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Chapter 4 (continued)
Sexualization
Sexual Experimentation
Sexual exploration of various kinds is common among adolescent males. Homosexual exploration also occurs with some frequency, even among boys who will become heterosexual. An analysis of data collected from a national survey conducted in 1970 shows that a minimum of “20.3 percent of adult men in the United States . . . had sexual contact to orgasm with another man at some time in life; 6.7 percent had such contact after age 19; and between 1.6 and 2.0 percent had such contact within the previous year.”23(p338)
This same study states the 3.3% of the adult male population in 1970 had experienced homosexual contacts at least occasionally at some point in their life.23(p346) This suggests that the rest of those who had experienced homosexual sex (17%) are not what might be termed actively homosexual.a We might conclude that this 17% represents men who experimented with same-sex behavior but then moved away from it, either into heterosexuality or celibacy. So, considering the male population in general, while only a small segment can be considered “homosexual,” a large segment experiments homosexually, mostly in adolescence.
A comparison of homosexual and heterosexual populations suggests that early sexual behavior is more common among homosexuals than heterosexuals. The chart below, adapted from the Bieber study,17(p191) shows that far more homosexuals than heterosexuals had genital contact for the first time before age 14. The cumulative percentages through age 18 (not shown) also show first genital contact to have occurred more commonly among the homosexual group than the control group by that age. Even through age 24 we can see that more subjects in the homosexual group had experienced sex than in the control group. This chart also shows that, among these groups, heterosexual contact more commonly began at later ages than did homosexual contact. In addition, Bieber mentions elsewhere that the homosexual group was more sexually active from pre-adolescence on.17(p189)
First Genital Contactb (by group and age)17(p191)
Age |
Homosexual Group |
Control Group |
||
| Homo. Contact | Heter. Contact | Homo. Contact | Heter. Contact | |
| 0 thru 14 | 60% | 4% | 20% | 7% |
| 15 thru 18 | 25% | 10% | 0% | 29% |
| 19 thru 24 | 11% | 39% | 2% | 45% |
| Cumulative | 96% | 53% | 22% | 81% |
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a The difficulty in classifying individuals as “homosexual” or “not homosexual” becomes apparent here. This 3.3% represented men who “occasionally” or “fairly often” engaged in homosexual behavior “at some point in time.”23(p346) The researchers also note that most of those included in the 3.3% estimate “could not be classified as ‘exclusively homosexual’ throughout their lives” since the majority of these men were married or previously married.23(p347) Trying to fit these men into simple categories of homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual seems meaningless.
b This chart shows the age at which individuals reported having their first genital contact, both heterosexual and homosexual. It does not show frequency of contact during any age group.