Lower-class sexuality: Some emotional and social aspects in West German males and females

Abstract

Emotional and social aspects of lower-class sexuality in West Germany are examined on the basis of results of interviews with 150 male and 150 female, single, 20-21-year-old, unskilled or semi-skilled workers from six large cities. Particular attention was given to the relation between sexuality and love, the significance of fidelity and virginity, partner mobility, mutuality of sexual relations, attitudes to marriage and family, double standards and gender roles, emotional reactions to coitus, as well as the experience of orgasm in the female. A comparison between American and Scandinavian patterns of lower-class sexuality shows that the West German pattern is largely congruent with the Scandinavian pattern.