From 2014 to 2020, the birth rate in the United States consistently decreased by 2% annually. U.S. births increased by just 1% in 2024, still near the record-setting low of 2023. Statisticians and sociologists chalk up the baby bust to a number of structural cultural factors, including sky-high child care costs, an unaffordable housing market, inflexible work schedules and demanding work cultures, and the economic fallout of the pandemic.
The long-term trend can also happily be attributed to a substantial reduction in the number of teenage pregnancies over the last several decades.
In a post that’s gone viral this week, X user @thegenesisbl0ck volunteered a competing theory for plummeting fertility rates: People aren’t having sex because women go to bed looking like absolute slobs!
“Birth rates would sky rocket if girls wore this at home instead of some oversized homeless core outfit,” wrote the poster, who goes by Andrea D. Huberwoman, a feminization of Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and podcast host who’s popular with self-optimization bros.
In the accompanying photos, we see two women with long blond hair wearing lacy pink lingerie sets.
Men and women on X and Bluesky were quick to call out lady Huberman for the bad take.
“I used to incinerate money on Stella McCartney stuff like this and it’s a total waste. My ex preferred when I wore a cropped t shirt to bed. You’re doing this nonsense for you not him,” replied podcast host Aimee Terese.
“Speaking as a guy this sort of weird woman shaming stuff about dressing sexy at home is very overrated because if a guy finds you attractive you can pretty much dress like Fred Durst and we’d still have sex with you whenever,” @brendelbored.bsky.social wrote on Bluesky of the post.
Some responded with hard evidence: “Spend all you want on Victoria’s Secret lingerie but granny wore something like this and gramps gave her eight kids and paid all the bills,” one woman posted along with a photo of a woman wearing a baggy house dress in a pink generic animal print (a decidedly unsexy animal print, we should add).
There’s obviously a lot wrong with the lingerie-encouraging post. First, people are still very much into and buying lingerie: Victoria’s Secret is still alive and kicking. Luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocateur saw its revenues double over the past three years.
In spite of the narrative that men are visual creatures, most straight men don’t really care all that much about lingerie. Most will be happy with a good old-fashioned naked woman (quite a visual in and of itself), or even a woman they’re attracted to who just so happens to be wearing sweats and an old, ratty T-shirt as a comfy prelude to nakedness.
William Costello, a doctoral researcher who studies evolutionary psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, asked about the lingerie theory in an unscientific poll on X, and found that most straight men and women who responded don’t feel that lingerie makes much of a notable difference when it comes to triggering male desire.
All this said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with putting a little effort into looking good for your partner, or for yourself. Some people feel especially sexy in lingerie, and more power to them. But you not slipping on a pricey Fleur du Mal garter belt before going to bed is not the reason the birth rate has taken a tumble.
“As a sex therapist who works with men, women and couples, I can tell you with confidence: No, men do not ‘need’ lingerie to be turned on,” said Tammy Nelson, a sex and relationship therapist and author of “Open Monogamy: A Guide to Co-Creating Your Ideal Relationship Agreement.”
What turns people on is considerably more complex, Nelson said. “Eroticism starts in our head — it’s emotional connection, availability, confidence and responsiveness,” she said.
“Just being naked works just fine for many couples. And yes, someone showing up — even in sweats — and being present, engaged, and into their partner can be incredibly sexy,” she told HuffPost.
If anything is a sexual buzzkill right now, it’s this stress of trying to make a living wage while maintaining your sanity in these chaotic, capital-letter Unprecedented Times.
Working and just getting by can easily lead to compounded stress and anxiety, which can do a number on your libido.
“Wearing lingerie is a leisure activity, and as a sex therapist, I can attest that for most people today ― especially parents ― leisure is in very short supply,” said Stephen Snyder, a sex therapist in New York City and the author of “Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship.”
The real barriers to intimacy and reproduction today are economic pressure, chronic stress, exhaustion from caregiving, and disconnection in relationships, Nelson said.
She added that the framework of the social media post ― blaming women for this narrative of “not turning on their man” ― reinforces the outdated idea that women are responsible for maintaining male desire and that their appearance alone should be responsible for sexual behavior.
“The idea that not wearing lingerie is somehow impacting birth rates is not only reductive, it’s sexist and frankly absurd,” she said.
Tasking women with the sexual responsibility to look sexy when they go to bed ― when they’re also usually the ones doing most of the emotional labor at home, plus actual labor at work ― is ridiculous to Nelson.
“Passion is co-created,” she said. “Real intimacy comes from mutual effort, vulnerability, and trust — not lingerie.”
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