Movies, TV, and porn are pretty notorious for painting an unrealistic picture of sex...so I think it's fair to say that a lot of people don't really know what to expect until they experience it themselves.
Recently, Reddit user Thegaminglemon18 did the charitable act of asking people to share the things that surprised them the first time they had sex. Whether you're a sexually inexperienced person who wants to know more, or someone who's just curious about other people's perceptions of sex, here are 18 eye-opening responses:
1. "How good it feels to cuddle after. It’s a sense of nirvana."
2. "How much communication was involved. When you watch porn, they don’t talk at all. They just kinda do the bare minimum, in and out, that's sex. I was surprised when my boyfriend kept asking me how I was feeling and if I was doing okay."
3. "I had no idea that boys could move their dicks...like they can move it without touching it. Thought it was insane when I saw that."
4. "I thought boobs were very firm. When I first touched one, I was so surprised by how soft it was."
5. "That first climax from sex with a woman was so epic, I was afraid I was peeing instead of cumming. Never had another orgasm that could compare."
— mrbri
6. "It's harder than it looks to make it good."
7. "How sore my hips would be the next day. I walked around like a grandpa for a good 48 hours after. I've been doing hip flexor stretches before sex ever since."
8. "How good performing oral sex would be for its own sake. ... There's something calming, almost Zen, about emptying your brain of thoughts about anything in the world other than your oral technique. Purely present moment mentality while you enjoy the other person wriggling with bliss."
9. "There are men that take too long, or don't cum at all. Also surprised that too long for me (a woman, by the way) is anything over 15 minutes. You get cold, sore, tired, hungry, bored, self-conscious, etc...3–5 minutes and I'm good."
10. "How boring it can actually be when you are not that into a person."
11. "Lasting longer than you do when you're masturbating."
12. "No lie, I thought I was supposed to be reacting the same way women did in really poorly acted pornos. I thought everything was supposed to be earth-shattering every single time. I was caught off guard that that wasn't the case."
13. "I didn’t understand how wet my vagina would get. When we got up and I saw a wet spot twice the size of my ass on the bedsheets, I was like 'Look what you did,' assuming it was his cum. He had to explain that it was from me."
14. "How warm she was inside. I was ready for how wet and snug it was, but I forgot/didn’t realize that temperature would be a thing. It was dope."
— nailedem
15. "How necessary foreplay is to the whole experience. Sometimes the foreplay IS the fun of the moment and the actual sex can be quite anticlimactic to the buildup."
16. "Body fluids all over the place. A shower is definitely needed afterward."
17. "Hand down her pants, I was very surprised by how far down I had to reach to get to her vagina."
18. "Having someone inside of you is very strange. Looking at someone after and knowing they have been in you is a weird bond."
Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.