Men and women disagree over sex and romance

Women support Lorena Bobbitt, while men favor her husband, John. And that was just the beginning. The results of a 60-question Daily Pennsylvanian survey on social life and sexual attitudes show men and women are often divided in their answers. They also seem to follow popular stereotypes attributed to both men and women. For instance, women -- who are often said to be more caring and close to others than men are -- are more likely to still be in touch with former sexual partners, whether with their first or their most recent. And, the women polled are more likely to prefer a relationship with hugging and no sex, whereas men prefer just the opposite. Also, as expected, when asked which gender they would prefer if they had only one child, men overwhelmingly chose a son, and women overwhelmingly chose a daughter. The statistics for the 405 students polled are almost as concrete when men and women talk about sex. More females than males said they are virgins, and of those who have had sex, more females said they have had only one sexual partner in their lives. For the most part, men said they had more than two sexual partners. When asked last night if men are more likely to lie about their sexual histories than women, Psychology Department Chairperson John Sabini said it is impossible to tell. "Literally, every survey I've ever seen [like this] has found that," he said. "Either it's true that males always lie or it's true that males have more sexual partners than females." Men in the poll also said they lost their virginity, on average, between the ages of 14 and 17, a little younger than the 15 to 19-year-old age bracket for women. The poll found, however, that University women were more sexually promiscuous last month -- or at least they said so in the survey. Seventy-one percent of the women polled said they had had sex in the previous month, while only 51 percent of men said they had. Of course, this statistic may have something to do with the fact that men out-number women on this campus --E57 to 43 percent. But women are twice as likely to say they will meet their future spouse at the University, and many are well on their way to achieving this goal. More women are in current monogamous relationships than men, and more women have said they have fallen in love at the University, by a margin of 52 to 38 percent. Almost 37 percent of women polled said they have fallen in love at the University, compared to 30 percent of men. But what may be surprising to some is that men tended to be more old-fashioned in one particular category. Almost 60 percent of men said a man should pay on a first date, whereas women are more likely to split the check or place the duty on whomever asked for the date. When confronted with more ethical questions, men and women also had many differing opinions. More females said they approve of a gay, lesbian or bisexual lifestyle than males, and while almost a quarter of males said they would move out of their room if they found out their roommate was gay, only eight percent of females agreed. These statistics, according to psychology graduate student Gregory Buchanan, are examples of natural phenomena. Buchanan, whose research interests include sexual behavior with an emphasis on homosexuality, said that while women tend to be more tolerant of homosexuality in general, they are less tolerant of lesbian relationships. "Men tend to be more tolerant of lesbianism [and] women tend to be more tolerant of gay men," he said. "If it's a member of your own sex, you're likely to be less tolerant." Buchanan added that women become less tolerant when "certain sexual practices" -- including fetishes and bondage -- are introduced. Women are also more worried about men having close female relationships than men are about women having close male relationships, he added. Men are also slightly more likely to have fantasized about a teaching assistant or professor during their years at the University. Nearly a quarter of men said they would sleep with either for a better grade in a class. But when it came down to actually sleeping with a professor or TA, an even three females and three males said they had. Concerning date rape, females were more likely -- by a difference of 43 to 29 percent -- to call date rape a "serious problem" at the University. Both males and females agreed evenly that when a woman says "no," it means "no." And besides the Bobbitt example, women are more likely to favor their own gender. More women had a favorable impression of two celebrities at the opposite end of the spectrum -- First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and singer Madonna. Finally, men and women are split almost equally in several categories. About 82 percent of both sexes are satisfied with their social lives, 73 percent of both are satisfied with the opposite sex at the University, 73 percent of both are satisfied with their respective sex lives, and about 70 percent of both said pregnancy would be a bigger concern than AIDS if a condom should break during sexual intercourse.