We all know sex is important to relationships, but so is talking about sex. You’re creating intimacy, closeness, and opening avenues to a better sex life when you discuss it with your partner. And in discussing it with your friends, you’re breaking down barriers, stripping stigmas, and taboos from the topic of sex. Salt-N-Pepa was really onto something when they released the 1990 classic, “Let’s Talk About Sex;” it wasn’t just a great song but an anthem as to why it’s an important conversation to have, on a sexual education level and because it’s healthy.
Whisper is an anonymous confessions app that allows people to discuss sex, among other topics, freely. With 20 million users, each person is given a space to come clean about whatever is on their mind or to pose a question to their fellow users, all in the form of images and words. It’s like PostSecret, but instead of just putting those confessions out into the world, Whisper’s members are getting an answer.
Through extensive analysis of their data, Whisper was able to answer a very important question and one that would make Salt-N-Pepa proud: Who’s talking about sex? What they found is that the states having this discussion aren’t exactly what you’d expect and Florida, for starters, needs to step up their game.
5. Kansas
Coming in at number five, of the top five states that make confessions about sex, is the land of Dorothy and Toto, otherwise known as Kansas. Here, the sex discussion is alive and well, and while it’s not number one on the list, being number five out of 50 states isn’t too shabby.
4. Nevada
As we make our way a little closer to number one, Nevada comes in at the fourth spot. Nevada is the only state in the U.S. where prostitution is legal, with 20+ legal brothels in eight different counties. Since that’s the case, it’s a good thing that sex is being discussed so openly.
3. Utah
To be honest, to see Utah so far up on the list of states where sex is talked about the most, is a bit surprising. Utah is a religious state, with 55 percent of the population being Mormon, according to 2015 research by the Pew Research Center. But perhaps this is an outlet for talking about it freely without judgement.
2. Louisiana
In second place, we have Louisiana. Again we’re looking at a very religious region of the United States with over 55 percent of the population identifying as Christian in not just Louisiana, but the surrounding states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. It’s also here that sex education isn’t required, so let’s hope that whatever Whisper’s members are discussing in regards to sex, there's at least some accuracy in it.
1. West Virginia
While fellow Southern states, South Carolina and Florida, are in the top five states where sex is discussed the least (Florida being in the first place), West Virginia is playing by their own set of rules. According to Whisper’s data, West Virginia is the state where sex is talked about the most out of all 50 states. You go, West Virginia!
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