The Net is Changing People’s Sex Lives
DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY — Increased interaction with online porn is lowering people’s inhibitions and contributing to better sex lives, at least in Germany. That’s the conclusion of a recent study by the German Society for Social Scientific Sexuality Research, which found 98-percent of men and 90-percent of women admitted to an interest in porn.According to the study, conducted in conjunction with London’s City University, one-third of men and about 10-percent of women watch porn online daily. Other conclusions, based on the responses of 55,000 Germans over four months, included a rise in plastic surgery on the genitals and increased pressure among couples for “porn-style sex” at home.
“Pornography, in the sense of the description and depiction of sexual activities, is something of interest to every man and woman whether he or she visits [porn sites],” said Rolf Gindorf, a sexologist and former president of the society. “A lot of sexualities were hidden because people were afraid to admit these fantasies and activities. Now with the internet it is obvious many people share the same ideas and wishes and feelings.”
The study examined changes in sexual attitudes as reflected in fantasies and desires. Respondents as young as 14 admitted watching pornography.
In light of the society’s results, perhaps it isn’t surprising that condom manufacturer Durex’s annual survey found Germans to be the most sexually active, adventurous and orgasmic people on the planet.
The Durex survey, published in late April, found 55-percent of Germans older than 16 have regular orgasms, compared to an average of only 48-percent of people in other countries. Eighty percent of German men reported achieving orgasm always or nearly always; the worldwide average was 63-percent.
Women reported a much lower orgasm frequency: 33-percent worldwide, including in Germany. However, women internationally reported being more satisfied with the quality of their orgasms than they were previously: 66-percent of German women were more satisfied, compared to 54-percent of women worldwide.
Forty percent of German women in committed relationships reported experiencing orgasms regularly; only 22-percent of women who engage in one-night-stands reported regular orgasms.
In addition, as a relationship lengthens, sex becomes more satisfying, the Durex survey results indicated.
“With the years I find more fulfillment in our sexuality,” one German respondent told researchers. “It’s a lot easier for me to have an orgasm, and I experience it more intensely. My husband also knows me better and knows how I like it.”
Apparently German women know themselves equally well. Forty-three percent of them said they climax more often through masturbation than through intercourse. Men reported the opposite result.