Sex in America: From Alfred Kinsey to Fifty Shades

1. Sex in America: From Alfred Kinsey to Fifty Shades Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH Associate Research Scientist, The Center for Sexual Health Promotion School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University Sexual Health Educator, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, & Reproduction debby@indiana.edu Twitter @DebbyHerbenick

2. Kama (love) & Rati (desire/lust)

5. A Bit of Background • Dr. Alfred Kinsey and his team conducted the first large systematic study of sexual behavior in the US (1938-1963) • More than 10,000 surveyed • Mostly white. Mostly < age 50. • Our recent research from IU’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion includes nationally representative surveys of American women and men: • 2008 study of vibrator use & sexual enhancement in the US • Ages 18 - 60 • 2009 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior • Ages 14 - 94 • 2012 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior • Ages 18 – 91; GLB oversample; English & Spanish

6. 1. Why We Have Sex

7. Why We Have Sex • Why Humans Have Sex (2007) • Attraction • Physical pleasure • Because it feels good • It’s fun (Men) • Show affection (Women) • But is this really why “humans” have sex?

8. Sex in America, Ages 14 to 94 • ~6000 Americans, nationally rep. • Because it feels good, Pleasure, Attraction, Fun, Affection still common reasons • Age Differences • Opportunity, convenience, special days • Gender differences • Duty/Obligation • Attraction • Sex to “get” things… attention, revenge, love, bingo • And to give things: condolences, love, affection, a gift

9. 2. Sexual behavior and orientation don’t always match up - and that’s okay.

10. Kinsey noted it was impossible to determine the number of persons who are "homosexual" or "heterosexual”; he focused more on sexual behaviors. • Instances of at least one same-sex experience to orgasm: • 13% of females & about 37% of men • 4-10% of men & 2 - 6% women had been exclusively homosexual in their sexual behaviors for at least a few years during late adolescence/adulthood

11. 2009 & 2012 NSSHB Data • About 8 to 15% of Americans ages 18 to 50 have had oral sex from a same-sex partner • Yet < 5% of women as lesbian or bisexual • And about 7% of men identify as gay or bisexual • However, sexual orientation and RECENT (past year) sexual behavior are much more closely aligned • Overall, only ~1-2% of straight and gay/lesbian individuals report sex with same- or other-sex partners, respectively

12. Gay-Identified Men’s Sexual Partners in the Past Year

13. Lesbian-Identified Women’s Sexual Partners in the Past Year

14. 3. Anal Sex

15. Anal Sex • THEN (Kinsey’s data): • About 11% of men reported trying anal sex at least one during marriage • No good data overall for men of any orientation or same-sex/other-sex sexual behavior • NOW (NSSHB): • Any guesses?

16. 4.Vibrator Use & Masturbation

17. U.S. Adults 18-60:% Having Ever Used a Vibrator by Gender (N = 2302) In comparison, 52.5% of women and 44.8% of men ages 18 to 60 reported having ever used a vibrator in the 2008 National Vibrator Study.

18. Vibrator Use • Most women use vibrators alone & with a partner • About 1 in 6 men have used a vibrator alone • Vibrator use linked to positive sexual function (e.g., higher desire, arousal, easier orgasm, less pain during sex)

19. “Foreign Objects”1938: A garden hose with an attached balloon found in a 59 year old man

20. Source: 2003 article in the Journal of the Chinese Medical Association

21. 5. We’re still trying to understand orgasms.

22. What We Know about Orgasms • Most people have orgasms • Many have pretended/faked • Orgasm likelihood is linked to sexual variety • Men tend to over-estimate female partners’ orgasmic experience

23. The Orgasm Gap

24. Multiple Orgasm THEN (Kinsey data) • 14% of women & about 15% of men reported multiple orgasm NOW (NSSHB data) • About 1/3 of women and about 15% of men Why the shift for women?

25. 6. Maybe orgasms aren’t necessarily about sex.

26. EXERCISE AND ORGASMS • Kinsey noted that some women & men experienced orgasm during exercise • Seemed uncommon (<5%) • No other research on the topic until 2010.

27. OUR EXERCISE-INDUCED ORGASM STUDY (2010) • Data from about 600 women • 124 had experienced orgasm during exercise • 96 had come close • 150 experienced sexual pleasure during exercise, not orgasm • Most common from exercises that work the core abdominal muscles • Happens to men, too.

28. Ongoing Research • Identifying exercises linked to Exercise-Induced Orgasm (EIO) and/or arousal • Exercise as a desire/arousal-enhancer? • Hopefully identify the internal mechanisms linked to EIO • Exploring diverse ways that people have orgasms (reading, eating, sleeping, listening to music, etc). • Maybe sex orgasms are just a “special case” of orgasm

29. 7. Relationship Structures

30. Relationship Structures: 2012 NSSHB Data Of Americans living with a relationship partner… Straight-identified men and women Entirely monogamous in the past year: ~90% Supposedly monogamous: ~6% of men & 5% of womenOpen relationships: <1%“Something Else” <1% men, 2% women4% of men, 2% of women = Not Discussed

31. Relationship Structures Gay-identified Men 52% Entirely Monogamous32% Open Relationships9% Supposedly Monogamous5% Not Discussed3% Something Else Lesbian Women 92% Entirely Monogamous4% Open Relationships5% Something Else (No “Supposedly”, no “Not Discussed”)

32. Relationship Structures • Bisexual Men Most common – Open relationships (33%)About 20% each: Entirely monogamous, supposedly monogamous, not discussed • Bisexual Women Most common: Entirely monogamous (68%)16% Supposedly monogamous10% Not discussed4% Something else3% Open

33. What do we know? What do our partners know? • When people who are in relationships had sex with other people (e.g., “outside partners”) in the past year: • Gay men & bisexual women were most likely to say that their partner knows about all of the outside partners (50-60%) • Bisexual men (40%) • Straight women (25%) • Straight men (6%)

34. 8. Painful sex.

35. Pain is an unacknowledged part of many people’s sexual experience. • 30% of women reported (unwanted) pain during their most recent sexual event • So did 5-7% of men

36. Pain During Vaginal Intercourse

37. Pain During Anal Intercourse

38. Characteristics of Pain • The pain is: • Mostly genital • Mostly NOT pleasurable/wanted. • Largely NOT communicated to their partner (especially for men - 2/3 don’t tell their partner for vaginal or anal sex pain) • Far more prevalent (70% women), more painful, and more consistently painful in connection with anal sex

39. 9. Our Favorite Things about Sex

40. MENpages & pages of kissing, cuddling, love, intimacy (and orgasms)

41. “Getting off, duh. I’m only 18. Fuck it or suck it, I don’t care.”

42. “I like the intimacy of a partner. Loving and feeling loved. Hugging, kissing, touching, sharing. At 83 years old, I sorely miss having a partner but that is no longer an option.”

43. “Feels good, of course. Bonding. Occasionally children happen.”

44. “I am 65, kissing my wife is about it for me and a pat on the butt now and then. Any more and it would probably kill me.”

45. “Being kinky with each other, getting to be comfortable with someone on a level no one else is.”

46. “Being a Christian, when I engaged in sexual activities a couple of years ago, I had extreme a couple of years ago, I had extreme guilt until I stopped and repented. I liked the closeness I had, the feeling of connectivity to that person.”

47. “Due to health, my wife is non-sexual. I have a very close female friend that really enjoys sex. She enjoys all aspects of sex which makes it really enjoyable for me.”

48. “I have been married for 40 years. My wife and I had sex last in 1999. I miss it… she has no interest at all. We don’t kiss or even touch very much and don’t sleep together. I masturbate often because I will not have an affair.”

49. “Attraction and desire for them as a person. When younger I was always looking to connect and/or hook up… I love my wife and she loves me and when she’s in the mood we have these moments but we do not often have intercourse.”

50. “Making a baby.”