Big New Sex Study in the News

I found out about this big new sex study thanks to David Crary of the Associated Press. I may write more about the study later, but for now I’m just going on th AP story.

The researchers said they were struck by the variety of ways in which the subjects engaged in sex - 41 different combinations of sexual acts were tallied, encompassing vaginal and anal intercourse, oral sex, and partnered masturbation.

Only 41?

Men are more likely to experience orgasm when vaginal intercourse is involved, while women are more likely to reach orgasm when they engage in variety of acts, including oral sex, said researcher Debra Herbenick, lead author of the section about women's sex lives.

Well, yeah. My own research confirms this. It makes sense, based on anatomy.

She noted there was a gap in perceptions - 85 percent of the men said their latest sexual partner had an orgasm, while only 64 percent of the women reported having an orgasm in their most recent sexual event.

Never, never fake it. That's what I've told my partners. If your man could do something different, tell him. If it just isn’t going to happen, tell him. My wife complies. But aside from my first two experience with my first partner, she's the only woman I've been with who says she doesn't need/want to orgasm every time. Part of it has to do with her disability, and part of it has to do with the fact that having an orgasm tends to keep her awake for hours afterwards. This has taken some getting used to for me, because I have always had the "she comes first" mindset, and sharing in her orgasm really turns me on.

One-third of women experienced genital pain during their most recent sex, compared to 5 percent of men, said Herbenick, citing this as an area warranting further study.

How many of them enjoy that pain?

Among adolescent boys, only about 2 percent of the 14-year-olds - but 40 percent of the 17-year-olds - said they had engaged in sexual intercourse in the past year.

This would mean that 60 percent of 17-year-old boys haven't had intercourse, even though some people would have us believe everyone is doing it by that age. Although, what other things have those 60 percent done?

"Just like then, these papers contain material that is avant garde and often considered off-limits," Goldstein wrote in a forward to the study. "At a time when we can have nudity on HBO but cannot use the names of our genitals on the evening news, there remains a need to continue research on sexual health."

This means: "Give me more research money." Seriously – has there ever been someone writing a study that falls in line with their life's work that says, "No more research into this is needed."? It would be like George Lucas saying, "Okay, I think we've done enough with 'Star Wars'."