Out of all the respondents, 98 % said that penis/vagina intercourse counted as sex and 78% said penis/anus intercourse counted as sex. But, only 2 % said that oral contact was considered sex.
One factor adding to this theory is that we have a cultural definition that sex is intercourse and everything else is foreplay. Even the term alone assumes that it is something before the main event.
Another factor is the history of saying that sex is how you make babies. Therefore, the younger generation has it imprinted in there minds that everything else isn`t sex.
We`re also still caught up in the notions of female virginity and that a virgin is someone who has not yet had intercourse. It is constantly reinforced that anything else doesn`t count as sex.
There is also a element of heterosexism that is involved. What I mean by this is that because sex is always referred to as penis/vaginal penetration, if there is not one of each of these, then some people think that it`s not intercourse. Some people think they are keeping their virginity by having anal sex instead of vaginal.
The reason that this poses a problem is because the younger generation is growing up thinking that oral and anal sex is not sex. Therefore things like pregnancy and STDS is not a risk, when really, they are. This is what will lead to the passing of certain STDS and it can really cause a problem for a lot of people.