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Sex and Sexuality. Sex and Sexuality. BEFORE LAUNCHING INTO SOME OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS CREATED BY THE CONFLICT BETWEEN OUR SEXUAL NATURE AND SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE EXPRESSION OF THAT NATURE, IT MIGHT BE INSTRUCTIVE TO FIRST LOOK AT ACTUAL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR. Sex and Sexuality.
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Sex and Sexuality • BEFORE LAUNCHING INTO SOME OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS CREATED BY THE CONFLICT BETWEEN OUR SEXUAL NATURE AND SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE EXPRESSION OF THAT NATURE, IT MIGHT BE INSTRUCTIVE TO FIRST LOOK AT ACTUAL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR.
Sex and Sexuality • A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HAS RELEASED THE RESULTS OF WHAT IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TRULY SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF SEX IN AMERICA.
Sex and Sexuality • EDWARD LAUMANN, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SOCIOLOGIST WHO LED THE RESEARCH TEAM FOUND THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION IS ALIVE AND WELL IN SOME QUARTERS. • BUT THE OVERALL IMPRESSION IS THAT THE SEX LIVES OF MOST AMERICANS ARE ABOUT AS EXCITING AS A PEANUT- BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH.
Sex and Sexuality • THE FINDINGS, BASED ON FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEWS WITH A RANDOM SAMPLE OF NEARLY 3,500 AMERICANS, AGES 18 TO 59, SMASHES SOME MYTHS
Sex and Sexuality • AMERICANS FALL INTO THREE GROUPS: • 1/3 HAVE SEX TWICE A WEEK OR MORE; • 1/3 A FEW TIMES A MONTH; • AND 1/3 A FEW TIMES A YEAR OR NOT AT ALL.
Sex and Sexuality • AMERICANS ARE LARGELY MONOGAMOUS. • THE VAST MAJORITY (83%) HAVE HAD ONE OR ZERO SEX PARTNERS A YEAR. OVER A LIFETIME. • A TYPICAL MAN HAS SIX PARTNERS; A WOMAN, TWO.
Sex and Sexuality • MARRIED COUPLES HAVE THE MOST SEX AND ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO HAVE ORGASMS WHEN THEY DO. • NEARLY 40% OF MARRIED PEOPLE SAY THEY HAVE SEX TWICE A WEEK. • COMPARED WITH 25% FOR SINGLES.
Sex and Sexuality • MOST AMERICANS DON'T GO IN FOR THE KINKY STUFF: • ASKED TO RANK THEIR FAVORITE SEX ACTS, ALMOST EVERYBODY (96%) FOUND VAGINAL SEX "VERY OR SOMEWHAT APPEALING.” • ORAL SEX RANKED A DISTANT THIRD, AFTER AN ACTIVITY THAT MANY MAY NOT HAVE REALIZED WAS A SEX ACT: "WATCHING PARTNER UNDRESS."
Sex and Sexuality • ADULTERY WAS THE EXCEPTION IN AMERICA, NOT THE RULE. • NEARLY 75% OF MARRIED MEN AND 85% OF MARRIED WOMEN SAY THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN UNFAITHFUL.
Sex and Sexuality • THERE ARE A LOT FEWER ACTIVE HOMOSEXUALS IN AMERICA THAT THE OFT REPEATED 1 IN 10. • ONLY 2.7% OF MEN REPORT THAT THEY HAD HOMOSEXUAL SEX IN THE PAST YEAR. • 1.3% OF WOMEN REPORT THAT THEY HAD HOMOSEXUAL SEX IN THE PAST YEAR.
SEXUAL BEHAVIOR • THE REPORT CONFIRMS MUCH OF WHAT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED AS CONVENTIONAL WISDOM. • KIDS DO HAVE SEX EARLIER NOW: • BY 15, HALF OF ALL BLACK MALES HAVE HAD SEX. • BY 17, HALF OF ALL WHITE MALES HAVE HAD SEX.
SEXUAL BEHAVIOR • THERE WAS A LOT OF FREE SEX IN THE 60s. • THE PERCENTAGE OF ADULTS WHO HAVE HAD 21 OR MORE SEX PARTNERS IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AMONG THE FORTYSOMETHING BOOMERS THAN AMONG OTHER AMERICANS.
Sex and Sexuality • AIDS HAS PUT A CRIMP IN SOME PEOPLES SEX LIVES. THOSE WHO HAVE HAD 5 OR MORE PARTNERS IN THE PAST YEAR SAY THEY HAVE CHANGED THEIR BEHAVIOR BY EITHER SLOWING DOWN, GETTING TESTED, OR USING CONDOMS.
Sex and Sexuality • 54% OF MEN THINK ABOUT SEX DAILY. • 19% OF WOMEN THINK ABOUT SEX DAILY.
Sex and Sexuality • OF MARRIED PEOPLE, 94% WERE FAITHFUL IN THE PAST YEAR.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES • SEXUAL ACTIVITY, WHILE BOTH PLEASURABLE AND VITAL TO THE CONTINUATION OF OUR SPECIES, CAN TRANSMIT SOME FIFTY ILLNESSES. • SOMETIMES CALLED VENEREAL DISEASES (FROM VENUS, THE ROMAN GODDESS OF LOVE), MANY OF THESE AILMENTS DATE BACK TO HUMANITY'S ORIGINS.
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES • IN RECENT YEARS, THE GROWING DANGER OF STDs HAS PROMPTED SOMETHING OF A SEXUAL COUNTER REVOLUTION THAT HAS DISCOURAGED CASUAL SEX OUT OF SELF-INTEREST. • BUT THERE IS STILL ONE GROUP IN AMERICA WHO JUST DON'T GET IT.
STDs: GONORRHEA AND SYPHILIS • CAUSED BY MICROSCOPIC ORGANISMS • ALMOST ALWAYS TRANSMITTED BY SEXUAL CONTACT
STDs: GONORRHEA AND SYPHILIS • UNTREATED, GONORRHEA CAN CAUSE STERILITY; SYPHILIS CAN DAMAGE MAJOR ORGANS AND RESULT IN BLINDNESS, MENTAL DISORDERS, AND DEATH. • HAVING HAD GONORRHEA AND SYPHYLIS MAKES YOU MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BECOME INVFECTED WITH HIV.
STDs: GENITAL HERPES • 20 TO 30 MILLION ADULTS IN THE U.S. ARE INFECTED • ONE IN SEVEN AMERICAN ADULTS ARE INFECTED
STDs: GENITAL HERPES • ALTHOUGH FAR LESS SERIOUS THAN GONORRHEA AND SYPHILIS, HERPES IS INCURABLE. • IT CAN EXHIBIT PERIODIC, PAINFUL BLISTERS ON THE GENITALS ACCOMPANIED BY FEVER AND HEADACHE.
STDs: GENITAL HERPES • ALTHOUGH NOT FATAL TO ADULTS, WOMEN WITH ACTIVE GENITAL HERPES CAN TRANSMIT THE DISEASE TO AN INFANT DURING VAGINAL DELIVERY, TO WHOM IT CAN BE DEADLY.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • THE MOST SERIOUS OF ALL SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES IS AIDS. IDENTIFIED IN 1981, THIS DISEASE IS INCURABLE AND FATAL. • AIDS IS CAUSED BY A HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV).
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • THIS VIRUS ATTACKS WHITE BLOOD CELLS, THE CORE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, RENDERING A PERSON VULNERABLE TO A WIDE RANGE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES THAT EVENTUALLY CAUSE DEATH.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • THE INFECTION RATE IS STILL RISING, BUT AT A SLOWING RATE OF INCREASE. • ABOUT 97,000 NEW CASES PER YEAR • ABOUT 340,000 ACTIVE CASES IN THE U.S. IN 1993
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • PEOPLE WITH HIV DO NOT IMMEDIATELY CONTRACT AIDS • MOST HIV INFECTED ARE UNAWARE OF THEIR INFECTION
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • SYMPTOMS OF AIDS USUALLY DO NOT APPEAR FOR A YEAR OR LONGER. • WITHIN ABOUT 5 YEARS, ONE-THIRD OF INFECTED PEOPLE WILL DEVELOP AIDS; • HALF DISPLAY SYMPTOMS OF AIDS WITHIN 10 YEARS, AND MEDICAL EXPERTS EXPECT THAT ALL BUT A FEW WILL DO SO EVENTUALLY.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • TRANSMISSION: • BLOOD • SEMAN • BREASTMILK
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • THIS MEANS THAT AIDS IS NOT SPREAD THROUGH CASUAL CONTACT--BY SHAKING HANDS, HUGGING, SHARING TOWELS OR DISHES, SWIMMING TOGETER, OR EVEN COUGHING AND SNEEZING. THE RISK OF TRANSMITTING AIDS THROUGH SALIVA (AS IN KISSING) IS EXTREMELY LOW.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • THE RISK OF INFECTION IS LESSENED BUT NOT ELIMINATED BY THE USE OF LATEX CONDOMS. • IN THE AGE OF AIDS, ABSTINENCE OR AN EXCLUSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH AN UNINFECTED PERSON IS THE ONLY SURE WAY TO AVOID CONTRACTING HIV.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS PLACE PEOPLE AT HIGH RISK: • ANAL SEX • SHARING NEEDLES • UNPROTECTED SEX
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • ANAL SEX IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. • COMMONLY PRACTICED BY GAY MEN, WHO ARE CHANGING THEIR SEXUAL PRACTICES AS A RESULT.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • GAYS ACCOUNT FOR 55% OF ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS WITH AIDS IN THE U.S. IV DRUG USERS ACCOUNT FOR 24%.
ACUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME • ONLY 7% OF PEOPLE WITH AIDS IN THE U.S. BECAME INFECTED THROUGH HETEROSEXUAL CONTACT. • THIS NUMBER IS INCREASING RAPIDLY. • WORLDWIDE, AIDS IS A HETEROSEXUAL DISEASE.