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Oral Sex is Not Really Sex; Just Ask Your Kids
Filed under: In The News, Sex
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.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 3)
4-14-2010 @ 10:56AM
mbjisajjfan said...This is what happens when parents don't educate their kids on the subject of sex and STDs.
Anyone who doesn't believe oral sex is indeed sex is probably one of those people engaging is this activity quite often and more than likely with just about anyone.
They wouldn't call it Oral Sex if it wasn't Sex...
Reply
4-15-2010 @ 6:55PM
allygator said...yes, mbj, heaven forbid you take part in the activity that is oral sex. And doing so obviously means you will engage in it with "just about everyone". Why does it matter whether they consider it sex or not? It doesn't mean they are unaware of the STI repercussions.
4-15-2010 @ 3:45PM
Mike Uher said...So........is "manual" sex (ie, the girl using her hand on the guy and vice versa) considered sex in your opinion??
4-14-2010 @ 3:19PM
Sara said...It's not sex. It's a sexual activity that's close to sex but it's not sex. And it's impossible to get pregnant from oral sex and that's a good thing.
Kids need to learn to respect themselves and be aware of the message that all sexual activity (kissing, heavy petting, manual stimulation, oral sex ect. . ) is giving to others and how it makes them feel and that they need to be comfortable with what they're doing and the person they are with needs to be also. They also need to learn about the importance of protecting themselves.
Reply
4-15-2010 @ 6:53PM
Tanya said...It's all sex! Sex is a broad term.
5-21-2010 @ 11:07PM
Billy said...I wish I could agree with you, however handling a sexual organ and achieving stimulation by oral stimulation is simply vaginal penetration by a different channel; it is sex. (that little dot? thats a period there)
4-14-2010 @ 4:11PM
abtru said...I read about this report this morning so I asked my 13 and 11 year old sons about this. Luckily I got the same answer from both of them, " Yeah, it's sex it says so in the name." So I'm wondering how two young men that have hardly hit their teens can figure this out then why can't college students make this distiction. It may not result in pregnancy but it is still sex.
Reply
4-14-2010 @ 4:30PM
nelly said.......PARENTDISH WHERE'S THE LESSON HERE...
ITS JUST A QUOTE....FROM MR CLINTON
SEX TO ME DEALS WITH... PENE- TRATION...AND WHY IS THE ARTICLE ATTACHED TO THE LADY WITH RED LIPS SUCKING A CHOCOLATE POPSICLE..THEN YOU WONDER WHO IS GONNA ADVICE KIDS OF WHAT OR EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT? I GUESS WHAT YOU ARE SAYIN IS SUCKING A LOLLIPOP OR SUCKING A POPSICLE IS SEXUAL TOO..WHO ARE THOSE RESEARCHERS...I BET YOU THEY SUCK POPSICLES
SOMETIMES THESE ARTICLES ARE JUST IN PLAIN ENGLISH "SENSELESS" I MEAN THE ONE BEHIND THE KEYBOARD IS....
Reply
8-01-2010 @ 10:20AM
Craig said...You sir/ madam, are an idiot.
4-15-2010 @ 10:32AM
Alan Horachek said...What if we asked our partners if oral sex is sex. I think that is all that matters here. You can't change what people believe. Some say there is a god some say there isn't. Same deal different subject.
Reply
6-06-2011 @ 11:03AM
Angela said...It is still sex, whether or not your partner agrees. If you partake in oral with someone else while in a committed relationship.....that is still cheating. Same As vaginal penetration. I do believe that all women will agree!
4-16-2010 @ 2:15PM
Amanda said...Sorry but I agree oral sex isn't sex. And I don't think I can be convinced otherwise. However, kids should be informed that oral sex carries many the same risks as intercourse.
Reply
5-25-2010 @ 10:47PM
Tara said...You must be a lot of fun at a party.
5-31-2010 @ 9:12AM
Jake Klaus said...You are a woot, you said it twice in your comment dummy, "ORAL SEX "
5-31-2010 @ 10:46PM
sendithere17 said...So I guess you guys told people you lost your virginity when you had oral sex?
4-17-2010 @ 1:55AM
Don said...Activity which involves the male/female sex organ is sex whether there is penetration or not.
Reply
4-26-2010 @ 1:27PM
Shelley said...As an abstinence educator, I explicitly address oral sex with all of my classes. I tell them, "The only thing you can't get from oral sex is pregnant. Remember those herpes blisters? They can happen in your mouth, too." Oral sex is an incredibly intimate activity, and the fact that it has been downplayed is dangerous for our teenagers, both physically and emotionally.
Reply
5-23-2010 @ 3:26PM
k said...Oral sex is not sex. It's foreplay which means be(fore) sex. As for the disease argument you can get many diseases just from breathing or kissing, so is breathing and kissing sex too? Please... As for it having sex in the name... so does gender as in boy or girl so is that sex? Only kids believe anything that uses the word sex IS sex. For the grownups I'd like to think we know better. Another case in point how about asexual, that must be about sex too...
Reply
5-24-2010 @ 2:46PM
TLL said...Oh, man. This argument is kinda full'a holes.
"Oral sex is not sex. It's foreplay which means be(fore) sex."
This sounds more like an opinion being stated as a 'fact'. So does this mean lesbians who only engage in oral sex aren't having sex at all--it's only 'foreplay'?
"As for the disease argument you can get many diseases just from breathing or kissing, so is breathing and kissing sex too?"
Most diseases transferred through just breathing and kissing are not STD's, such as mononucleosis or many other viruses. As for the ones that are classified as STD's, the only point you've made here is that yes, maybe kissing could be classified as sexual behavior.
"Please... As for it having sex in the name... so does gender as in boy or girl so is that sex? Only kids believe anything that uses the word sex IS sex. For the grownups I'd like to think we know better. Another case in point how about asexual, that must be about sex too..."
Pretty much all of this is just one illogical statement after the other. Let's start with the beginning. In the case of both the 'gender related sex' argument and the 'asexual' argument, the thing is, the words you're digging up are related to, well, one's gender, and one's sexual orientation--NOT to 'sexual relations'. When one says that 'oral sex is sex', they have a more valid point because oral sex DOES pertain to sexual relations. Does oral sex describe the gender of a person? No. Does it describe the sexual orientation of a person? No. It describes a sexual act between two people. Yes, you're right--not every phrase with 'sex' in it should be taken to mean 'sex'. However, in this case, it does.
The entire 'only kids' thing is just trying to bully those who read your comment into believing what you believe. 'only MATURE people think of it THIS way, so if you don't, you're not mature.' This both makes no sense, and is rather rude. People are allowed to have opinions.
Basically, yes. A lot of things use the terms 'sex'. We get it. However, this is specifically about the kind of 'sex' that is related to 'sexual relations'. Think of it this way--if you were to go to the doctor, and they asked you if you were sexually active, anything that would make you consider that, yes, you were, is some form of sex. Perhaps not sexual INTERCOURSE, but you ARE engaging in sexual activity with another person. I consider oral sex to be a form of sex because, if I went to the doctor and they asked me that, it seems silly to me to go 'oh, no, i'm not sexually active. i'm just having oral/manual sex'.
I apologize if any of this seems jumbled or redundant. I've never been particularly skilled at explaining points clearly.
5-25-2010 @ 9:52PM
Min said...The digestive system and the reproduction system and the excretory system have different functions. They were designed to do different things. When having sex, naturally, as the body was desigend to do utilyzing the vagina and the penis, becoming pregnant is an option. The option is reproduction using the reproductive system. Oral sex can also rotten your teeth, cause digestive problems, blind you if herpes is passed along, ...just think about it. It is another perversion that mankind has used to try to fulfill his lust. Dogs, cats, and animals of the lower nature use their mouths to seduce their partners' sexual organs. Now where does that place you who have been given a brain that is suppose to function on a higher level of 'decision making'?