot of damn good sex in between.

Mine started at 40 too, amazing isn’t it? Society led me to believe teens and 20s were the best sexual times.

Disturbia81 · 02/03/2026 08:22

MrsClattenburg · 01/03/2026 18:47

Our bathroom is downstairs so I definitely need something to catch it as I waddle down the stairs with my legs clenched together. It is not a good look! 😂

I’d love to see this 🤣