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havior among gay and lesbian couples has shown some interesting trends. A notable finding in Blumstein and Schwartz’s (1983) research is that the frequency of sex in lesbian couples is low compared to that in other couples. Among lesbian couples who had been together two to ten years, more than 25 percent reported having sex once a month or less. This finding has been explained in terms of women’s sexual socialization, different definitions of sexuality, and age of couples (Blumstein and Schwartz 1983; Johnson 1990). By contrast, Blumstein and Schwarz (1983) report that gay male couples report higher sexual frequency than do married couples (of one to ten years). This often is explained in terms of men’s socialization to value sexuality. Research on sexual frequency in committed couples illustrates the significance of gender and thus the diversity of relationships and attendant sexual behavior among self-identified gay men and lesbians.

Research about the diversity of sexual behaviors among gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults expanded in the 1990s. In general, gender is understood to account for variation of sexual behavior in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual population: Men having sex with men are understood to do so differently (in terms of frequency and activities) than women having sex with women. Variation also has been found within sexual identity categories. For example, it has been found that individuals involved in bisexual behavior have a variety of relationship types (Blumstein and Schwartz 1976). Meanwhile, distinctions in regard to adult samesex sexual behavior in terms of race are not well understood. In a national-level study of more than 700 coupled, homosexually active African-Ameri- can men and women, most of the respondents reported satisfying sex lives with their current partners and variation of sexual frequency among couples but no systematic difference between women and men (Peplau et al. 1997). The varieties of sexual behavior within gay, lesbian, and bisexual categories and couples are just being discovered.

The politics of sexuality research in the era of HIV/AIDS has expanded the understanding of sexual behavior among adults, but only in particular arenas. For example, national-level research on sexual behaviors among bisexual men and women and lesbians remains limited (Doll 1997). In addition, the way in which studies of male homosexuality have been conducted differentially operationalizes

‘‘homosexual’’ as an identity, so that populations of men who have sex with men (MSM) sometimes are included and at other times are excluded (Carballo-Dieguez 1997; Sandfort 1997). Clearly, studies of sexuality expanded dramatically in the 1990s, yet this growth pattern has been shaped by concerns associated with an era of HIV/AIDS.

Sexual Behavior among Elderly Persons. Although the proportion of the U.S. population over age 50 continues to grow, research addressing the relationship between aging and sexuality, in particular the sexual behavior of the elderly population (65 and older) is quite limited because of its frequent use of small nonrepresentative samples, its cross-sectional research designs, and its narrow, youth-oriented definition of sexuality as coitus. Consequently, generalizations are difficult to make, and most research on elderly persons’ sexual behavior deals with the physiological and psychological aspects of this phenomenon. The Viagra revolution undoubtedly will prompt researchers to devote more attention to older persons’ sexuality (Butler 1998).

Two of the more frequently cited, though perhaps dated, studies of aging and sexuality issues are the Starr-Weiner Report (1981) and the second Duke Longitudinal Study (George and Weiler 1981), neither of which was based on random sampling techniques. The former study included 800 sociodemographically diverse participants in senior centers, while the latter included a panel design of men and women health insurance program participants who were 46 to 71 years of age at the first observation period in 1969 and were followed for six years (n = 348 for those enrolled in all four data collection points). Seventyfive percent of the respondents in the first study reported that sex felt as good as or better than it did when they were younger. The results from an analysis restricted to the 278 married respondents who had been retained throughout the Duke study revealed that pattens of sexual interest and activity remained fairly stable over time, men reported higher levels of sexual interest and activity than did their female age peers, and younger cohorts of respondents reported higher levels of sexual interest and activity.

Compared to earlier studies (e.g., the Kinsey reports), the Starr-Weider and Duke studies as well as more recent ones have found higher levels

of sexual activity among older persons. Accordingly, Riporetelia-Muller (1989, p. 214) concluded that ‘‘for those elderly who remain sexually active and have a regular partner, the rate of decline is not as great as formerly believed.’’ However, many older persons do not remain sexually active. Using data from the second Duke study, George and Weiler (1981) found that among those who were at least 56 years of age at the first observation date, 21 percent of men and 39 percent of women reported six years later that they had abstained from sexual relations throughout the study or were currently inactive.

In a study using data from a nationally representative household sample (Marsiglio and Donnelly 1991), about 53 percent of all married persons 60 years of age and older reported having sex in the past month, with 65 percent of those 60 to 65 years old being sexually active compared to 44 percent of those 66 or older. Among those who had been sexually active during the past month, the overall mean frequency for sexual relations was 4.3 times. In a multivariate context, persons were most likely to have had sex during the past month if they were younger, had a higher sense of self-worth and competency, and were married to a spouse who self-reported his or her health status as favorable. Surprisingly, when an interaction term was used to compare husbands and wives, no significant differences were observed in the way the partner’s health status was related to sexual behavior, although other research has found that both husbands and wives report that males’ attitude or physical condition tends to be the principal reason why they have curtailed or ceased to have sexual relations. Meanwhile, other research indicates that being widowed is the most frequently cited reason for not being sexually active among older women overall. While data on persons who are institutionalized are scarce, it appears that their sexual activity levels are low.

Being without a spouse does not necessarily mean that older persons are sexually inactive. Brecher (1984) reported, for example, that among unmarried persons 60 years of age and older, about 75 percent of men and 50 percent of women were sexually active. This is reinforced by Starr and Weiner’s (1981) finding that 70 percent of their respondents over 60 were sexually active, although only 47 percent were married. Finally, masturbation is an option used by some elderly

persons to express their sexuality, presumably in a nonsocial setting. In a few studies, about one-third of women and slightly less than one-half of men over 70 report masturbating.

Just as stereotypes about elderly people and sexuality abound, so do stereotypes about the sexuality of gay, lesbian, and bisexual elders. However, research suggests that gays and lesbians offer a model of successful aging (Berger 1996). In terms of actual sexual behaviors, many of the gay men interviewed for this study reported that their frequency of sex had changed as they aged, supporting the idea that age is associated with a lower frequency of sexual relations (Berger 1996). Similarly, another study based on self-report data obtained from men between 40 and 77 years old found that the majority of these self-identified gay men were currently sexually active, although sexual interest declined somewhat with age. The majority reported no change in their enjoyment of sex from their younger years to the present (Pope and Schulz 1990). The myth of sexual and emotional isolation for lesbians is also challenged by a series of in-depth interviews with 20 women over age 50 who self-identified as lesbian. This research found that lesbians continue to be sexually active and tend to seek out other older women as partners (Raphael and Robinson 1992). Like other research on aging and sexuality, research on selfidentified gay and lesbian elders shows that they have continued interest in expressing themselves sexually.

CONSENT AND COERCION

In recent decades, researchers have increasingly focused on ‘‘rape and other forms of sexual coercion’’ (Muehlenhard 1994, p. 143). A few observers have reacted by asserting that the data assessing sexual coerciveness among adults who are known to one another are seriously flawed and thus exaggerate their substantive and policy significance (Roiphe 1993; Muehlenhard et al. 1994). However, most social scientists and clinicians consider sexual coerciveness to be both serious and significant and have begun to scrutinize the conceptual and measurement problems that underlie its use.

Perhaps the most significant historical distinction in this realm was between stranger versus nonstranger, or unknown versus known. Rape

occurred most convincingly—to the minds of jurors, for example—when a man who was totally unknown to a woman executed penile penetration. If the man had been known to the woman in any way, her charge of forcible sex could be undermined, depending on how well she knew the man. If, for example, the man was her husband, she could not claim rape at all because consenting to be married carried the obligation to give her body to him unreservedly.

Koss and her colleagues were among the first to expand the discourse on sexual coercion beyond its conventional historical understanding. Using a national survey of college students, they reported that 38 percent of female college students reported sexual victimization that met the legal criterion for rape or attempted rape and almost 8 percent of males admitted to behaviors that could be classified as raped or attempted rape with at least one woman since the fourteenth birthday (Koss et al. 1985, 1988). Their conclusions were supported by other studies (Mosher and Anderson 1986; Rapaport and Burkhart 1984). Using data from the 1987 wave of the National Survey of Children, Moore et al. (1989) found that about 7 percent of U.S. adults aged 18–22 (females being more likely than males) confirmed that they had sex against their will or had been raped on at least one occasion. Other researchers have reported that between 10 and 12 percent of women report having been raped by dates and between 8 and 14 percent of wives report that their husbands have sexually assaulted or raped them (Finkelhor and Yilo 1985; Russell and Howell 1982).

Estimating the prevalence of the various forms of coercive sexuality is exceedingly difficult because the Uniform Crime Reports are widely believed to underreport the true rate of sex crimes and anonymous, self-report surveys vary widely in sampling techniques and findings. Nevertheless, Grauerholz and Solomon’s (1989) review of research in this area suggests that a large proportion of the U.S. population has experienced or will experience coercive sexual relations as a victim, a perpetrator, or both. A comparison of sexual coercion among university students in the United States and Sweden found higher rates in the United States (Lottes and Weinberg 1996). Researchers’ estimates of the pervasiveness of incest in the United States may vary the most. Whereas some researchers have observed that about 1 percent of

U.S. females have been incest victims (Kempe and Kempe 1984), others have reported much higher figures. For example, Russell (1984) found that 16 percent of her large household sample of women 18 years of age and older in San Francisco had experienced incest before age 18, and 20 percent of Finkelhor’s (1979) predominantly white, mid- dle-class New England college student sample who were raised primarily in nonmetropolitan areas reported having been an incest victim. The 1998 National Violence Against Women survey of 8,000 women estimated that some 17.7 million women in the United States, nearly 18 percent, have been raped or have been the victim of attempted rape. Nearly half the victims were assaulted before their seventeenth birthday. Some three-quarters of those saying they had been raped or assaulted as adults reported that the perpetrator was a current or former husband, a cohabiting partner, or a date.

Not only is sexual coercion an issue for many women, there is evidence to suggest that it is pertinent for some boys and men as well (Finkelhor 1979; Moore et al. 1989). A study of 115 sexually assaulted men found that the majority were assaulted at age 15 or younger, about half were assaulted more than once, and a majority knew their assailants. Among the 115 surveyed, 100 were assaulted by at least one man, 7 by a man and a woman, and 8 by women (King and Wollett 1997). Further, much of the research about sexual assault on men assumes that it is primarily heterosexual men who are the perpetrators of sexual assault on other men, doing so to express power and control. However, in a study of 930 ‘‘homosexually-active males’’ in England and Wales, about 28 percent reported having been sexually assaulted or having had sex against their will at some point in their lives. Moreover, 33 percent of the respondents reported being forced into sexual activity by men with whom they had previously had or were currently having consensual sexual activity. This research suggests that sexual assault in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community needs to be researched further (Hickson et al. 1994). Some studies (Struckman-Johnson and Struckman-John- son 1994) indicate that some men report that they were pressured or coerced by women into a sexual experience. Other studies focus on men both in and outside of prison who coerce and/or physically force other men into having sex (King and Wollett 1997; Struckman-Johnson et al. 1996).

In an effort to clarify matters of coercion and consent in the case of both sexes, O’Sullivan and Allgeier (1998) proposed a series of points along a continuum. First, there is sexual activity among persons known to each other that is the result of actual or threatened restraint, aggression, or force. It can be done by men against women and by men against men. Logically, it could involve women against women, but empirically that appears to be quite rare even in a prison situation (StruckmanJohnson et al. 1996), although Renzetti’s (1992) research on partner abuse among lesbian couples suggests that lesbian couples experience a cycle of violence that can include sexual assault. Nevertheless, the general lack of empirical evidence about coercive sex between women could indicate either lower rates of occurrence or gaps in the research. Coercive sex also could be initiated by women against men, but again, this seems to be rare and is associated with the male having become intoxicated (Struckman-Johnson and Struckman-John- son 1994). O’Sullivan and Allgeier (1998, p. 234) summarize the first category as ‘‘coercive interactions in which a person [submits] to . . . sexual activity but does so under duress.’’

Their second category of sexual activity occurs as the result of ‘‘seduction interactions in which one partner is clearly resistant,’’ [and a third is]

‘‘‘token resistance’ interactions in which a person expresses nonconsent but is willing and intends to engage in the sexual activity.’’ Their final category is ‘‘willing participation in an unwanted sexual activity.’’ This refers to ‘‘situations in which a person freely consents to sexual activity . . . without experiencing a concomitant desire for the initiated sexual activity.’’ They review literature suggesting the validity of these four categories and present their own research in support of the last one. Future research, they imply, should utilize these and/or other constructs to sort out differences along the consent-coercion continuum.

With evidence that coercive sexuality is prevalent, the question remains: Why do many men and some women coerce others to have sex with them? Some theorists argue that males are more likely to engage in various forms of coercive sexuality if they have strong ties to a peer group that supports sexually aggressive behavior. Compared to their less stereotypically masculine counterparts, men studied in the research noted above who possess traditionally masculine personality characteristics

and hold rigid views of gender stereotypes are more likely to report that they have used physical force and threats to have sex and probably would use physical force to obtain sex if they could be assured that they would not be prosecuted. Other theorists have argued that a small percentage of women may facilitate different forms of coercive sexuality by playing sexually receptive or seductive roles. Not surprisingly, it is common for sexual assailants to believe, or at least report, that their victims were willing participants who enjoyed themselves while being sexually assaulted, even though these perceptions are clearly inconsistent with the victims’ accounts (Scully and Marolla 1984).

While the several forms of coercive sexuality share a number of themes, such as the objectification of women, individual factors and circumstances may be significant in accounting for why particular types of coercive sexuality occur. One of the important factors that seem to distinguish the typical stranger or acquaintance rapist from the ‘‘average’’ date rapist is the former’s greater tendency to have been sexually or physically abused by his parents or others. Date rapes tend to involve partners who knew one another and had established at least a modicum of interpersonal trust by making a commitment to spend time together. The dynamic nature of the interaction episodes that typify date rapes and the fact that at least one of the persons often has been influenced by drugs, alcohol, or both can obscure the participants’ intentions and behavior. Furthermore, the more individuals’ sexual scripting is influenced by traditional gender socialization, the more likely it is that coercive sexuality will occur because of sexual miscommunication and males’ reliance on coping strategies that emphasize dominance and aggression. Many men assume that women will offer token resistance to their sexual advances to create an impression that they are not sexually ‘‘promiscuous’’ (Check and Malamuth 1985). One study of 610 female undergraduates revealed that almost 40 percent had engaged in this type of token resistance at least once (Muehlenhard and Hollabaugh 1988). While these patterns should not be used to justify date rape, it is not surprising that some men distort the consensual petting that generally precedes date rape as a woman’s way of acknowledging her willingness to engage in more intimate forms of sexual interaction, even if this means that in some cases men will be required to pursue it

forcefully. Finally, while there are many factors related to fathers’ incestuous behavior, one of the more frequently noted arguments underscores the common pattern in which a father pursues sexual and emotional intimacy with his female children (usually a series of episodes over time with the oldest female child) to compensate for his unfulfilling relationship with the adult female, who generally has withdrawn from her roles as mother and wife (partner).

SEXUAL RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOR

Despite the well-documented overall increase in condom use in the 1990s, most research on risktaking behavior indicates that a high percentage of people still regularly place themselves at risk of getting pregnant and/or contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and/or HIV/AIDS. These patterns persist despite increased efforts at safe-sex education programs and services. Some trends are becoming increasingly evident. Data from face-to-face interviews with adult men and women aged 18–59 in the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showed that 19 percent of the respondents used a condom during their last sexual experience (vaginal, oral, or anal sex, with no distinction being made in terms of the gender of the partner) when the event occurred within a relationship, while 62 percent did so when sex occurred outside an ongoing relationship (Anderson et al. 1999). Ninety-five percent of the respondents indicated that their last sexual experience occurred within a relationship. These data also showed that once relationship status was statistically controlled, individuals with high-risk sex and drug use profiles did not use condoms at a higher rate than did their counterparts who were not classified as being at an increased risk for HIV infection. Only about 22 percent of high-risk individuals used a condom at last intercourse within an ongoing relationship. Thus, both the casual and steady partners of high-risk individuals continue to place themselves at risk.

Meanwhile, a study of college students highlights gender differences in which men are found to be engaged in more risk-taking behaviors relevant to partner choice and sexual practices (Poppen 1995). Another study indicates that college women tend to put themselves at risk for sexually transmitted diseases by rarely using condoms and only

minimally discussing sexual history with a partner (Sheahan et al. 1994). Further, differences in behavior based on sexual identity are empirically supported. Interview data from gay and bisexual men suggest different behavior patterns in regard to ‘‘safe sex.’’ These data suggest that gay men were more likely to have had a steady male partner and to have engaged in unprotected anal sex than were bisexual men (Stokes et al. 1997). Other studies indicate that young gay men’s reports of having unprotected anal intercourse were more common when they knew their partners. Also, increased involvement in the gay community was related to higher levels of risk-taking behavior (Meyer and Dean 1995). Bisexual men use condoms inconsistently with male and female partners, seldom disclose their bisexuality to female partners, and are more likely than men who participate exclusively in same-sex sexual relations to report risk behaviors associated with HIV. The four factors found to raise HIV risk for bisexual men were (1) male prostitution, (2) injection drug use, (3) sexual identity exploration, and (4) culturally specific gender roles and norms such as those characterizing some African-American and Hispanic communities (Doll and Beeker 1996).

PROSTITUTION

Sociological research on prostitution emerged from studies of crime and delinquency, with an emphasis on theories of innate criminal drives. Contemporary sociological research on prostitution more often focuses on actual behaviors. In fact, the commercial sex industry has become a renewed area of research interest and funding as it has been identified as a site of potentially high transmission of HIV. Most research on prostitution still typically relies on self-report data with small-scale, situationally specific convenience samples. Thus, Kinsey’s nonrepresentative data, which are more than forty-five years old, remain the best available comprehensive data on commercial sexual behavior. The available data on commercial sexual behavior identifies a variety of types: heterosexual prostitution of women (street prostitutes, brothels, etc.), heterosexual prostitution of men (e.g., escort services), homosexual prostitution of men (hustlers), homosexual prostitution of women, transvestite/transsexual prostitution, and the global/tourist sex industry (Brock and Thistlethwaite 1996; Perkins and Bennett 1985). Among these

types of prostitution, some trends are increasingly visible.

The most historically well known form of prostitution is the heterosexual prostitution of women. Feminists offer a variety of interpretations for why women enter into prostitution, ranging from exploitation to legitimate work ( Jenness 1990). Gagnon (1977) suggests that the six most common reasons men visit prostitutes are (1) sex without negotiation, (2) sexual involvement without commitment, (3) sex for eroticism and variety, (4) a form of socializing, (5) sex away from home, and

(6) sex without rejection. Some sociologists believe that prostitution serves a useful societal function by providing men with a convenient sexual outlet, which in turn minimizes the numbers of sexual transgressions against ‘‘respectable’’ women. Other sociologists view female prostitution as an extreme form of sexism.

Rather than addressing this debate, let us note some empirical trends. Kinsey reported that before World War II, between 60 and 70 percent of adult men had visited a prostitute and about 15 to 20 percent used them regularly. However, many commentators have indicated that rates of prostitution, a form of commercialized sex that in the past provided men with sexual opportunities in a less sexually open society, have decreased drastically since World War II. Notably, current research on sexual behavior in the context of prostitution shows the preponderance of incidents of sexual violence and the increased use of condoms. For example, Miller’s (1993) study of 16 women incarcerated for prostitution found that almost all had experienced some form of sexual assault and other violent crimes. Benson and Mathews (1995) surveyed vice squads, women working as prostitutes on the streets and in brothels, and clients and resident groups in England, finding that most street prostitutes began working in their teens and have been victims of repeated sexual and physical attacks, while the majority of clients have regular partners or are married and tend to be middleclass and middle-aged. A study in the Netherlands of 559 male clients of female prostitutes found that 14 percent of the clients do not use condoms (De Graaf et al. 1997). Typically, men who are less educated, have more commercial sex contacts, and have more contacts with prostitutes are the least likely to use condoms. It is not known if similar trends are characteristic of the heterosex-

ual prostitution of men or the homosexual prostitution of women because there is little empirical research. Thus, it is difficult to determine whether similar patterns of sexual violence and safe sex are present across gender and sexuality lines.

The concern about the transmission of HIV/ AIDS has, however, stimulated new and more comprehensive research about the homosexual prostitution of men and transvestite/transsexual prostitution. For example, Browne and Minichiello (1996) illustrate that many early studies of homosexual prostitution of men (from the 1960s to the 1980s) focused on biopsychological concerns, creating the need for future studies to focus on the behaviors and attendant risk for HIV infection of both the prostitute and the client. A study of 211 male street prostitutes and 15 male customers further makes this point (Morse et al. 1992). Morse et al. (1992) found that despite knowledge of HIV infection and its transmission, customers engage in high-risk sexual and drug use behaviors with prostitutes. However, another study contradicts these findings. Waldorf and Lauderback (1992) interviewed 552 men who solicit clients in public places (hustlers) and men who solicit by telephone and advertisements (call men) and found that 90 percent of the respondents used condoms in the past year and 75 percent used them in the past week. Similar studies of risk behavior are emerging for the transvestite/transsexual prostitution population. For example, Boles and Elifson (1994) interviewed 52 transvestite prostitutes and found that those who are socially isolated tend to be at more risk of HIV infection and those networked with nontransvestite male prostitutes tend to have a lower risk of HIV infection. Sociological research on men involved in homosexual prostitution and transvestites involved in prostitution suggests that sexual behaviors have been altered in an era of HIV/AIDS. However, little research about sexual behavior patterns outside the context of risk behaviors has been reported.

Another area of research in prostitution concerns the growing global sex industry. Sex tourism has long existed, but increasing globalization of travel and Internet advertising have sparked research in this area. Sociologists often explain the global sex industry as an outgrowth of ‘‘third world’’ poverty and the inequity of a global economy. Sex tourism does not involve only heterosex-

ual prostitution of women; homosexual prostitution of men is also prevalent. Empirical studies of sexual behavior in the global sex industry remain minimal as it is illegal in many countries and most research is still done on European or American prostitution (Brock and Thistlewaite 1996).

Sociological studies of the varieties of prostitution in the United States and around the world point to a more general trend of contemporary empirical research focusing on sexual risk behaviors. Many of these studies indicate that the study of sexuality is complicated by both politics and the complexities of research methodology. However, the emergence of HIV/AIDS also reminds the sociological community of the importance of studies of sexual behavior and patterns.

CONCLUSION

This review has documented the extensive efforts of social scientists in recent decades to enhance the understanding of human sexual behavior. Indeed knowledge of sexual behavior has increased dramatically since the days of Kinsey’s early studies. This review also serves as a reminder, however, that knowledge about human sexual behavior, in some areas more than in others, remains limited because sex research is a function of both political and ethical decisions. For example, knowledge about homosexual experiences will continue to be less reliable and complete than it is for heterosexual behavior because the political commitment and considerable resources needed to secure nationally representative samples of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are missing. Thus, just as social scientists can be held accountable for any shortcomings associated with the prevailing theoretical approaches to sexuality issues, the larger society and its institutionalized, politicized mechanisms for providing research support are responsible for impeding the research community’s efforts to understand sexual behavior. Because sexual activity tends to be a highly private social experience, social scientists’ incremental advances in documenting and explaining it are linked to the lay population’s commitment to this type of research endeavor.

(SEE ALSO: Courtship, Sexual Behavior, and Marriage; Sexual Orientation; Sexual Violence and Abuse)

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WILLIAM MARSIGLIO

JOHN H. SCANZONI

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SEXUAL INEQUALITY

See Discrimination; Sex Differences; Social

Stratification.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

As Nietzsche noted, ‘‘[O]nly that which has no history is definable’’ ([1887] 1968, p. 516). This observation is clearly supported by the dramatic changes in the ways in which sexual orientation has been conceptualized over the last quarter century and, in particular, the last decade. As a result, the concept of sexual orientation may be difficult to define with any assurance of general agree-