TracieGold 282 Report post Posted April 15, 2010 Oral Sex is Not Really Sex; Just Ask Your Kids by Tom Henderson (Subscribe to Tom Henderson's posts) Apr 14th 2010 9:00AM Categories: Teens & Tweens, Medical Conditions, In The News, Weird But True, Sex Print Email [/url] More We're not talking kissing. Nonetheless, many young people don't accept that they can do other things with their mouths that count as sex. Credit: Damon Dahlen, AOL Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. Theodore Roosevelt gave us the national park system. Bill Clinton's presidential legacy? He convinced us that oral sex isn't really sex. So many people -- especially young people -- believe this that researchers have given phenomenon a name: "The Clinton-Lewinsky Effect." Jason D. Hans and his colleagues at the University of Kentucky in Lexington examine the Clinton-Lewinsky Effect in their report "Sex Redefined: The Reclassification of Oral-Genital Contact." They surveyed undergraduate college students three years ago and found that less than 5 percent of them think oral sex counts as "having sex." Web MD reports this is a big change from 1991 -- less than two years before Clinton took office, a similar survey found that 40 percent of college undergrads considered mouth-to-genital interaction as sex. Researchers point to Clinton's famous statement: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." "Like President Clinton, adolescents and young adults often interpret these words with a degree of latitude, depending on whether they want to maintain an image of being sexually experienced or inexperienced," Hans tells Web MD. Hans adds abstinence-only education and sex education programs that concentrate on vaginal-penile intercourse also may be partly responsible. The survey included 477 undergrads, mostly white heterosexual women, enrolled in a human sexuality class. The majority (98 percent) of participants were 24 or younger. The average age was 20. Researchers are concerned because oral sex has become increasingly acceptable among young people in recent years. They might see it was a less risky. However, Web MD reports, experts say oral-genital contact can lead to sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea and the human papillomavirus (linked to cervical cancer). Hans tells Web MD he and his fellow researchers encourage sex educators to increase awareness about oral sex and how it can lead to the spread of STDs. The full report will be published in the June 2010 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Hugs to all Tracie G.:roll: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
