Sex in America

For the first time ever, Sex in America reveals the myth-shattering results of the only comprehensive and methodologically sound survey of America's sexual practices and beliefs. In 1992, highly regarded social scientists Robert T. Michael, John H. Gagnon, and Edward O. Laumann embarked on an unprecedented study of America's sex life. Working through the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, their staff of 220 interviewers spent seven months interviewing 3,432 scientifically selected respondents about all aspects of their sex lives, histories, and beliefs. More important, unlike the famous but inherently flawed reports of Alfred Kinsey, Redbook and Playboy magazines, Shere Hite, Samuel and Cynthia Janus, and others, this survey relied on a random sample of Americans rather than on an unrepresentative group of volunteers. The resulting data reveal not just what we do sexually but how society shapes even our most private sexual experiences. They show not just why we are the way we are, but what it might take to change this behavior. Sure to arouse considerable controversy, the survey directly contradicts many of the conclusions of previous reports and defies widely held conventional wisdom about America's sexual practices and beliefs, with startling revelations about how often people have sex, how many partners they have, and where they meet them; the likelihood that the AIDS epidemic will spread into the heterosexual population; what people like to do in bed; how many Americans are homosexual; the incidence of forced sex; and why some people are more satisfied with their sex lives than others. After years of misleading statistics and unsubstantiated claims, Sexin America presents a comprehensive, reliable look at America's collective sex life, the definitive word on American sexuality today.