i have some exciting news.
according to a national survey of sexual behaviors released yesterday by the federal government, slightly more than half of american teenagers ages 15 to 19 have engaged in oral sex.
in honor of such information, today i am sporting my "i heart pro-choice boys" shirt.
wow. 54 percent?
gosh that sucks for just less than half of american teenagers.
many people (including me) argue that the number is probably higher because many young adults are not forthcoming with their sexual activity.
one can only hope.
the good news for guys who partake of lesbionage (the act of spying on lesbians) is that the study also found that one in seven young women reported having at least one homosexual experience in her lifetime, up from 4% in a similar survey conducted in 1992. that means gather seven of your heterosexual female friends in a room; one of them is lying.
in addition to the fact that i consider anything relating to oral sex worth talking about -- it's my favorite topic of discussion and percussion -- what makes this study even more fabulous is the political conundrum that it presents.
on one hand (pardon the pun), an increase in oral sex means greater risks of gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes and human papillomavirus, in which not even progressives can find favor. on the other hand, the data also suggest that there is a rise in cunnilingus activity, giving women for the first time an equal stake in oral sex. (it's about time the phrase "'tis better to give than to receive" got some leverage.)
so here's the dilemma: stds are bad. but the study is also an indicator of the advancement of women's equality in society.
so the conundrum: does one endorse or condone oral sex based on this study? Because for a lot of organizations and people, this study isn't about sex and oral sex. it's about women's rights -- women and girls becoming more sexually confident.
"it calls into question the stereotype of boys as hunters and girls as prey," said james wagoner, president of advocates for youth, a washington-based reproductive health organization.
he's right; i've been saying that for years. unfortunately, the reporters didn't call me for a quote.
and i suppose that even if we can't have comparable wages in the workplace, at least we have voting and oral sex.
and really, does equality get any better than that?
Two things to say on this:
1.) A boy I like very, very much last night told me that in high school he got a hand job in his chemistry lab. Note here: I am not one of those who engaged in oral sex between 15 and 19. But I seem to find myself hooked up with people who do things like date college girls while in high school, or get hand jobs in a class I almost failed--giving it my full attention. Sad.
2.) I can't remember. I gotta go back and re-read. Be right back.
2.) I have seven best friends from high school, and one of them came out to me (via telling me she had a crush on me) two years ago. She still hasn't told our other friends. However, one of the eight read that same statistic--that one of us is likely to be a lesbian--and has pegged me as the most likely culprit. Every time we drink together and she thinks I'm past my limit, she pop-quizzes me, hoping I'll let something leak. And all this time, my anonymous friend just sits silent...
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