Sex as a risk to health

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SEX
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Masters and Johnson
This emphasis on the activity of sex is also illustrated by the work of Masters and
Johnson in the 1960s. Masters and Johnson used a variety of experimental laboratory
techniques to examine over 10,000 male and female orgasms in 694 white middle-class
heterosexuals (e.g. Masters and Johnson 1966). They recorded bodily contractions,
secretions, pulse rates and tissue colour changes and described the sexual response cycle
in terms of the following phases: (1) excitement; (2) plateau; (3) orgasm; and (4) resolution. They emphasized similarities between men and women (although it has been
argued that their data suggests more difference than they acknowledged; Segal 1994)
and emphasized that stable marriages depended on satisfactory sex. According to
Masters and Johnson, sexual pleasure could be improved by education and sex therapy
and again their research suggested that masturbation was an essential component of
sexuality – sex was for pleasure, not for reproduction.
The Hite Reports
Shere Hite (1976, 1981, 1987) published the results from her 20 years of research
in her reports on female and male sexuality. Her research also illustrates the shift from
the outcome of sex to sex as an activity. Hite’s main claim is that ‘most women (70 per
cent) do not orgasm as a result of intercourse’ but she suggests that they can learn
to increase clitoral stimulation during intercourse to improve their sexual enjoyment.
She describes her data in terms of women’s dislike of penetrative sex (‘Perhaps it could be
said that many women might be rather indifferent to intercourse if it were not for
feelings towards a particular man’) and discusses sex within the context of pleasure, not
reproduction. Segal (1994) has criticized Hite’s interpretation of the data and argues
that the women in Hite’s studies appear to enjoy penetration (with or without orgasm).
Although this is in contradiction to Hite’s own conclusion, the emphasis is still on sex as
an activity.
In summary
From the start of the twentieth century, therefore, sex was no longer described as a
biological means to an end (reproduction) but as an activity in itself. Discussions of ‘good
sex’, orgasms and sexual pleasure emphasized sex as action, however, even as an activity
sex remained predominantly biological. Kinsey regarded sex as a drive that was natural
and healthy, Masters and Johnson developed means to measure and improve the
sexual experience by examining physiological changes and Hite explained pleasure with
descriptions of physical stimulation.
Sex as a risk to health
Recently, there has been an additional shift in the literature on sex. Although research
still emphasizes sex as an activity, this activity has been viewed as increasingly risky
and dangerous. As a consequence, sex is discussed in terms of health promotion,
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