An analysis of a federal survey of youths ages 15-19 found that most who reported having had oral sex did not do so as a means of preserving their virginity. The notion that many teens engage in oral sex as a strategy to avoid vaginal intercourse is a "misperception," said Rachel Jones, a researcher with the Guttmacher Institute who helped do the study.
In the 2002 nationally representative survey of 2,271 teens, more than half reported having had oral sex, including more than four-fifths who had engaged in first intercourse within the previous six months. Less than one-fourth of teens describing themselves as virgins reported oral sex experience. The study could not determine which sexual activity occurred first, noted Jones.
Promoting abstinence does not inadvertently lead some teens to practice oral sex as a way to maintain their virginity, as some critics suggest, say abstinence advocates. "This study... invalidates the suggestion that 'technical virgins' account for the rise in oral and anal sex," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.
"A study like this allows us to begin to dissect what actually is going on," said Claire Brindis, a professor of pediatrics and health policy at the University of California-San Francisco. "It really helps to break both the positive and negative stereotypes."
Among the teens, 50 percent had engaged in vaginal sex and 55 percent oral sex. Among those reporting vaginal sex, 87 percent said they had engaged in oral sex. Among self-described virgins, 23 percent had experienced oral sex. Of teens reporting oral sex, 67 percent had just one partner, "another piece of evidence that there's not a lot of teens engaging in serial oral sex," Jones said.
The findings will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.
05/20/08
UNITED STATES: A Debunking on Teenagers and “Technical Virginity”
Source: Washington Post:: Rob Stein; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention