<< Preferences for Light or Dark >>

Among married partners, there may be considerable differences in preferences for having intercourse in full light, in subdued light, or in the dark. In general, more males prefer to have intercourse in the light, and more females prefer it in the dark. Such differences may be ascribed to different levels of “modesty” in the two sexes, but the basic explanation probably lies much deeper. These preferences for light or dark are closely correlated with differences between males and females in the erotic significances of objects that are visually observed.

40 per cent of the males in our sample preferred to have their coitus or other sexual activities where there was at least some light. Fewer (19 per cent) of the females in the sample preferred sexual relations in the light. This, again, is ordinarily taken to represent the greater modesty of the female, but it seems to depend upon the fact that the male is stimulated by seeing the sexual partner, by seeing the genitalia or other parts of the body of the sexual partner, by getting some chance to observe, as a voyeur, something of his own sexual action, and by the opportunity to observe various objects with which he comes to associate sexual action. Females, as we have already shown, are much less often attracted by observing the male partner, his genitalia, or other objects associated with the sexual performance. The specific data are as follows:

Preferences for Light or Dark
Preferences	Report on own preferences		Subject’s report on
	by Females	by Males	Female Spouse	Male Spouse
	%		%
Definitely prefer light	8	21	11	21
Prefer some light	11	19	13	10
Prefer dark	55	35	58	34
No preference	26	25	18	35
Number of cases	2042	798	662	1633

Most males, particularly in upper segments of the population, are definitely aroused upon seeing things that are associated with sex, and most females are not so aroused. To have intercourse in the light increases the sources of erotic stimulation for most males, and means very little erotically to most females. In consequence, moral considerations of the sort that are associated with modesty may very well control the female in her behavior, but they do not mean so much to the male. It is probable that these differences between the sexes are, again, dependent upon basic differences in the neural organizations which are involved in sexual responses (Beach 1947). These matters must have more elaborate consideration, and always the nature of the patterns that are basic among the other mammals must be taken into account, if we are to understand the relative effects of heredity and culture on human behavior.

Anthropologic data indicate that there are different customs in regard to having coitus in the light or dark in various cultural groups, and the cultural tradition may be a factor in determining the practice in our own culture; but this does not explain why, within our own single culture, males are more likely than females to prefer some light during their sexual activities. The differences provide another illustration of the greater capacity of the male to be conditioned by experience.
For varying practices in various cultures in regard to day or night preferences for coitus, see Ford and Beach 1951:73.

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