Yes
‘I’d tell friends we’d tie each other up’
Nilufer Atik, 44, a writer, lives in Surrey with her partner and three-yearold son.
Women brag about their sex lives to each other just as much as men do. When you have friends around a dinner table, sipping wine and confiding in each other about their wild antics in the bedroom, it’s hard not to make up the odd fib or two.
Sex in a long-term relationship can dwindle, as happened to me with a previous partner, and, as a result, you often feel under pressure to exaggerate or make things up, simply because you don’t want to feel left out.
I admit that I would lie about our sex life – I’d tell my friends that we’d tie each other up, that my ex was spontaneous and liked role play, and that I was having multiple orgasms most nights. It was far from the truth, but I loved him and didn’t want my friends to think badly of him – or to think that there was something wrong with me.
In truth, the problems in our relationship were much more deep-rooted than what went on in the bedroom, and I wasn't ready to talk to my friends about it at that time. And while I’ve learnt from that experience, even now I don’t think a little lie here and there does any harm to save face. I’d rather tell a fib than be the subject of group gossip for the next two months.