jQuery val problem for "select" fields

jQuery.val does not work properly for "select" fields.

by Gonzalo Chumillas

HTML

<input type="text" id="name" size="30" />
<input type="text" id="age" size="10" />
<select name="sex" id="sex">
    <option value="male">Male</option>
    <option value="female">Female</option>
</select>

JavaScript

// works
$('#name').val(new String('Bonifacio Rodrigues Angulo'));
$('#age').val(new String(68));

// does not work
$('#sex').val(new String('female'));