Oral, lesbian sex on top
2005-09-29 13:07
Los Angeles - The US government's largest-ever survey of the nation's sexual practices has found that US teenagers are increasingly engaging in oral sex as a strategy to avoid Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The report also found a dramatic increase in the number of women who said they had engaged in a lesbian relationship.
About 11% of women aged between 18 and 44 said they have had a lesbian sexual experience, up from six percent in a previous poll in 1992. In the 18 to 29 age group, 14% of women said they had engaged in lesbian sex.
Taken together, the two findings suggest a shift in sexual practices, in which females are using oral and lesbian sex "as a safer alternative than (vaginal) sex with men", said epidemiologist William Mosher of the National Centre for Health Statistics, the study's lead author.
Researchers said that the rise in reported lesbian experiences might also be the result of greater female sexual freedom and increasing social acceptance of lesbianism, especially in college, where the phenomenon known as "LUG - lesbian until graduation" is increasingly widespread.
Significant evolution in social attitudes
The number of adult males reporting homosexual relationships was around six percent - the same figure as in 1992.
Researchers found that men age 30 to 44 have had a median of six to eight sexual partners in their lifetimes; while women's median was about four.
Among people aged 25 to 44, 97% of men and 98% of women have had vaginal intercourse, while 90% of men and 88% of women have had oral sex with people of the opposite sex.
The survey found that among teens ages 15 to 19, 55% of males and 54% of females had engaged in oral sex, rising to nearly 70% for those who are 18 and 19. Some 53% of girls 15 to 19 and 49% of boys reported that they have had full intercourse.
The parity between the sexes represented a significant evolution in social attitudes, according to James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a reproductive health organisation in Washington. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA