Human Nature Rears Its Natural Head
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in In The NewsForgive me for this one, but a study about oral sex among teenagers seems odd for Washington Post material, and so it certainly made me inquire further.
But hey, in any event…
Slightly more than half of American teenagers ages 15 to 19 have engaged in oral sex, with females and males reporting similar levels of experience, according to the most comprehensive national survey of sexual behaviors ever released by the federal government.The report released yesterday by the National Center for Health Statistics shows that the proportion increases with age to about 70 percent of all 18- and 19-year-olds. That figure is considerably higher for those who also have engaged in intercourse.
Several leaders of organizations that study or work with youth expressed surprise at the level of girls’ participation. “You assume that females are more likely to give, males more likely to receive,” said Jennifer Manlove, who directs fertility research for the organization Child Trends. “We were surprised that the percentages were similar.”
Why ARE girls not giving more? That’s what I want to (sarcastically) know!!!
So what’s the reason?
“This is a point of major social transition,” James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a reproductive health organization, said yesterday. “The data are now coming out and roiling the idea that boys are the hunters and young girls are the prey. It absolutely defies the stereotype.”
Excuse me everybody, but doesn’t this almost signal a good trend that will extend into their adult sexual lives? All of this is pretty natural stuff. As much as we don’t want teenagers to have sex, they will, and often. And it seems that females no longer feel like they have to cater to the whims of males.
And to the point of “oral” sex , let’s remember that this is the internet generation. No doubt they have done their research and found that oral sex is not nearly as risky as “normal” sex, which has all sorts of other bad consequences nobody wants to deal with. The information is out there, and I can’t imagine that this fact is a bad thing. No doubt many would disagree.
However, the reality proves this out.
Many teenagers have fully accepted the idea that postponing intercourse is a good thing to do, Brindis said. When they weigh the advantages and disadvantages of intercourse vs. other forms of sex, they decide that they are far more at risk with intercourse, because of possible pregnancy and the greater risk of infection. Teens also consider oral sex more acceptable in their peer group than vaginal sex.
Let me state now, explicitly, that I DO NOT think sexual activity among teenagers is a positive trend at all, but if there was ever a silver lining…
(HT: Memorandum)
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September 15th, 2005 at 11:28 pm
You’re not the only one. Kaus also finds it odd.
September 16th, 2005 at 12:08 am
Hmm…as Kaus suggests, the Wash Post removed the words “sexually confident.”
That’s certainly subjective editorial if I’ve ever seen it, but not one I disagree with. I think this does show that girls are becoming more sexually confident.
Will this spill over into womanhood? Only time will tell.
In any event, let’s hope this leads to more responsible behavior. On that point, I think we can all agre.
September 16th, 2005 at 11:46 am
I heard NPR coverage of this story, and the main points they emphasized were: 1) that more teenagers, girls and boys alike, are having oral sex because they do not understand (or acknowledge?) that oral sex can be just as risky as intercourse; 2) that the significance of any of these findings (i.e. - girls are not giving as much as receiving) will have to be replicated in other studies before we get too excited ;-) and 3) that we need to be cautious about these findings because teenagers are notorious for not really disclosing about their sex (and drug) lives truthfully - which is why replication is important because it will tend to show that the results are accurate.
September 16th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
From today’s Daily Howler:
Which kind of spoils the conclusions drawn in the third block quote, “Many teenagers have fully accepted the idea…” Unless of course, the half doing oral is the opposite of the half doing intercourse. But alas, no. Also from the Daily Howler:
The New Your Times piece is here: Nationwide Survey Includes Data on Teenage Sex Habits
September 18th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
[...] On Donklephant: A Prairie Home Prosecution, “Under God� Overruled, Foreign Aid, Help Wanted and Human Nature Rears Its Natural Head [...]
August 7th, 2006 at 9:44 am
Good job.