8 Interesting Stats From New 'Playboy' Sex Survey
The rise of the Internet has changed the way we view sex, according to Playboy's results.
News flash: the internet has changed sex! (Not the mechanics, obviously—but how you get to the sexy time, yes.) But really, think about what the interet has brought to love and sex: Porn! Naked pictures! Online dating!
Wait, you already knew that? Probably, but the results of a new Playboy sex study are still worth a look.
Back in 1983, Playboy reported the results of a massive sex poll—the biggest of its kind at the time with more then 65,000 men and nearly 15,000 women participating—over the course of five issues. Soon after the conclusion of the research, the first Macintosh computer was released, and with the introduction of the Internet, sex once again began to change. Now, more than 25 years later, Playboy has conducted yet another survey, this time of 1,210 men and 1,100 females, and the impact of the internet—especially the easy access to pornography—has certainly shifted the tides. Here are a few highlights from the survey:
1. Porn viewage is up. The number of people who admit to watching adult movies nearly doubled, going from 40 percent in 1983 to 78 percent today.
2. As is masturbation. Men and women masturbate more than they actually have sex. Guy Talk: Can Male Masturbators Catch A Break?
3. Pubic hair is out. Back in 1983, the question of shaving pubic hair wasn't even included on the survey—apparently hair-down-there was totally in during the 80s—but now, more than half of respondents are mowing the lawns of their man and lady parts. This Guy's Not Ashamed To Admit That He LOVES a '70s Bush
4. Frisky sex is in. In 1983, only 35 percent of people had sex in public; now 76 percent admit to it. Playboy credits this new fad to the popularity of security cam and gonzo pornography. And what about the fact that 70 percent of women have been photographed nude, and almost half while having sex? Playboy says that's all thanks to digital cameras. We have a different hunch, and the bell rings to the tune of Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus. But you know, that's just us. 6 Infamous Celebrity Sex Tape Stars
5. Online dating us is up—even among those in committed relationships. It's no shocker that more folks are using matchmaking websites to find potential relationships and hookups. But what is interesting—33 percent of men and 23 percent of women use such sites even when in a committed relationship. Perhaps that's why 41 percent of men and 47 percent of women have suspected a partner of cheating? 4 Big Online Dating Don’ts
6. Almost half of all young people are still virgins. Among adults aged 18 to 24, 40 percent are still virgins. Considering our overly sexualized culture, that's a pretty substantial number. Even more, 20 percent of men and 29 percent of women never receive oral from their partner, and most say they would still date a person even if he or she didn't give it. This could explain why 11 percent of men masturbate everyday.
7. STD's aren't being taken seriously. It's upsetting that nearly a quarter of men and 13 percent of women with sexually transmitted diseases admitted to not informing their partner after learning their diagnoses. But what makes those numbers even worse? Knowing that one-in-four men and one-in-five women don't worry about protection against such infections, they simply "hope for the best." When did condoms become so passé?
8. We like to sleep with exes... and colleagues. Ex sex is pretty common, with 46 percent of men and 37 percent of women admitting to climbing under the covers with a former flame. Office relations are the norm, too—nearly half of the men and a third of the women surveyed have slept with a coworker, some with a boss. But as the list of partners grows, only women seem to keep a running tally—nearly three quarters of females say they know the first and last name of every person they've slept with, while only 43 percent of men can say the same.
More results from the survey, including additional comparisons between the 1983 results and the 2011 results, will be published in the June 2011 issue of Playboy.