Kinsey revisited, Part I: Comparisons of the sexual socialization and sexual behavior of white women over 33 years

Abstract

This research compared data from two studies of women's sexual behavior--one conducted in the 1940s, the other in the 1980s. The first sample included 3952 white women, ages 18 to 36, drawn from the larger sample of women who participated in the original Kinsey study. The second comprised 122 white women, in the same age range, who had taken part in a recent study of sexual socialization and experiences among women in Los Angeles County, CA. Log-linear analyses were used to control for differences between the samples on age, education, and marital status. Comparisons were conducted in the areas of childhood family characteristics; sexual socialization and education; sexual behavior in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; contraceptive practices; and child sexual abuse. Results tended to reflect changes that have taken place in society and in patterns of sexual behavior. Differences in sexual socialization pointed to the increased role of the media and the schools and to more relaxed attitudes about nudity in the home. Shifts in sexual behavior were particularly dramatic. As compared to women in the Kinsey sample, the newer subjects began intercourse earlier, were less likely to have a fiance or husband as their first partner, reported a higher number of sexual partners, and participated in a broader range of sexual behaviors. Contraceptive practices differed considerably, especially among never-married women. Women in the new study were also more likely to report instances of child sexual abuse. Methodological and social factors contributing to the findings are discussed.

PIP: A comparison of data from 2 studies of female sexual behavior--the 1st conducted in the 1940s as part of the research of the Kinsey Institute and the 2nd carried out in the 1980s among women in Los Angeles--suggests that major societal changes have occurred in patterns of sexual behavior in recent decades. The 1st sample involved 3952 white women 18-36 years of age; the 2nd included 122 white women in the same age group. Women in the 1980s received information about sex from a broader range of sources than their counterparts in the Kinsey study and reported higher frequencies of sexual play in childhood. There was a significant difference between samples in age at 1st intercourse. Over 75% of the Los Angeles women had experienced coitus by the age of 18 years compared with only about 25% of women in the Kinsey sample. Particularly striking was the increase in women beginning sexual activity at 15 years of age or younger from 4% in the 1940s to 23% in the recent sample. Another significant difference between samples involved the total number of male sexual partners: 67% of the Los Angeles women reported 6 or more partners compared with only 17% of women in the earlier study. Also noted were changes in sexual preferences. The proportion of women who engaged in cunnilingus rose from 51% in the Kinsey sample to 87% in the new sample, while the proportion who had practiced fellatio rose from 48% to 93%. The proportion of women reporting an extramarital affair rose from 15% in the Kinsey sample to 37% in the Los Angeles study. 88% of the women in the recent study had used the pill at some point and 45% had used an IUD--methods that were not available to women in the 1940s. However, ever-use of contraception was similar in both studies (95% in the 1940s and 97% in the more recent study. Finally, an alarming trend was the increase in incidents of child sexual abuse by an adult perpetrator, from 25% in the Kinsey study to 45% in the new sample.