Everyone had different drives and interests. If she has always been hyper religious then she probably never got to explore or developed her sexuality outside of contact with her husband. Or through guilt laden experiences before marriage. At 30yrs of marriage she has probably been through menopause and now has even less interest.
For me itsa a deal breaker. Ar least to start a relationship. My wife has some pretty serious chronic illnesses but is still very interested in sex. We don't do it as often as we would like simply because the activity often makes her symptoms worse. But she is always ready to play

I can see religion, physical or mental issues being a reason for a sexless marriage. Outside of that, a sexless marriage would suck! Or lack of sucking, I should say! LOL

I think each individual has inherent sexual energy. Some want it all the time, others virtually asexual and just aren't interested in it. Then the vast majority are somewhere in between on a spectrum. One can only hope to be lucky enough to find a partner with similar appetite for sex.

Necessary? No. In fact, I've had enjoyable romantic episodes without sex.

Desirable? Well, what do you think? (In other words, hell yes).

In my marrige we’d barely get to double figures in a year. I hated that. I think subconsciously it lead to resentment and anger which then made me not be the husband perhaps I should’ve been.

I can't speak for others but sex would have to be part of a marriage, it may not be the prime factor but it's got to be there and enjoyed on a regular basis by both parties

I think every couple is different, if they are BOTH happy with ones a month, good for them!!!!!
.. I would probably die tho... LOL

It is a requirement for me. But since it's such an important yet secretive part of the human condition, there's so many places where people can develop hangups about it, and the way people react around it is, at least to outside onlookers, quite bizarre and irrational.

But really, you get into a relationship with a person so you can give and get the things that you both need and you can't (easily) give/get elsewhere.

A sexless relationship can be healthy and successful, but only if that VERY closely reflects the needs and the desires of both participants

For most people sex is a part of the relationship. I am aware of a couple who have not had sex with each other, for over 10 years, although they do have sex outside of the relationship. Howevr they re hyappy and i8t seems to work fine for them. Still for most people sex is an important part of the relationship.

I love your description of the husband in the photo!! ? But in answer to your question: a sexless marriage, or even relationship, would not work for me. The intimacy and bonding of sex is in my book as close as two people can get. I can like you from a distance, but when I love you, I want to be part of you. When I say sex, I am not talking about the act of physical intercourse alone, but the sensuality of bodily contact, skin against skin, extended foreplay, tasting, kissing.... OK, gotta stop now, these are all things I have not had in my life for way too long! ?

I hesitate to infer anything into the nature of your friends' intimate lives beyond the information given explicitly. A smirk in a photograph is way too ambiguous to drill down to something as specific as a porn addiction.

People have different libidos from one another, and a person's libido varies over the course of one's lifetime and one's emotional route through life.

Speaking strictly for myself, I've found that in the early stages of a romantic relationship I can't get enough of her: I want sex a lot, and it's fun and passionate and pleasingly distracting from other things. That "pleasingly distracting" part is critical: if the relationship is nothing but sex, it's not going to last very long, because the sex is distracting from doing other things necessary to build the relationship. Over time, desire tapers down but never goes away.

Also, I've been fortunate in my life to not have any sort of physiological problems interfering with ability or desire. Not everyone is so fortunate.

My husband's quadruple bypass ended intercourse for us 13 years before he died. It did not end intimacy or our love for each other. I think it would be very hard to create that love without sex during the beginning of a relationship.

Everyone is different and every relationship is different. as long as both parties are on the same page and satisfied with the arrangement everything is fine.. it is just sad when there is a serious mismatch in a couple who have different levels of sexual energy and kink. . If you can't have that connection with your mate it is really sad. the church as messed up lots of marriages making sex and love distorted. when we deny our animal side needs it is a vexation of the spirit and will demean the relationship and can bring long term deep seated problems. it's all about compatiblity and openess. the big fear of "sin" has ruined so many unions that could have been happy .

no sex = no real relationship

Marital vows aren't vows of chastity.

For me, I'm extremely affectionate and physical. I don't necessarily have to have sex to be happy in a relationship, but I 100% need touch.
Having said that, sex is important to me. And I'd much rather be in a solid relationship where we are having sex, then one we aren't.

People have many different ways giving and receiving love. For some people simply saying "I love you" and demonstrating love through random acts of kindness are enough. For many others (myself included) sex is needed in order to truly feel loved.

If it weren't for sex, I would just hang out with my friends, no romance required.

I can't imagine a romantic relationship without sex.

Sex or at least intimacy is really important to me. If we are not making out or sleeping nude or barely clothed every night what's the point.

It's important for me. My last romantic relationship fell apart partly because my girlfriend lost sexual interest in me. I can't really comment on your friend, though.

Intimacy is a part of romance and sex between two people in a relationship is usually involved in intimacy it's always sad in a relationship when one person loses their interest in sex and the other person does not

I think it depends on the health and vitality of the couple. Some couples lose a lot of that vitality as they get older.

For some folks, sex isn't very important. As for myself l find SEX EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, but thats just me.

Sounds like you want to help your friend, IF she is unhappy in her marriage. Every marriage (and relationship, for that matter) is a different combination of various components. Priorities of those components might or might not be agreeable to both parties in equal measures. Those are factors in deciding whether to stay together, work on issues, create work arounds, that might not be anyone’s business, or give it all up for door number 3.

While you might feel sorry for your friend, remember the quantity of sexual activity does not necessarily equal quality.

There may be psychological factors that could be helped with counseling, but sometimes there is just a lack of physical and emotional attraction. So the decision to stay together, despite a lack of sexual satisfaction, is a thoughtful decision. Your friend might complain to you, to vent her frustration, but she may not really want to do anything about it, except vent. Or perhaps she is seeking advice from you?

I was married a long long time. My ex-husband was not affectionate, not particularly physically attractive to me, and simply could not win or keep my admiration after the many demeaning things he would say and do. He was abusive as well. So it was simply impossible for me to want to have sexual relations with him. We slept apart, for 20+ years of our marriage. Duty sex, when demanded, was obviously not satisfying for me. Couldn’t wait to get out of the marriage, but thought it best to stay together for the kids.

After freeing myself from my bad marriage, I became the sexual being I always was inside and had an intimate partner for several years who helped me discover the joys of sex. Saddest part of this discovery is lamenting about all the years I missed out on such wonderful sex, had I left my marriage sooner.

I don’t think a satisfying sex life is mandatory for a marriage or a relationship, but it definitely is a bonding gesture that enhances a relationship greatly and can sometimes be the one thing that keeps a couple together during other dissatisfactions. The success of a relationship can not be based on sexual compatibility alone. There must be other factors that keep her invested in the marriage.