1.7: Sexuality in the United States
The United States prides itself on being the “land of the free,” but it is rather restrictive when it comes to its citizens’ general attitudes about sex compared to other industrialized nations. In an international survey, 29 percent of Americans stated that premarital sex is always wrong, while the average among the 24 countries surveyed was 17 percent. Similar discrepancies were found in questions about the condemnation of sex before the age of 16, extramarital sex, and homosexuality, with American total disapproval of these each acts being 12, 13, and 11 percent higher, respectively, than the study’s average (Widmer, Treas and Newcomb 1998).
American culture is particularly restrictive in its attitudes about sex when it comes to female bodied individuals. Perceived expectations and rules around sexuality fall along gender lines, and while the U.S. often fails to consider gender beyond the binary, when it comes to values and normative practices, the binary model always disadvantages female gendered people when it comes to sexual freedom. It is widely believed that male gendered people are more sexual than are female gendered ones. In fact, there is a popular notion that male gendered people think about sex every seven seconds. Research, however, suggests that male gendered people think about sex an average of 19 times per day, compared to 10 times per day for female gendered people (Fisher, Moore, and Pittenger 2011).
Belief that male gendered people have—or have the right to—more sexual urges than female gendered people creates a double standard. Ira Reiss, a pioneer researcher in the field of sexual studies, defined the double standard as prohibiting premarital sexual intercourse for female gendered people but allowing it for male gendered people (Reiss 1960). This standard has evolved into allowing female gendered people to engage in premarital sex only within committed love relationships, but allowing male gendered people to engage in sexual relationships with as many partners as they wish without condition (Milhausen and Herold 1999). Due to this double standard, a female gendered person is likely to have fewer sexual partners in their life time than a male gendered person. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey, the average 35-year-old female gendered person has had three opposite-sex sexual partners, while the average 35-year-old male gendered person has had twice as many (Centers for Disease Control 2011).
The future of a society’s sexual attitudes may be somewhat predicted by the values and beliefs that a country’s youth expresses about sex and sexuality. Data from the 2008 National Survey of Family Growth reveals that 64 percent of boys and 71 percent of girls ages 15–19 said they “agree” or “strongly agree” that “it’s okay for an unmarried female to have a child.” In a separate survey, 65 percent of teens stated that they “strongly agreed” or “somewhat agreed” that although waiting until marriage for sex is a nice idea, it’s not realistic (NBC News 2005). This does not mean that today’s youth have given up traditional sexual values such as monogamy. Nearly all college students (99%), regardless of gender who participated in a 2002 study on sexual attitudes stated they wished to settle down with one mutually exclusive sexual partner at some point in their lives, ideally within the next five years (Pedersen et al. 2002).
Comprehensive sex education should begin in early childhood, continue through a lifespan and be developmentally appropriate. The programs should not only focus on prevention of STI and unintended pregnancy, but also teach about forms of sexual expression, healthy relationships, gender identity and sexual orientation, communication, preventing sexual violence and consent.
California Department of Education: If schools provide comprehensive sex education, what must it include?
EC Section 51933 . First drafted in 1976 and most recently updated in 2015, requires that comprehensive sexual health education shall be age appropriate; medically accurate and objective; available on an equal basis to English language learners; appropriate for use with pupils of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds; and appropriate for and accessible to pupils with disabilities. This education shall encourage students to communicate with their parents or guardians about human sexuality and shall also teach respect for marriage and committed relationships. It shall not teach or promote religious doctrine nor reflect or promote bias against any person on the basis of any category protected by the non-discrimination policy codified in EC Section 220.
In accordance with EC Section 51933, in grades seven through twelve sex education classes shall also teach about:
- Abstinence from sexual activity
- STDs, including their transmission, treatment, and prevention and information about the effectiveness and safety of all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved methods reducing the risk of contracting STDs
- The effectiveness and safety of all contraceptive methods approved by the FDA
- The California law allows parents to surrender newborn babies to hospitals or other designated sites without legal penalty.
- In grades seven through twelve, sex education classes shall also provide students with skills for making and implementing responsible decisions about sexuality. All of the above topics may also be included in classes taught prior to seventh grade.