Proposes changes in commercial television programing on human sexuality that would create a less confusing, more healthy atmosphere for adolescents. They include creating a climate for discussion of contraception, stopping sexual exploitation, illuminating the joys and woes of childrearing, and presenting positive role modeling for family…

Nontraditional forms which have shown the largest increase in the 70s are those resulting from divorce, dual-work and dual-career families, single-person households, and couples living together. Lifestyles reflect acceptance of nonmarital sexuality, growing freedom from traditional roles and expectations, and greater equality between men and…

This paper studies 411 heterosexual college students' gender roles and sexual experiences, including those experiences affecting women assuming traditional male roles in dating and sexual interactions. Findings reveal no specific patterns, but women's sexual experiences and nontraditional roles depend on the specific role and the status and…

Sex and pleasure are fundamental aspects of students' lives and school cultures. They are also integral to students' sense of well-being and can determine their propensity to engage or disengage with the desire to love, learn and transform themselves. Taking the fundamental role of pleasure as its starting point, this paper discusses the idea of…

Male and female participants (N = 274) made judgments about the social concepts of "feminist," "man," and "woman" on 63 semantic differential items. Factor analysis identified three basic dimensions termed evaluative, potency, and activity as well as two secondary factors called expressiveness and sexuality. Results for the evaluative dimension…

Background: The risk of sexually transmitted diseases is high but opportunities of sexual education for adolescents are limited in Turkey. The aim of this study was to evaluate sexual attitudes and behaviors and to determine the predictors of sexual initiation among adolescents. Methods: A questionnaire designed by the researchers was administered…

The media landscape in urban India has changed so rapidly in the past 10 years that it is not easy to consider the ways in which these changes interact with people's lives and beliefs. Apocalyptic pronouncements about the ways in which MTV-style television, films and the Internet are destroying "genuine" Indian culture by promoting…

Drawing from data collected during interviews with grade 2 teachers who work in a black working-class township school, this paper explores the meanings that teachers attach to HIV and AIDS education. It is argued that the relationship of many teachers to the subject of HIV and AIDS is inscribed within regulatory forces based on the notion of…

This fact sheet explores attitudes in Sweden toward sexuality and childbirth from a historical perspective. After describing the strict social control over abortion and contraception in place 100 years ago, and the gradual easing of those controls in response to the low birth rate, the paper goes on to discuss the 1974 Abortion Act, which…

Available evidence does not support the notion that aging is associated with increasingly conservative social and political attitudes, or the idea that attitudinal rigidity is the norm among older cohorts. To examine whether aging is associated with attitudinal rigidity, nine surveys from the National Opinion Research Center were analyzed to…

Paper was presented at the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family, Boston, 1968.

In Nigeria, various forms of polygamy and monogamy are practiced; however, monogamy is more or less practiced by many Christians and a greater percentage of younger men. A survey of marital success and failure was conducted with samples of Nigerian Diploma students and selected educated community members. Subjects completed two instruments, the…

America is a sex-negative society. It is intolerant of diversity in sexual tastes and aversions. This paper explores the possible reasons why successful societies have frequently been erotically intolerant, and why sexually positive groups are usually small and insignificant groups in other parts of the world. The author discusses a set of axioms…

The impact of a college human sexuality course upon sexual attitudes and behavior was examined. A questionnaire, designed by the authors, was administered to students of a human sexuality course and a social psychology course at the beginning and end of the spring semester, 1975. On six of the seven attitudinal categories measured, students from…

Cohabitating college couples (N=89) responded to a questionnaire pertaining to their current sexual relationships and individual sexual behavior patterns, historical and present. Results indicate that those individuals, especially the males, had been unusually precocious in their sexual development. (Author)