Alternative facts. Fibs. Falsehoods. Lies. Whichever word you choose, the meaning is the same: not true. And because these so called “alternative facts” are sweeping the nation, it is important to understand the political world is not the only sphere that’s been infiltrated by these delusions.

Sex has long been a world of fact and fiction. Things you have been led to believe by various outlets — movies, magazines, that girl you overheard in the dorm bathroom. It seems anyone and everyone has something to say about sex. It also seems anyone and everyone does say something about sex.

That being said, it’s important to be able to tell what’s legitimate and what’s not.

Lets start with one we’ve probably heard since we first found out about sex.

A woman’s hymen will break when she first has sex

Hymens are so often placed hand-in-hand with sex. We’ve been led to believe that it’s supposed to hurt the first time — that something is supposed to break or “pop” — and the act is even weirdly associated with small red fruits.

The truth is, however, a woman’s hymen most likely has an opening by the time she has sex for the first time, according to the Our Bodies Ourselves website. These layers of thin skin have natural openings and activities like riding a bike, yoga, using tampons, and just going about daily life stretches them out a bit. So with proper arousal and lubrication there shouldn’t be any “breaking” during sex for the first time. Unless you count breaking out your cutest pair of underwear.

Shoe size is correlated with penis size

Dear eighth grade guy who told everyone this “fun fact.” Stop. It’s not true. It’s not true at all. The University of California at Berkeley’s Wellness site describes a study that measured over a hundred men’s nether regions as well as shoe size and found no correlation between the two.

This is good news for guys with size six feet, and perhaps bad news for guys with size 14. Either way, it’s news for the public to truly not judge a “book” by its “cover.”

Women should be able to orgasm from penetration only

The American Psychological Association debunks this myth by stating that only eight percent of women can reach orgasm from penetration alone. That’s quite fewer than Hollywood would have us believe.

Barry Komisaruk, a professor of psychology at Rutgers university explains, “Orgasm is a very complex function that involves the whole autonomic system and a huge amount of brain activity.”

It may not be as simple as A, B and C for many. So don’t skip the foreplay and you’re more likely to finish strong.

Renata Husted is a senior public health major. Her column appears weekly. You can email her at rfhusted@syr.edu.

Published on January 31, 2017 at 11:43 pm