Sexual Health of Canadian Youth: Findings from the Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study
William Boyce, Maryanne Doherty-Poirier, David MacKinnon, Christian Fortin, Hana Saab, Matt King, and Owen Gallupe, Social Program Evaluation Group, Queens’s University

The Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study conducted in 2002-2003 surveyed a national sample of over 10,000 students in grades 7, 9 and 11. This paper presents the key findings on sexual behaviour including number of steady boyfriend/girlfriend relationships in the past year, sexual behaviours experienced, and for grades 9 and 11 only, experience of oral sex and sexual intercourse, reasons for having or not having had intercourse, experience of non-consensual sexual intercourse, contraception use at last intercourse, condom use and attitudes, experience of unintended pregnancy, and sense of self-efficacy in HIV/AIDS prevention. Compared to the last such national study conducted in 1988, males but not females were less likely to have had intercourse and all students were significantly more likely to believe they could protect themselves from HIV/AIDS (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2006; 15: 59-84).

A genealogy of the genital kiss: Oral sex in the twentieth century
Alan Hunt and Bruce Curtis, Carleton University

In recent years oral sex has been the subject of increasing media coverage and controversy, particularly as it applies to the sexual behaviour of youth. The purpose of this article is to present a modern genealogy of oral sex. We explore the evolving contexts and discourses concerning oral sex that have occurred from the early 20th century onward. We begin with an historical analysis of the treatment of oral sex in marriage and sex advice manuals. During the course of the 20th century, the place and function of oral sex underwent a number of transformations. It is shown that oral sex became normalized, first cunnilingus and then fellatio, initially as a way of sufficiently arousing a couple prior to intercourse and then as a sexual pleasure in its own right. However, as the 20th century drew to a close, oral sex was once again problematized as the discourse of sexual conservatism regained its prominence. With respect to contemporary discourse, oral sex leads a double life. On the one hand, oral sex is firmly established within adult heterosexual relations as an important signifier of mutuality and pleasure. On the other hand, the practice of oral sex among youth is the source of considerable anxiety (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2006; 15: 69-84).

Perceptions of sexual experience and preferences for dating and marriage
Luis T. Garcia, Rutgers University
This study investigated the variables that influence perceptions of someone’s sexual experience and their desirability as a dating and marriage partner. Participants were given information about an opposite sex target in which three dimensions of behaviour (number of different sexual activities, number of sexual partners, and number of times a person engaged in sexual activity) were experimentally manipulated. Participants were then asked to rate the sexual experience and desirability of the target as a date and marriage partner. The results indicated that the number of sexual activities and number of sexual partners influenced the ratings of the target’s sexual experience as well as the desirability as a date and marriage partner. As predicted, the targets who had engaged in a high number of sexual activities with a high number of sexual partners were perceived as having a greater degree of sexual experience and were rated less desirable as a marriage partner by both men and women. Contrary to predictions, this was also true for ratings of the target’s desirability as a date. The results were discussed in terms of the meaning of sexual experience and evolutionary theory (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2006; 15: 85-94).

The effect of social capital and socio-demographics on adolescent risk and sexual health behaviours
Lisa Smylie, Sheri Medaglia, and Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, University of Windsor

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by heightened potential for risk-taking behaviours that have important implications for health and well-being. This study uses social capital to understand social influences on adolescent risk-taking in the Canadian context. Using data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), the paper contrasts the three most prominent interpretations of social capital by Bourdieu (1985, 1990), Coleman (1988, 1990), and Putnam (2000) in their association with multiple risk activities. Social capital indicators were significant predictors of risk behaviour among all adolescents; however, they were stronger predictors for males than females. Coleman’s model, focusing on the family’s role in social capital, had the strongest predictive power for males; whereas Putnam’s model, focusing on social capital located in group and organizational membership, had the strongest predictive power for females. The findings support the conclusion that social capital is an important explanatory framework to consider when trying to understand adolescent risk behaviours (The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 2006; 15: 95-112).