It is estimated that 50%
of the pregnancies in the
Perhaps as many as 50% of
pregnancies result in miscarriage (many miscarriages occur before pregnancy is
recognized).
15-20%--miscarriage in
recognized preg.
12.5%--rate of prematurity (< 37 weeks)
3.5%--rate of birth
defects
(March of Dimes Web site)
All women of child-bearing
age should be taking 400 mcg. of Folic Acid daily to
reduce the incidence of birth defects.
HUMAN
SEXUALITY, what is normal sexual expression,
or is there such a thing?
Sexuality surveys show us
that activities that might be considered morally wrong or deviant are engaged
in by many people. This make it difficult to call those activities “abnormal”
In the tables below m.=male and f.=female.
Kinsey (1947) Hunt (1972)
Masturbation
General Population-m-92%,
49/yr 94%, 52/yr
f-62%,
21/yr 63%, 37/yr
Married people------m-40%,
12/yr 72%, 24/yr
f--33%, 10/yr 68%, 10/yr
Oral sex
Fellatio---------------------42-43% 61-72%
Cunnilingus----------------45-58% 66-72%
Bestiality-----------m-8%,f-3.6%
m-4.9%,f-2%
male growing up on a farm=17%
Homosexuality Kinsey Hunt
1 contact in life
to orgasm, m=37%,f=20%
1 contact
after age 15, m=25%, f=18%: m=20%, f=16%
exclusive--m=2-3%, f=2% m=2%, f=2%
bisexual
orientation-m=7-8%, f=7-8%:m=7-8%,f=7-8%
1993 Janus
Report -- A nationwide
A. Have you ever had a
homosexual experience?, m=22%, f=17%
B. Do you have frequent or ongoing homosexual
experiences as adults?, m=9%, f=5%.
C. Do you have a self
identity as a homosexual?, m=4%, f=2%.
In part, because of this
survey data the American Psychiatric Association on Dec 14, 1973 voted to
remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental
Disorders. Thus homosexuality is no considered to be abnormal.
RESEARCH ON WHAT IS AROUSING
TO MEN AND WOMEN
In a pilot study, 19
pictures of varying sexual content (e.g., man in undershorts,
nude woman, clothed woman, group oral sex) were shown to a group of male
subjects who rated the pictures on a scale of how aroused they felt viewing the
picture, 0=no arousal, 5=great arousal.
Expecting that men might be
more aroused by pictures and that women might be more aroused by erotic
stories, Byrne and Lamberth then created 19 written
passages, with each passage being a description of the content of each picture.
Thus pictures and written passages were matched in content. Then male and
female subjects were either shown the pictures or given the passages to read.
After each picture or written passage, the subject rated arousal on the same
0=none, 5=great arousal scale. The results:
PICTURES------m=22.7, f=19.5
PASSAGES-----m=23.1, f=25.6
The above results were not
statistically significant. Thus men and women did not differ in their levels of
arousal to either erotic pictures or erotic written passages. However, the
above results showed only mild levels of arousal.
A rating of 1 to each picture or passage would
give a score of 19; a rating of 5 to all 19 stimuli would have given a score of
95!
The same authors then
conducted the study over again, adding a new condition. In the IMAGINATION
condition, which had matching contents with the 19 stimuli, subjects were
simply told to use their imagination to respond to the following content (e.g.,
imaging a naked couple petting). The results showed stronger arousal effects
for the imagination condition, suggesting that imaginative fantasies can be
more personally involving.
PICTURES---------21.12
PASSAGES--------24.33
IMAGINATION--43.15
Again, men and women were equal in overall arousal to the 19 contents, but some contents were differentially arousing to the two genders.
Contents more arousing to m
than f: Clothed woman, group oral
sex, nude woman
Contents more arousing to f
than m: homosexual fellatio, man in undershorts, nude man, man masturbating.
A gender difference in sources of sexual arousal has
recently been discovered.
For men there is greater specificity in the source of
arousal than for women.
For gay men, there must be a male represented in the
erotica for arousal to occur. For straight men, there must be a woman represented
in the erotica for arousal to occur.
Both lesbian women and straight women the source of
arousal can come from either a man or a woman.
THE STAGES OF SEXUAL
AROUSAL, basically the work of MASTERS & JOHNSON
Most experts talk of 5
stages of sexual arousal. The first stage was added by Helen Singer Kaplan; the following four come
from Masters and Johnson.
1a. Desire—Kaplan
Masters & Johnson
1b. Excitement
2. Plateau
3. Orgasm
4. Resolution
Stages 1-4 are marked by physiological changes in vasocongestion (swelling of tissues and blood vessels in the sexual organs) and myotonia (muscle tension). Both these
processes decrease in stage 4. Men and women are similar
in the five stages, except for stage 4. Most men
(after the teen years) go immediately to Resolution after Orgasm. Women are much more capable than men to experience multiple orgasms
before resolution.
Masters and Johnson’s MYTHS of human sexuality:
1. Women have two kinds of
orgasms: vaginal and clitoral. Wrong!
2. Big penises are better
penises. Wrong!
3. Men are more sexually
responsive than women. Wrong!
4. Direct clitoral
stimulation is most pleasurable for a woman. Wrong!
5. Simultaneous orgasms are
the ultimate goal of sexuality. Wrong!