A 1994 study shows that increasing numbers of teenage girls are using contraception and that the rates of teen pregnancy and abortion are decreasing. Despite these trends, many states are changing their laws about public support for unmarried teen mothers and their children. While these laws may have been designed with the teens’ best interests [...]

Alcohol is a popular social drug that many people think enhances sexuality. Illegal party drugs, such as pot, cocaine, and ecstasy, have the same reputation. Some people feel more attractive or think they have better sex when they are drinking or getting high. In reality, pot and alcohol are depressants. Used in moderate amounts, they [...]

Marriage is older than recorded history, and its origins are unknown, though the question has stimulated several theories. These include the sexual promiscuity-matriarchy theory (Bachofen); the theory that monogamy has always been characteristic of human groups, as it is of other primates with whom we share common ancestors (Westermarck); and theories of ubiquitous patriarchy, in [...]

Because caresses sometimes are exchanged with children of both sexes, this behavior could be labeled as bisexual. Actually, during late childhood and early adolescence, sexual play with members of the same sex is probably more common than with members of the opposite sex. Homosexual play in childhood includes handling of the genitals of a person [...]

The earliest or haptic phase of sexual and affectional development comprises body proximity and skin contact, the sensuous closeness of mother and infant through holding, clinging, and cuddling. It foreshadows the later phase of adolescent and adult sexual pair-bonding in which sensuous skin contact and bodily proximity are paramount. Between infancy and adulthood, childhood rehearsals [...]