Behavior: No Sex, Please, We're Ignorant

Most people over the age of six know how babies are made; the rest can make a fair guess. As for any further knowledge about the mythology of sex -- not to say the more esoteric "facts of life" -- most Americans are shamefully ignorant. That is the conclusion of a new report published last week by Indiana University's Kinsey Institute, the pioneering experts in sexology. The 540-page book The Kinsey Institute New Report on Sex (St. Martin's; $22.95) combines Kinsey's research with the results of a Roper poll of 2,000 adults who were asked 18 true-or-false and multiple-choice questions about sex. To Kinsey's dismay, only 45% of those tested gave correct answers to 10 or more of the questions.

Not everybody could be expected to know all the answers, as some questions called for educated guesses rather than general knowledge. For example, "When does the average American first have sexual intercourse?" (at age 16 or 17); "Out of 10 American women, how many would you estimate have ever masturbated?" (six to eight); "What percentage of women engage in anal sex?" (30% to 40%); "What do you think is the average length of a man's erect penis?" (five to seven inches). Still, as Kinsey shows, the level of actual knowledge suggests that the great sexual revolution of the late '60s was vastly over-rated. Of women 30 to 44, only 55% got a passing grade on the test (10 correct answers); of men in the same age group, only 52% did. Men got more correct answers on matters of sexual practices; women knew more about their own sexual health. People living in the Midwest had the highest scores of all, and those in the South and Northeast the lowest. Of all the 2,000 tested, none got a perfect score; five respondents had 16 answers right.

The book, says psychobiologist June Reinisch, head of the Kinsey Institute and co-author of the report with Ruth Beasley, is designed to be a "friendly encyclopedia," telling readers in question-and-answer format everything they ever wanted to know about sex but were too shy to ask. "Most people are pretty ignorant about sex," explains Reinisch. "They believe they know everything they need to know. If you believe you know something, you don't even go looking for answers." Some questions may seem trivial, she concedes, but all deal with vital information that can affect health and well-being or even put lives in jeopardy.

Half the adults tested, for instance, did not know that a lubricant like Vaseline Intensive Care or baby oil can cause microscopic holes in a condom or a diaphragm in as little as 60 seconds and that this could lead to unwanted pregnancy, venereal disease or even AIDS. An alarming 49% did not know that a woman can get pregnant if she has sex during her menstrual period; 35% were unaware that a woman can get pregnant even if the man withdraws before ejaculating.

Other subjects deal with such worrisome matters as male impotence (it is frequently a physical problem that can be fixed) and women's concerns about small breasts (don't fret -- many men nowadays approve). "We don't discuss these things," says Reinisch. "We whisper about them. But we don't really communicate about them, and we're certainly not educated about them."