Wednesday, December 5, 2018 // The Statement 3B I n this issue of The State- ment Magazine, we’re talking about sex. But to get a comprehensive view of the campus sexual landscape, we can’t simply rely on anecdotes and personal experiences. In an effort to get some quantita- tive information about student sexual activity, The Daily anon- ymously surveyed 11,000 ran- domly-selected students abouwt their experiences and percep- tions of sex. The survey received 1,409 responses, with respondents spread evenly across undergrad- uate grade levels. The respon- dents were 55.4 percent female, 43.1 percent male and 1.5 per- cent identifying as nonbinary or “other.” They were also 83.3 percent heterosexual, 4.5 per- cent homosexual and 9.3 percent bisexual. It should be noted the statistics resulting from this sur- vey may be biased, as many indi- viduals may not wish to disclose such information. The survey questions covered several areas, including percep- tions of sex (both in general and on campus), sex education and personal experience. Some nota- ble statistics and trends emerged from the responses. To begin broadly, students shared differing perceptions of what “sex” is. While there was broad (97.3 percent) agreement that penetrative sex qualifies as sex, 47.8 percent of students also considered oral sex to be sex, and 33.7 percent considered any kind of genital contact to be sex. Students also reported differ- ing definitions of “hooking up.” In total, 75 percent of students included oral sex and penetra- tive sex in their definitions, and 67.8 percent included other geni- tal contact. Notably, 58 percent included making out in their definitions. By these personal definitions, a total of 65.2 percent of stu- dents reported having sex during this semester, with 28.5 percent reporting that they had sex once or twice per month or less and 21.5 percent reporting that they had sex an average of once or twice per week. Students also proved to be relatively prescient about their peers’ sexual habits, as 50.7 percent of respondents estimated that between 60 and 80 percent of students had sex this semester. A total of 61.9 percent of stu- dents said they had had mostly positive sexual experiences in college, and a total of 77.8 per- cent of respondents agreed that they felt comfortable discussing sexual topics with friends. Students also reported using dating apps at significant rates. The most commonly used dating app was Tinder, with 47.8 percent of respondents saying they use it. The next highest was Bumble, with 20.6 percent reporting they use it. However, most stu- dents using these apps reported they don’t use them to actively look for partners. A majority of 57.7 percent of students who use dating apps use them primar- ily for casual browsing — that is, without the primary intention of finding a partner. Most students had used the internet for sexual activity, and a total of 57.3 per- cent of students reported they had sent a nude photo or received one from someone they knew. Responding to a question about contraception, 73.8 per- cent of students named condoms as a preferred method of contra- ception, and 51.3 percent named birth control pills. Intrauter- ine devices were chosen by 16.4 percent, and withdrawal (also known as “pulling out”) and abstinence were each chosen by 15.8 percent of students. The data also revealed some subtle differences in sexual atti- tudes by gender. For example, women were 13.8 percentage points more likely than men to say they were comfortable open- ly discussing sexual topics with friends. And when it comes to using dating apps, women were 21.2 percentage points more like- ly to be using the apps primarily for casual browsing. Men were 6.8 percentage points more likely to be looking for a relationship on these apps and 16.2 percentage points more likely to be looking to hook up. Men were also less likely to consider most sexual activity to be “hooking up,” with the excep- tion of penetrative sex, which had similar perceptions among men and women. There were also notable dif- ferences in experience by sexual orientation. For instance, gay and lesbian students were about twice as likely as other students to have had five or more sexual partners in college. The data also revealed some troubling differ- ences between students of differ- ent sexual orientations. Straight students were 10.4 percent more likely than bisexual students to say that they had mostly posi- tive sexual experiences in col- lege. Gay and lesbian students fell in the middle of these groups. (It should be noted that majori- ties of all three groups reported mostly positive experiences). In the free response section, which asked several general questions about sex and relation- ships, responses varied wide- ly but followed some general trends. In response to the ques- tion “What is the worst thing to hear from your partner after sex?”, the most common response by a significant margin was a comment that the experience was negative or underwhelming for the partner. Other frequent responses included rude, dis- missive or uncaring comments. Asked about their favorite post- sex activity, responses consis- tently included activities such as cuddling, talking, sleeping, eat- ing and showering. For the question “What sug- gestions would you like to give to your current sexual part- ner?”, respondents frequently expressed a desire for better communication from their part- ner. Other frequent answers included requests for more sex- ual attention and a desire to be more adventurous in sexual rela- tionships. Students also expressed a gen- eral dissatisfaction with the sex education they received. Asked about what they wished they knew about sex when they were younger, most students said they wished they had a more com- prehensive view of sexual activ- ity. Many students said they had abstinence-only sex education in school and that it left them unprepared for sexual situations, as well as uninformed about con- sent and safe sex. Many also said that their sexual education most- ly just covered basic anatomical information about sex. These students generally wished that they learned more about healthy sexual relationships, emotional aspects of sex, gender dynamics and unhealthy societal percep- tions about sex. BY RILEY LANGEFELD, DAILY STAFF REPORTER The annual sex survey ILLUSTRATION BY VALERIE CHRISTOU