What makes people become celibate?

By no choice I would have to say health.
By choice would be religious views and beliefs.

monotony or its opposite. Relationships can be hard work. Then there’s the old song. “After you’ve been having steak for a long time, beans taste just fine.”

Having no one you want to have sex with.

Cancer of the naughty bits.

Health problems.

Fear of acquiring bad health from sex

Not having an SO.

Having been hurt by an SO in the past.

Religion.

Low libido. I have friends who have been together for ever, are happy and comfortable with each other and their lives, have contented and productive children, and stopped having sex probably 40 years ago.

A desire to avoid meaningless sex. When relationships are young, sex can get in the way of developing a more emotional connection. Some people might choose celibacy to help them to focus on other aspects of their relationship and save sex until they’re sure that person is someone they really want to have a long-term relationship with.

Many years ago I knew someone who wanted to be a hermit and live off the land alone in the wilderness. He would often disappear for a week or two at a time with nothing but a few survival tools and a sleeping bag.

Losing your fuck truck, otherwise known as sex drive.

Past abuse

Extreme emotional stress. Also, some medications leave you not caring about sex at all.

I’ve been celibate by choice for about 8 years now. I’m in my mid-50’s, divorced a dozen years after being married for over 20, had a few flings/relationships, but am single by choice, have zero desire to remarry, and I can meet my own sexual needs as I have no interest in a FWB or casual sex hook up. Relationship is just not important to me anymore. I like being single, I like not having to “work” on a relationship, I like my space.

I have had plenty of great sex in my life and am all sexed out quite frankly. Lower libido after the menopause scene contributes to. I have my toys if the urge strikes, but it only strikes about once a month these days.. lol

Those are my reasons.

Oh yeh. I forget hormones and menopause.

Celibacy isn’t simply the lack of having sex with someone else. Celibacy is taking a vow forsaking any kind of sexual act (thus, no self pleasure ether) or amorous/romantic relationships with anyone else (thus excluding, say, old married couples who just don’t have a sex drive anymore). A celibate person may (often does) have sexual impulses, but does not act on them due to their vows. I do not recall ever really hearing of instances of celibacy outside of religious vows.

@Darth_Algar, I would argue most people would define celibacy as allowing masturbation but excluding sexual relations with another person. I do agree that I would think someone taking a religious vow of celibacy is likely to be expected to abstain from masturbation too. However, this article suggests many priests masturbate and even the pope has questioned whether the requirement for celibacy should be reconsidered for priests.

The Oxford Dictionary definition is:

Abstaining from marriage and sexual relations, typically for religious reasons:
a celibate priest

1.1Having or involving no sexual relations:
a celibate lifestyle

Relations are defined as “The way in which two or more people or things are connected; a thing’s effect on or relevance to another:” ”(relations) formal Sexual intercourse”.

I would argue that what most people are calling celibacy is simply abstinence at best. But, I don’t particularly care to get into another tiresome debate folks just beat each other over the head with copypasta, so I bow out.

Lack of imagination so it gets old.
Or simply, had plenty of imagination and done it all and just got bored with it.
I think it has highs and lows. Like any thing. Like I use to love rice and potatoes and pasta and I have eaten them made in many different ways. After 50 years of eating them, I just don’t find it fascinating.
What some people blame on menopause could just be boredom from overkill.

@Darth_Algar I think most people are aware that choosing celibacy can have many reasons, ranging from spiritual discipline and ridding oneself of worldly and base desires to being asexual to being older, health reasons, the list goes on and on. I don’t think any of us need to debate anything, the answer to choosing celibacy is a multiple choice answer and obviously can incorporate much more than simple abstinence.

@Coloma

I’m not speaking about people’s reasons for choosing celibacy. I’m saying that celibacy is more than simply not having sex. If you don’t have sex but still masturbate then you’re not really being celibate. If you’re married but not having sex then you’re not really celibate. If you’re saving yourself for marriage, but can’t wait until your wedding night so you can finally have sex then you’re not really celibate. If you’re just not having sex because you’re unlucky with the ladies (or guts, whichever case may apply) then you’re not really celibate. Celibacy is the deliberate forsaking of such pleasures. Though you may still feel sexual impulses you do not act on them (not even by yourself) because you have taken a vow not to act on them (for whatever reason).

@Darth_Algar In the truest sense of spiritual/religious vows yes, otherwise I think celibacy is subjective. Celibacy is a choice therefore whatever reasons one has can also be considered a choice to remain free of sexuality. I also would not consider masturbation to be a breach of celibacy unless you are a monk or a priest. In that case yes, because you are indulging in bodily pleasures that you have taken a vow to abstain from.

My definition of celibacy aside from the religious/spiritual side, is about abstaining from actual sexual contact with others for whatever reasons. Not being able to get any would not be considered celibacy agreed, that would mean only that the opportunity has not presented. lol
Not debating, just sharing my personal thoughts and opinions, right/wrong or indifferent, mostly indifferent. haha

Fear of disease.

I remember watching “I Spit On Your Grave” caused me to vow never to cheat. That bathtub scene really scared me.

That is a horrible film and yes, scary enough to make anyone celibate.

Being celibate has absolutely nothing to do with health or sexual preference. Generally people are celibate for religious reasons…

A woman I met in the early ‘90’s decided to be celibate back in the very late 80’s when many friends and coworkers were getting sick and dying. I lost a lot of coworkers too. She decided she wasn’t going to have sex again until she got married.

@JLeslie You mean dying from AIDs or just randomly dying? lol

^^ One wonders what makes that a “lol”.

@janbb
To choose abstinence because people were dying, of something, is a funny statement without clarification. Did they stop having sex because they feared a heart attack? haha

AIDS. That’s what had people dropping like flies back then.

@JLeslie I figured that was what you meant, I missed the AIDs scare I was married then

@Coloma I know married people who died. No one close to me, but someone at my dad’s work died. Cheating husband basically wound up killing her. One other couple I know of who I knew in a distant way had similar circumstance.

A close friend of the family had a lot of surgeries, which included blood transfusions, during the ‘80’s, and he had to get tested, hoping he hadn’t received tainted blood. If he had, his wife would possibly have been positive too. It was a horrible time.

I don’t want to take the Q on a long tangent about AIDS, but a lot if people changed their sexual behavior during that time. I’m not saying the majority did, but people did pause.

A ton of people I know have had STD’s. If we include HPV the number is mind boggling, and that one can kill you too. I think STD rates are severely under reported. I don’t think most of them are mandatory to report, although, I’m not sure exactly how that’s all handled. Some of them definitely are mandatory. That doesn’t even address doctors not diagnosing them, or people not even going to the doctor to get diagnosed.

I had a friend who said she’d never marry again. She said there were “too many unspoken expectations”. I don’t blame her, and I wouldn’t for the same reason.

@JLeslie Yep, I remember, it was a frightening time after the free wheeling sexcapades of the 70’s. Marriage certainly wasn’t a guarantee that’s very true. I had to have blood on hand for a surgery too but because I am rh negative I donated my own blood to be on standby.

@snowberry Haha…too many expectations period, hidden or otherwise.