"Venus gets in my thinking": drinking and female sexuality in the age of AIDS

Despite the strength of the cultural belief in the power of alcohol to disinhibit sexual impulses, the relationship of drinking and sex has only recently become the subject of empirical research. In light of the AIDS epidemic, any such relationship takes on increased importance. This paper reviews the literature on the effects of alcohol on sexual behavior in women, including discussion of both sexual activity per se and unsafe sexual behavior in particular. Although little is known about the relationship of drinking to sexual risk-taking in women, data from these lines of research provide a starting point for investigations on the ways in which drinking and sex may be associated.