It’s been 45 years since the groundbreaking Kinsey report told us Americans were having more sex than we’d thought. Now, after surveying nearly 8,000 Americans over the past nine years, researchers Samuel and Cynthia Janus report that Americans are still going at it. (In fact, the couple had to recalibrate their stats after discovering that people were sleeping with more partners than they’d anticipated.) Samuel Janus, a Ph.D., is a noted sex counselor and researcher; Cynthia Janus is a medical doctor who specializes in radiology. Unlike Kinsey, who based his work mostly on white, educated Midwesterners, they say their study is a representative sample because it cuts across social classes and geographic regions.
The biggest nugget of news here is that sexual activity among Americans between 18 and 26 has increased sharply over the past three years: 66 percent of women and 62 percent of men say they’re busier now than they were when the AIDS scare peaked in the late ’80s. Despite evidence to the contrary, the respondents increasingly see AIDS as a “problem of the poor and gay communities,” the authors conclude. For the record, the subjects were not asked how the change in administrations affected their overall friskiness.
Aside from a few other grave findings–preteen sex is up–the book does illuminate a number of interesting developments since the Kinsey report, particularly on the abortion front. We learn that almost one third of Roman Catholic women have had at least one-and that one fifth of all abortions are had by women under 18. Meanwhile, older people are having sex as often as teenagers (and perhaps masturbating more) and most Catholics now use contraception.
This book won’t be a big hit with conservative types. The Januses couldn’t have given liberals and the nonreligious more fodder if they’d published a grainy photo of Pat Buchanan in a strapless dress. Their statistics show that “very religious” people actually cheat on their spouses more than plain old “religious” people. They also offer choice sound bites from subjects in each chapter-and very few provide good PR for the Family Values party. “I love doing conventions, particularly the Republicans,” gushes a 31-year-old female subject described simply as a “hostess/demonstrator.” “Not only Republicans; almost any very conservative group … Many of these come to these functions without their wives, but even if they have their wives, they sneak around and they serve up sex action like you wouldn’t believe.”
Let’s not kid ourselves. The Januses may call this science, but to most readers the book will be the sexual equivalent of “The Bill James Baseball Abstract.” It’s a veritable fountain of ridiculous, if inspired, sex trivia that will be most useful in frat houses and locker rooms (Yo, Chip, 28 percent of female grad students like to talk dirty!). But the most curious thing about this book is what it omits. How could a purportedly “broad-scale” survey of sexual behavior in the ’80s and ’90s discuss homosexuality only briefly, noting that 22 percent of men and 17 percent of women have had at least one experience? And although there’s plenty of detail about contraception, the authors don’t consider the impact of sexually transmitted diseases on its use. Finally, a few of the stats seem to prove that numbers can lie. Are we to believe that 50 percent of women who have been paid for sex now earn at least $100,000 a year?
Still, the authors must be betting that there are a lot of people out there who just won’t sleep until they see, say, a statistical breakdown of religious attitudes toward oral sex. If you are part of that silent majority, this book is for you. But when you get to the juicy section where 10 percent of all male respondents claim to have had sex with more than 100 partners, remember this one sexual truth: men lie.
Women who always have an orgasm while having sex: 15%
Men who always have an orgasm while having sex: 65%
Nonreligious people who think pain and pleasure go together in sex: 10%
Religious people who think pain and pleasure go together in sex: 15%
Men age 18 to 26 who have sex a few times a week: 38%
Men age 65 and over who have sex a few times a week: 39%
Ultraliberals who think simultaneous orgasm is a must for gratifying sex: 15%
Ultraconservatives who think simultaneous orgasm is a must for gratifying sex: 29%
Westerners who have had sex with more than 100 partners: 15%
Midwesterners who have had sex with more than 100 partners: 1%
SOURCE: “THE JANUS REPORT ON SEXUAL BEHAVIOR”
