Does reading about sex encourage early activity?

"Does it matter? Does open discussion about sex encourage girls into promiscuity?" - Peter Luff MP 1996, Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons

The suggestion is made by some that open discussion about sex encourages early sexual experimentation and promiscuity. Yet the evidence seems to be to the contrary. Research suggests that when information comes from an authoritative source, as opposed to friends, it is more likely to delay onset of sexual activity than hasten it (Wellings 1995). Open discussion of sexual matters can lead to greater ability to negotiate sexual relationships and safer sex (Rudat & Speed, 1993).

The chief complaint though is rather that the discussion may encourage young women to see early sexual activity as the norm, and that by presenting sexual experience as the norm it thereby legitimates it. In fact, as we have seen from the national figures, sexual intercourse in the first half of the teenage years is not the norm, although it is becoming more common. Yet the impression in teenage magazines is that it is near universal.

Contact: Kerry Neilson , TMAP secretariat, kerry.neilson@ppa.co.uk, 0207 400 7520

Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel (TMAP)
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