Kinsey, 60 years later

October 15, 2010 9:40 AM

The Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University, has investigated in 2009 sexual practices in the USA. The results are reported in this month's Special Issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine. (The full text is available behind a short anonymous online survey.)

The study follows a methodology similar to the Kinsey reports in the 50's. The methodology is described on page 256, results are presented on pages 257-265.

Some findings:

- oral sex has become ubiquitous, in particular women receive as much oral sex as men;

- homosexuality is more reported, and more experimented by teenagers;

- anal sex is more practiced than before, mostly in combination with other practices.

posted by knz (14 comments total)

Yes, I'm doing everything right!
posted by nomadicink at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2010

Duke University had something like this recently, except it was a smaller sample size and it was really unethical.

I expect the Lifetime movie about it to begin shooting next week.
posted by inturnaround at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2010 [6 favorites]

The Ass Man Cometh

So what's with all the buggery? Is it brutality? Coercion? A porn-inspired male fantasy at women's expense?

Apparently not. Check out the orgasm data. Among women who had vaginal sex in their last encounter, the percentage who said they reached orgasm was 65. Among those who received oral sex, it was 81. But among those who had anal sex, it was 94. Anal sex outscored cunnilingus.

No way, you say.

Way. Read the data. Table 5, Pages 357-8.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:58 AM on October 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Come on, kinky internet sex!
posted by Theta States at 9:59 AM on October 15, 2010

I expect the Lifetime movie about it to begin shooting next week.

Who could have guessed that the survey organizer was really AN ONLINE PREDATOR!
childrendangerscaredpedophilesattackersomgfamilyvalues
posted by kiltedtaco at 10:02 AM on October 15, 2010

Semi-previously, though the full-text was not publicly available then.
posted by Forktine at 10:07 AM on October 15, 2010

I really need to get in on some of these lucrative studies where obvious results equal me in a new car or something similar.

People are getting their sexy groove on. Check.
"Yeah, can we try that one more time, please? I couldn't quite see her face there. Hey this for SCIENCE!"

Lots of statistics and Powerpoint. Check.
"And as we can see from Figure 117.3a, the 'Big-O' here is clearly representative of Type 32-4 'Personal Satisfaction Matrix Subset F'".

Big paycheck, professional accolades and a space in the Blue. Check.
"Niiiice! Real wood paneling on that BMW 3!"

Bonus: "Hey baby, you would not believe what I picked up from Subject 100-9-C!"
posted by elendil71 at 10:12 AM on October 15, 2010

posted by knz

heh
posted by JohnFredra at 10:12 AM on October 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Again?!? I'm still masturbating to the last time this was posted!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 10:21 AM on October 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Weeellll, I don't think there's anything new under the sun when it comes to sex and the multitude of ways folks are going about having it. What I think does change is how much people are willing to reveal about what they do (or don't do) whilst getting some.
posted by PuppyCat at 10:23 AM on October 15, 2010

What I think does change is how much people are willing to reveal about what they do (or don't do) whilst getting some.

That's kind of an interesting question, and I wonder how from a research perspective you can (or if you can) untangle the two -- how much of, say, the increase in women getting oral sex is due to actual changes in behavior, and how much is due to destigmatization and more people being honest?

Maybe that's not the best example because I'm not sure it carries the same level of stigma that other behaviors do, but with anything even vaguely homosexual I suspect that changing social stigmas may outweigh actual changes in behavior.

There must be ways to track and account for misrepresentation, but it seems like it'd be tricky.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:52 AM on October 15, 2010

Special Issue

I see what you did there.

more like special tissue, amiright
posted by five fresh fish at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2010

My question is, how long before this gets covered by Bill O'Reilly and a guest claiming that Kinsey personally diddled more kids than the entire population of Bloomington, IN in the 1950s?

Kadin2048: One of the strong points behind the original Kinsey study was that the interview process involved a fair amount of establishing trust between interviewer and subject.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2010

Somewhat related: Trojan Sexual Health Report Card for colleges.
posted by morganannie at 12:37 PM on October 15, 2010