Day 366 (b)--Fun facts about female sexuality

I am so dismayed at what's been going in politics these days with women's rights.  

In the past six months Virgina tried to pass a bill to force a woman to see an ultrasound before getting an abortion (including women who were pregnant due to rape), Arizona passed a bill stating the pregnancy starts BEFORE conception, Susan G. Koman organization briefly cut grant money to Planned Parenthood (money which is specifically used for monograms) because PP is a leader in abortions, not to mention the firestorm about contraception being included in heath care or not, and if that makes us "sluts".  

Why is sexuality someone else's business?  And has female sexuality ever not been controversial?  And why is that? 

Which brings me to the larger issue: why aren't we, us women, talking about our sexuality?  Why aren't we fighting for us?  Why are facts about female sexuality so fucking taboo?  So let's change that.

Speaking of numbers:

 
-- More than half of women ages 18 to 49 reported masturbating during the previous 90 days.  

[The University of Indiana's National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, 2010]

-- The average age a girl loses her virginity is 17.3.  

[National Center for Health Statistics, Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data from the 2002 National Survey]

--In the past year: 75% of women in their twenties gave oral sex to a man, and 71% of women received oral sex from a man.  59% of woman in their thirties gave oral sex to a man, and 59% of women received oral sex from a man.  53% of women in their forties gave oral sex to a man, and 52% of women received oral sex from a man.  

[The University of Indiana's National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, 2010]  

--In other words, 89% of women and 90% of men ever had oral sex with an opposite-sex partner.

-- 36% of women have had anal sex with an opposite-sex partner. 12% of women reported any same-sex contact in their lifetimes. 

[National Survey of Family Growth, 2006-2008]

--Speaking of which, 14.4%  of women consider themselves 'sexual but not strictly heterosexual, i.e. either lesbian or bisexual'.  

[Study done by Cornell University of 20,000 individuals in 80 communities, as quoted by Psychology Today]. 

-- By the age of 22-24, 92% of women have had intercourse

[The National Center for Health Statistics, 2006-2008]

-- The median number of (male) sexual partners a woman age 25-44 has had in her lifetime is 3.6.  The percent of women 25-44 years of age who have had 15 or more male sexual partners is 10.4%.

[study done by the National Center of Health Statistics, 2006-2008]

-- 12% of women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Please please please get checked.

[The National Cancer Institute, SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1975–2007]

Important facts about abortion

According to 2011 statistics done by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: 

--Nearly half of all pregnancies among US women are unintended, and four in 10 of those end in abortion.

--Each year, 2% of women ages 15–44 have an abortion; half of them have had at least one previous abortion. 

--At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45, and about one-third will have had an abortion. 

--Abortions per year have been 

year        number         rate per 1,000 women

2008      1,212,350     19.2

2007      1,209,640     19.5

2006      1,242,200     19.9

2005      1,206,200     19.4

2000      1,313,000     21.3

1995      1,359,400     22.5

1990      1,608,600     27.4

1985      1,588,600     28.0

1980      1,553,900     29.3

1975      1,034,200     21.7

According to 2011 statistics by The Guttmacher Institute which states the same findings: 

--22%  of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.  

--At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45, and, at current rates, one in 10 women will have an abortion by age 20, one in four by age 30 and three in 10 by age 45.

According to The American Pregnancy Association which states the same study findings:  

--Each year in the United States 1,200,000 women experience pregnancy loss through termination.

Abortions are happening.  Too many of them. And banning abortion won't solve the problem. Clearly there needs to be more information about contraception, and both birth control pills and condoms are free in many states.  People are going to have sex, so make it safe, make each child wanted.

Back to fun sex facts


--By age 44, 95% of men and women had had premarital sex; 97% of those who had ever had sex had premarital sex.

[Public Health Reports, researchers analyzed data from four cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth from 1982 to 2002]

A brief note on women's bodies 


-- The pH level of vaginal fluid is 4.5, which is the same acidity scale as tomatoes and beer. 

[American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology]

-- All women have some form of vaginal discharge (usually daily). Normal discharge may appear clear, cloudy white, and/or yellowish when dry on clothing.

[University of Illinois, McKinley Health Center]

-- The average weight of American women is 164.7 pounds, which is up from the average 140 pounds in 1960. 

[The National Health and Nutrition Survey, 2006]

Back to sex


According to polls done in 2004 by the esteemed TNS and reported by ABC News with a 2.5 error margin, the average American's sex life includes:

Sex outdoors	57%
Discuss fantasies	51
Faked orgasm (women)	48
Sexually adventurous	42
First-date sex	29
Paid for sex (men)	15
Paid for sex (single men, 30+)	30

 

Did it	Fantasized about it
Cheated	16%	30
Threesome	14	21
Sex at work	12	10

	Men	Women
Always have orgasms	74%	30
Usually	23	45
Less often	3	24

Cheating: Who's Done It
All	16%
Men	21
Women	11
No children under 18	19
Dissatisfied w/ sex life	34
Single men 30+	42

--53 percent of women (and 45 percent of men) ages 18 to 60 use vibrators.

[2009 studies done by Indiana University's Center for Sexual Health Promotion in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine]

--And for that matter 1 in 4 women used a vibrator this month. 

[same study, 2009 Indiana University's Center for Sexual Health Promotion in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine]

Other's people sex lives aren't about your comfort nor mine.  It's not your choice.  And that's the point.  Sex is a person's choice.  Their choice. 

And while our sex is our business, maybe we should stop making it invisible.  Because let's look at facts.  WOMEN HAVE SEX.  Let's repeat that, WOMEN HAVE SEX.  People have sex.  And not something to be bashful about or made illegal or stigmatized.  

What would happen, do you think, if one day (let's say tomorrow) all Americans wore shirts that accurately reflected us.  On the front we would wear I HAVE SEX or I DO NOT HAVE SEX, and on the back we can write all of the things we do or don't do like, I MASTURBATE, or I HAVEN'T HAD AN ORGASM, or I HAVE ONE-NIGHT STANDS, or I AM IN A COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP, or whatever.  Do you think that sexuality would be such a debate if it wasn't such a taboo topic? 

Knowledge is power, but so is voice.  Stand up for the rights of your body and be aware that a fight against sexuality is a fight against choice.  

And have an amazing day doin' whatever it is ya like ta do.