The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/19934
After 20 years, Americans having more oral sex, more diverse sex POPEKS USED AND RARE BOOKS Last month, researchers from Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion published what they said was the most comprehensive national study on sex in nearly 20 years. Their findings ap- pear in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Sexual Medicine and include commentary from several prominent sexual- health experts. “This data provides a contemporary snapshot . . . of the sexual landscape,” says research scientist and lecturer Debby Herbenick, lead author of the study, which surveyed 5,865 teens and adults from ages 14 to 94. It is certainly interesting reading. “Because nobody really talks about sex, people are very curious about what their neighbors are doing,” says Herbenick. So let’s talk, then: According to the study, vaginal intercourse remains the most com- mon sex act, although respondents reported more than 40 unique combinations of behaviors during their most recent sexual experience. “What this shows is that our sexual space has become incredibly diversified,” says Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion and a co-author of the study, who notes that Americans are having more oral sex than ever before and that a significant number of straight men and women are experimenting with anal sex: More than 40 percent of men and women 25 and older in the survey said they had tried it. “They’re not doing it frequently, but they are trying it, and that’s something we just didn’t see 20 years ago,” he explains. Many adults continue to have active, var- ied sex lives well into their later years, often with longtime partners but even _ gasp! _ with dates or “friends with benefits,” just like college kids. Want to tell us something about the O-town Scene? E-mail Cassandra at editor@otownscene.com 22 O-Town Scene Nov. 18, 2010 “Conventional wisdom says that young people are out there having lots of sex and being promiscuous, while older adults have their act together and aren’t having sex in later stages, but these data show frequent sex behaviors across the life span, for people well into the later ages,” says Reece. He speculates that the advent of drugs such as Viagra, increased exposure to Internet pornography and media influences such as, yes, “Sex and the City,” have affected sexual attitudes and behavior since the last study of this kind. We also aren’t always on the same page when it comes to pleasure: About 85 percent of men report that their partner had an orgasm the last time they had sex, while only 64 percent of women said they did. In addition, 30 percent of women experienced pain during their last sexual encounter, compared with just 5 percent of men. Not surprisingly, the differences don’t end once the sex is done. In fact, a recent study on post-coital behaviors published in the Journal of Sex Research suggests that every gender-difference cliche you’ve ever heard is true. According to this small study of 99 women and 71 men, women are more interested in bonding after sex, through kissing, cuddling and talking about their relationship. Men, on the other hand, are much less likely to want to make a connection, espe- cially in short-term relationships, and more apt to want to have more sex or “engage in other, extrinsically rewarding activities _ to smoke, drink, get a snack, ask for favors, things like that,” says study co-author Susan Hughes, an associate professor of psychology at Albright College in Reading, Pa., who speculates that ancient biological differences related to reproductive strategies may be at play. So is the post-coital cold shoulder inevi- table? Deborah Fox, a certified sex therapist in Washington, says no. “Men and women have a lot of differences, and we need to learn to talk and to really understand each other’s needs and stories and experiences,” whether it’s before, during or after sex, she explains. _ By Carolyn Butler, The Washington Post