Romance, Love, and Sex Matters in Turkey
The Turkish 'Kinsey Report'
-- Part 3 of a Series --

Turkish Sexuality Survey Question -- How would you describe your first sexual experience? The Hürriyet Sexuality Survey of 2005 As Metin Üstündağ was saying in Part 2... "Until recently, Turkish kids got their sex education in a very haphazard manner -- with mostly bad results. My generation was luckier, in some ways -- because of what happened in the mid-1970's in Yeşilcam (Turkey's Hollywood-like film capital located in Istanbul). (See our blog concerning the Turkish Cinema). The Turkish Erotic Films industry was born (and thrived) during that time and it provided my generation with a sex education, of sorts -- though it fell well short of being authoritative. What could we expect? In the role of our sex educator was a porn star...Aydemir Akbaş (now a legitimate actor-director and film screen-writer at age 70, who has more than 100 films to his credit). And when he'd leer sexily at the women in those early films, they'd immediately begin to moan with exaggerated desire. In fact, those films probably did more to a develop our sense of humor about sex, than they did to educate us about its 'finer points'." Headlines from the sexuality survey... 6 of 10 virgin couples felt 'excitement' at the thought of their first sexual congress as partners. 23% of those surveyed felt 'lust' during their first sexual experience. The second most mentioned feeling was 'nervousness' - (noted by 10.6% of participants). Of those citing a feeling of 'lust' during their first sexual experience, most were aged 16-34 Men (6.2%) more than women (4.9%) described their first sexual experiences as 'fatiguing'. Slightly more women (9.9%) than men (8.8%) described their first sexual experience with 'repugnance, guilt, or anger.' And... Of the more educated women in the survey, 30% of High School and 30% of University graduates were definite in describing their first sexual experiences as 'unpleasant', even 'bad'. But... Men and women equally (6.8%) said their first sexual experience made them "feel safe and secure." The 4 most-favored places for first-time sex were: 1) One's own home (Male - 43%, Female - 82% ) 2) Someone else's home (M - 18%, F - 7% ) 3) A hotel (M - 9%, F - 3% ) 4) A brothel (M - 20%, F - 0% ) First-time sex-partners fell into three main categories: 1) Husband/wife (M - 25%, F - 81% ) 2) Boyfriend/girlfriend (M - 27%, F - 13% ) 3) Prostitutes (M - 27%, F - 0% ) Among the celebrities polled, we were drawn to the 'first time sex' observations of the full-blooded veteran-actress Müjde Ar and the multi-talented Hülya Avşar... Click for enlargement! Müjde Ar It's probably not fair to generalize about men. And, I don't believe that every pubescent child rings at the door of a brothel -- though life is faster and bolder in the big cities these days. As for the subject of the first sexual experience, in my opinion, a man's greatest fear...is that his nervousness will show! Click for enlargement! Hulya Avsar I didn't feel any nervousness, I felt excitement. That's got much to do with the partner you're with -- and how the man makes you feel. I didn't suffer a bit at the crucial moment. Afterwards, I had to hear it from him that I was no longer a virgin. In Part 4: Answers to the Sexuality Survey Question, 'How old were you when you had your first sexual relationship?' Back to Part 2: Sexual knowledge sources