Does Sexuality Affect Self-Pleasure?

Preface

Would You Rather Give Up Sex of Masturbation?

So, would you rather give up sex or masturbation for a month?
Well, it seems like 60% of those that identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community said they would rather give up on sex for a month versus 31% of those that identify as heterosexual.

So why is that?
If we take a look at another question, “How frequently do you have sexual activity with another person on average?” (how often one has sex) we see that heterosexual people responded with 52% having sex weekly or more versus 47% for LGBTQ+.

When asked, “How frequently do you masturbate on average?” around 50% of heterosexual people masturbate weekly or more versus 64% of the LGBTQ+ community. In the same question, the percentage of heterosexual people that answered that they tried masturbation before but don’t do it on a regular basis is also much higher (13% vs 5%).

Based on these numbers, we can assume that since more heterosexual people have sex on a weekly basis compared to masturbation, it is harder for them to give up sex, especially because there is a higher percentage of heterosexual people who aren’t as active or accustomed with self-pleasure compared to the LGBTQ+ community.

“Do you agree with the following statement; Masturbation is a form of self-care,” with 53% of the LGBTQ+ community strongly agreeing vs 24% of heterosexual people. With more people from the LGBTQ+ community recognizing self-pleasure can help relieve stress and as part of their self-care routine, it makes more sense why they would rather give up sex for a month than masturbation.

How Open Are You to Using a Sex Toy?

How often do you use sex toys?

For both demographics, there seems to be some fans of sex toys. In fact, those that identify as LGBTQ+, are more likely to continue to use sex toys on a weekly basis (39%). While for heterosexual people that have used them before, the chance of stopping using sex toys is higher (26%). One possible reason could be related to the answers above, that self-pleasure is considered as part of self-care for the LGBTQ+ community, leading to them partaking in self-pleasure more. 

Have you ever used a sex toy? 

69% of the participants from the LGBTQ+ community said yes, while 51% of heterosexual people have. What is interesting are the follow-up questions.

It can be assumed that often when heterosexual purchase sex toys, it is to use on their partners, like the common idea of buying vibrators for a female partner. In addition, the market of sex toys that are specially designed to be used as a couple is still relatively small. On top of that, the chance of a member of the LGBTQ+ community already using sex toys is much higher, and that they are more likely to be able to share and use the sex toy with their partner, when compared to heterosexual people. 

Final Thoughts

These are just some things we found when examining the TENGA Global Self Pleasure Report, there could be many other reasons behind the results we found. With that being said, with more communication revolving around sexuality and self-pleasure, we can understand each other more and create a more open environment where everyone can love and express themselves freely.

With that being said, what are your thoughts? Does your personal experience line up with this data? Or if you have any other interesting data that you would like to share, feel free to @ us on our social media accounts.
In the month of June, we would like to start conversations to help normalize talking about sex and masturbation. Feel free to join us!

Instagram                Twitter