A
new
survey
of
American
men
shocks
the
nation
with
what
it
didnt
find
Theyre
the
sorts
of
questions
any
average
American
male
Alexander
Portnoy
say
or
Holden
Caulfield
might
have
asked
himself
How
many
times
a
night
should
I
be
having
sex
In
what
grade
should
I
start
Is
20000
women
too
many
But
there
is
nowhere
to
turn
for
answers
If
you
wanted
to
know
something
the
government
considered
important
like
the
size
of
the
sardine
catch
you
could
look
it
up
in
a
minute
Thats
because
people
pay
money
for
sardines
but
they
usually
get
sex
free
or
in
any
case
they
dont
pay
taxes
on
it
so
the
government
has
no
reason
to
keep
track
of
it
The
Statistical
Abstract
of
the
United
States
in
its
relentless
emphasis
on
the
material
at
the
expense
of
the
sublime
skips
over
sex
going
directly
from
Sewers
to
Sheep
That
gap
in
our
national
education
has
been
filled
by
the
media
which
give
us
teen
siren
Amy
Fisher
alleged
lover
Joey
Buttafuoco
she
says
could
copulate
six
or
eight
times
a
night
easy
the
Spur
Posse
high-school
sex
gang
some
of
whose
members
presumably
had
to
be
driven
to
their
assignations
by
their
moms
and
Wilt
Chamberlain
who
claimed
in
1991
to
have
packed
into
his
career
the
equivalent
of
400
years
of
love
making
by
ordinary
mortals
This
is
like
keeping
track
of
the
fishing
industry
by
interviewing
someone
who
says
he
once
caught
a
12-pound
sardine
What
the
country
needs
is
data
Now
at
last
science
is
providing
data
even
if
its
hardly
titillating
enough
to
make
the
TV
talk
shows
For
several
days
last
week
the
most
talked-about
article
in
the
United
States
was
a
technical
paper
in
the
March/April
issue
of
Family
Planning
Perspectives
the
journal
of
the
Alan
Guttmacher
Institute
In
what
the
authors
call
the
first
scientifically
valid
survey
of
its
kind
3321
American
men
in
their
20s
and
30s
were
questioned
about
their
sexual
practices
and
for
the
first
time
in
the
history
of
sex
research
the
results
are
not
astounding
The
median
number
of
sex
partners
over
the
whole
lifetimes
of
these
men
is
73
This
is
the
equivalent
of
a
six-day
road
trip
for
Chamberlain
More
than
a
quarter
of
the
men
have
had
three
partners
or
fewer
although
almost
a
quarter
have
had
20
partners
or
more
The
median
age
at
which
the
white
men
in
the
survey
lost
their
virginity
is
172
years
in
other
words
they
were
seniors
in
high
school
For
black
men
it
is
15
The
median
frequency
of
sexual
intercourse
is
slightly
less
than
once
a
week
overall
slightly
more
than
once
a
week
for
married
men
Youd
think
that
would
constitute
the
ultimate
nonstory
Man
Makes
Love
to
Wife
It
is
hard
to
think
of
another
area
in
which
such
mundane
findings
could
be
frontpage
news
Actually
the
authors
four
researchers
at
the
Battelle
Human
Affairs
Research
Center
in
Seattle
did
come
up
with
one
remarkable
statistic
Of
the
men
they
surveyed
only
23
percent
reported
any
homosexual
contacts
in
the
last
10
years
and
only
half
of
those
or
just
over
1
percent
of
the
total
said
they
were
exclusively
gay
in
that
period
That
number
was
surprising
in
light
of
the
widespread
belief
dating
to
the
Kinsey
report
of
1948
that
homosexuals
accounted
for
10
percent
of
the
population
But
that
was
a
misreading
of
what
Kinsey
actually
found
box
and
more
recent
surveys
had
typically
put
the
number
much
lower
The
1
percent
figure
though
was
the
lowest
yet
and
it
will
be
controversial
for
a
long
time
It
raised
the
prospect
of
having
to
rethink
yet
again
some
of
the
most
contentious
social
issues
of
the
last
few
years
from
the
likely
future
course
of
AIDS
to
the
much
overhashed
question
of
homosexuals
in
the
armed
services
Gay
rights
groups
assumed
that
their
power
would
diminish
if
they
were
seen
as
speaking
for
a
much
smaller
constituency
and
conservative
Christian
groups
were
quick
to
endorse
the
Battelle
findings
On
the
other
hand
if
the
1
percent
figure
is
accurate
then
an
infantry
company
on
average
would
contain
approximately
two
gay
soldiers
hardly
enough
to
cause
the
dire
disruptions
predicted
by
the
generals
Rock
groupies
Will
the
names
of
the
Battelle
researchers
John
OG
Billy
Koray
Tanfer
William
R
Grady
and
Daniel
H
Klepinger
go
down
in
history
alongside
those
of
Kinsey
Masters
and
Johnson
and
their
illustrious
predecessors
dating
to
Ovid
Hard
to
say
The
four
set
out
to
investigate
male
sexual
behavior
mostly
in
search
of
information
that
might
be
useful
in
combatting
AIDS
But
perhaps
their
most
valuable
contribution
was
to
uncover
the
vast
gap
between
what
Americans
actually
do
in
bed
as
a
statistically
verifiable
fact
and
what
they
assume
goes
on
in
most
peoples
lives
based
on
extrapolating
the
autobiographies
of
rock
groupies
and
the
letters
to
the
advice
columns
in
girlie
magazines
I
dont
think
theyre
interviewing
the
right
people
said
David
Hoffman
27
a
vice
president
of
a
Chicago
store
called
Condoms
Now
What
about
guys
on
sports
teams
in
colleges
Many
average
adults
found
it
hard
to
believe
that
the
median
figure
for
sexual
partners
could
be
as
low
as
73
I
think
men
lie
said
a
Boston
paralegal
who
gave
only
her
first
name
Veronica
They
hide
things
more
than
women
do
Veronica
30
and
married
thought
the
right
number
was
around
15
Perhaps
like
many
lay
people
she
is
confused
by
the
mathematical
terms
used
A
median
of
73
means
that
there
were
approximately
as
many
men
with
seven
or
fewer
partners
partners
as
with
eight
or
more
therefore
a
man
with
100
partners
got
the
same
weight
as
one
with
10
In
a
mean
or
average
the
extreme
values
would
count
for
more
The
mean
number
of
sex
partners
for
the
men
in
the
survey
is
162
The
only
people
who
found
nothing
surprising
in
the
results
were
the
investigators
themselves
I
cant
find
them
surprising
or
nonsurprising
said
Billy
with
the
magisterial
detachment
of
Rutherford
announcing
the
discovery
of
the
electron
We
have
no
basis
for
comparison
except
popular
wisdomÑwhich
is
often
inaccurate
Other
researchers
on
mens
sexual
behavior
generally
found
nothing
astonishing
in
the
report
either
except
for
the
data
on
homosexuality
The
data
on
sex
partners
isnt
surprising
to
me
said
University
of
Washington
sociologist
Pepper
Schwartz
who
published
a
10-year
study
of
American
sexual
attitudes
Four
to
seven
partners
is
what
the
informal
studies
say
She
also
wasnt
surprised
that
married
men
reported
having
sex
around
once
a
week
although
she
I
thinks
you
have
to
make
allowance
for
inflation
People
dont
have
sex
every
week
they
have
good
weeks
and
bad
weeks
But
they
think
Im
married
and
should
be
having
sex
more
and
round
it
off
to
about
once
a
week
Debra
Haffner
executive
director
of
the
Sex
Information
and
Education
and
Education
I
Council
of
the
United
States
agrees
It
usually
comes
out
to
57
times
a
year
which
I
figure
means
once
a
week
and
three
times
on
vacation
Appalling
slander
But
at
the
same
time
there
was
a
body
of
Opinion
that
the
Battelle
group
had
perpetrated
an
appalling
slander
on
the
virility
of
American
men
A
one-night
stand
is
by
definition
forgettable
and
you
have
to
guard
against
the
tendency
to
undercount
them
Warren
Farrell
author
of
Why
Men
Are
the
Way
They
Are
says
that
in
workshops
he
asks
participants
to
write
down
privately
their
total
number
of
sexual
partners
After
a
period
of
discussion
he
asks
them
to
write
it
down
again
and
finds
that
on
average
men
recall
twice
as
many
partners
as
they
did
at
first
and
women
three
times
as
many
Therefore
he
suspects
the
figure
of
73
partners
should
actually
be
doubled
One
thing
the
Battelle
study
did
reveal
was
the
huge
philosophical
gap
between
two
schools
of
sex
research
One
group
conducts
personal
interviews
with
subjects
chosen
on
the
basis
of
census
data
to
represent
a
scientific
sample
of
the
population
which
is
supposed
to
provide
better
statistical
validity
The
other
usually
uses
anonymous
mail-in
questionnaires
which
seem
to
elicit
juicier
responses
The
former
generally
publish
papers
in
scientific
journals
while
the
latter
typically
write
articles
in
womens
magazines
and
best-selling
books
From
them
comes
such
illuminating
data
as
the
fact
that
67
percent
of
men
would
not
have
their
penises
enlarged
even
if
it
didnt
hurt
or
cost
anything
Glamour
1992
These
kinds
of
reports
are
highly
suspect
says
Tom
W
Smith
of
the
University
of
Chicagos
National
Opinion
Research
Center
Shere
Hite
the
famous
bombshell
sex
researcher
of
the
1970s
used
this
technique
as
did
board-certified
sexologist
Samuel
SJanus
and
his
wife
Cynthia
whose
Janus
Report
on
Sexual
Behavior
got
a
lot
of
attention
just
a
few
weeks
ago
Janus
who
distributed
his
surveys
through
graduate
students
and
in
piles
left
in
doctors
offices
asserts
that
people
are
more
likely
to
be
truthful
on
an
anonymous
questionnaire
than
in
face-to-face
interviews
The
Battelle
groups
interviews
were
all
conducted
in
the
respondents
homes
by
female
interviewers
who
knocked
on
the
door
with
no
previous
introduction
Thirty
percent
of
the
men
contacted
in
this
way
refused
to
participate
Janus
suggests
that
the
missing
homosexuals
are
probably
in
that
30
percent
On
the
other
hand
the
people
motivated
to
pick
up
fill
out
and
mail
in
a
questionnaire
on
sex
represent
a
self-selected
groupÑselected
in
part
by
being
interested
in
sex
Januss
data
also
show
that
his
subjects
were
considerably
richer
less
Protestant
and
more
Jewish
than
the
nation
as
a
whole
And
for
what
its
worth
they
seemed
in
some
ways
to
be
having
a
lot
more
sex
than
the
ones
surveyed
by
the
Battelle
group
In
his
study
more
than
half
the
men
age
18
to
38
said
they
had
sex
either
daily
or
a
few
times
weekly
So
in
the
famous
phrase
you
pays
your
money
$2495
for
The
Janus
Report
$28
a
year
for
Family
Planning
Perspectives
and
you
takes
your
choice
either
most
men
are
having
sex
three
to
seven
times
a
week
Janus
or
the
median
is
slightly
less
than
once
a
week
Battelle
In
favor
of
the
Battelle
thesis
you
might
want
to
consider
what
Curtis
Pesman
author
of
What
She
Wants
A
Mans
Guide
to
Women
had
to
say
A
lot
of
men
will
feel
better
about
their
real
lives
There
are
a
lot
of
men
who
think
everybody
is
having
more
sex
than
they
are
and
theyll
feel
better
being
close
to
the
average
and
I
know
a
lot
of
wives
and
girlfriends
who
will
be
happy
that
the
average
is
not
up
in
the
teens
or
twenties
On
the
other
hand
as
Jennifer
Knopf
a
Chicago
sex
and
marital
therapist
points
out
its
only
reassuring
if
youre
having
sex
once
a
week
if
youre
having
sex
twice
a
month
its
probably
frightening
Which
suggests
the
only
possible
conclusion
On
which
all
sides
will
undoubtedly
agree
We
need
more
data
THE
REPORT
In
the
most
complete
study
since
the
Kinsey
report
a
new
survey
charts
American
sexual
activity
The
results
are
yawn
striking
1
is
the
median
number
of
times
men
said
they
had
sex
per
week
73
Is
the
median
number
of
sexual
partners
per
man
INFIDELITY
How
faithful
are
the
women
of
America
It
depends
on
whom
you
ask
Two
studies
produced
very
different
answers
26%
Married
women
who
have
had
extramarital
affairs
Janus
1993
39%
Married
women
who
have
cheated
on
their
husbands
Cosmopolitan
Readers
Survey
1993
TALL
TALES
Some
of
us
are
still
living
the
wild
life
or
at
least
telling
survey
takers
we
are
Have
had
sex
with
more
than
100
partners
4%
women
10%
men
Janus
1993
Have
sex
more
than
once
a
day
6%
married
12%
living
together
13%
going
steady
CosmopoIitan
Readers
Survey
1993