YOUNG WOMEN REMAKE THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
Exclusive!
From HER WAY:
"
A Statistical Portrait of a Generation"
"
Major Findings"
Her Way demonstrates how and why 20- and 30-something women have evolved to act and think more like men sexually, while also creating their own distinct sexual patterns and appetites. Today's young women are now the leaders of an unreported but sweeping "Sexual Evolution," in which women take control of sex and redefine it from their perspective. In other words, do it "her way."
Paula Kamen characterizes this Sexual Evolution according to two major developments that are setting sexual patterns for future generations of women: young women's sexual profiles are now remarkably similar to those of men, in terms of age of first intercourse, and numbers of sex partners and casual encounters. They also feel less guilt or shame about their behavior, from premarital sex to having a child out of marriage to coming out of the closet to cohabiting.
Yet young women are not merely imitating men, but forging their own distinct sexual
perspectives and asserting their own needs. In addition to discovering the pleasures of sex, young women are also exploring the dilemmas, challenging male-defined sexual scripts, and changing what actually goes on in bed.Based on more than one hundred lively, unfiltered and in-depth interviews with women across the country,
Her Way cuts through the sensationalism and speculation of popular discussions about young women and sex. Kamen reports the real story of today's enhanced sexual expectations and choices.
In documenting this shift,
Her Way is the "anti-Rules" of young feminist books. It proves how women's greater power has enhanced their sex lives and relationships. This counters conservative critics' arguments that women's careers and jobs have only isolated them personally and made their lives lonely and empty. In addition, the book counters conventional media wisdom -- usually framed around isues of "sexual correctness" and AIDS -- that these are the worst of times for sex.
In its substantive analysis,
Her Way discusses a variety of often-overlooked social influences that directly impact women's private lives. These include: more economic power in the marketplace that translates to power in the home; the continued progress of the women's movement in further promoting the ideal of control over one's life; a market economy offering women a new variety of consumer sex information; a renewed openness about sex in the media that leads to more discussion and evaluation; and an enhanced view of religion as a personal matter and not influencing one's sex life.
Based on more than 100 interviews, the book stands out as going beyond the narrow experiences of the author or the flamboyant, extremist fringe. The text gives voice to a diverse and representative sample of real, decidedly non-elite mainstream women -- from beauty-school students to lawyers. Additional profiles are of young activists in a diversity of hip and innovative "sex- positive" groups, such as LABIA (Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action at Rutgers University) and the Sluts Against Rape at the University of Illinois.
Their opinions are supported by research culled and synthesized from a variety of large- scale and recent national studies, both famous and hard-to-find, including the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth and UCLA 20-year report of college freshmen attitudes (both released in 1997). In addition, older women interviewed give perspective. They include Gloria Steinem, Barbara Seaman, Florynce Kennedy, Sarah Weddington, Judy Norsigian (Our Bodies, Ourselves co-author), Cosmo writer Susan Crain Bakos, Andrea Dworkin, and the makers of the film "Go Fish."The book also portrays revealing scenes at a bridal expo just outside of O'Hare Airport; the 1993 March on Washington for gay rights; and a pro-modesty Campus Crusade for Christ rally at Auburn University.
