Self-Selection Bias

Lesbians Report More Orgasms Than Straight Women

Women kissing (Wallhaven)

That headline got your attention, didn’t it?

Yes, it’s true: Women with same-sex partners orgasm more than women in heterosexual partnerships and also bisexual women.

A 2014 study by Garcia, Lloyd, Wallen and Fisher examined the orgasm frequency of 6K+ women and men. (No word on how it broke down via gender and orientation identifications.) Participants self-selected to take the 2011 survey. Data was used from 1.4K+ men and 1.3K+ women who’d had sex within the past year.

The study found that heterosexual women experienced an orgasm 61%+ of the time, bisexual women had an orgasm 58% of the time, and lesbian women had an orgasm 74%+ of the time. Needless to say, those are some very large gaps to attribute to orientation.

But why is this? There are a few reasons: First, a woman would theoretically be able to get her female partner off more easily, because she’s working with the same equipment (so to speak). She would also be more comfortable with her own body, allowing her to orgasm more. Another reason mentioned is a bit more about social conditioning in terms of sexual etiquette: A 2013 study reveals that women in heterosexual partnerships don’t expect to have an orgasm during a sexual encounter, whereas women in homosexual partnerships do have that expectation.

Aydian Dowling Could Be The First Trans “Ultimate Guy” for “Mens Health”

Aydian Dowling (Facebook)

This past week has been a banner one for the trans community. First, Laverne Cox stripped down for “Allure” to help empower her various communities (black, woman, transgender). And now, fitness magazine “Men’s Health” might soon have its first transgender cover model.

Twenty-seven-year-old Aydian Dowling from Eugene, Oregon currently leads the magazine’s “Ultimate Guy” search, which searches for the man who “possesses all of the qualities that make up today’s well rounded, active, health conscious and thoughtful guy; is fit and fearless and leads by example.”

Dowling certainly meets those requirements. He began transitioning using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in Oct. 2009, and had top surgery (which removed his breasts) three years later. In terms of leading by example, Dowling is also a fitness entrepreneur: He created YouTube channel Beefheads Fitness, which focuses on fitness for trans people. He saw an opportunity within the marketplace when he realized that nobody was filling that void, and decided to step in. Dowling also gives back by donating some profits from his clothing company to help transmen pay for top surgery.

As of Sunday night, Dowling sits atop the “Reader’s Choice” leaderboard:

‘Men’s Health’ Ultimate Guy Contest Leaderboard April 19, 2015

The rankings are based on user votes, so anyone who comes to the website can decide whether to vote or not. (As you can see, there’s some self-selection bias at play here. But in this case, it might not be such a bad thing.)

Dowling has pretty much blown every other ranked contestant out of the water at this point. Brian Taylor, currently in second place, hasn’t even received 25% of the votes that Dowling has.

The winner of the “Ultimate Guy” contest will be featured on the “Men’s Health” November 2015 issue cover. The magazine’s editors note that “the winner of the reader vote isn’t guaranteed to win the contest, but will be in the top 10 finalists.” It’s very exciting that we’re potentially watching history in the making, and that this represents a large shift in terms of (re-)defining ideas of mainstream masculinity. And we really hope that the “Men’s Health” editors award Dowling the title, if he wins the reader poll.

The UK Bans Certain Sex Acts in Porn

Handcuffs, a.k.a. “physical restraint” (Fleshlight)

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom enacted a ban on certain sex acts in porn. The ban amends the 2003 Communications Act, which previously sketched in “unacceptable” acts as ones associated with violence and abuse.

Now, the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) has narrowed down their lists of “good” and “bad” sexual acts to very specific, fetish-focused ones. Per “The Independent:”

The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 requires that video-on-demand (VoD) online porn now adhere to the same guidelines laid out for DVD sex shop-type porn by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC).

The acts listed under “content that is not acceptable” includes a variety of BDSM-related activities, age-play, and female ejaculation. Almost all of the sex acts listed are included under the BBFC’s “Restricted 18” rating, which means that the films can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas and sex shops.

Now this only applies to porn made within the UK, and porn made outside its bounds is totally fair game to have any of these “unacceptable” acts. I have to wonder if this will lead to a rise in Brits importing their porn to see these now-illicit acts. Now foreign porn production houses can get themselves piece of that hardcore caning action:

Pornhub’s UK Banned Porn Content Table (The Independent)

(Side note: I’d love to know how these nine acts were agreed upon. And how female ejaculation made its way in. It doesn’t seem to fit with the overall theme of violence and pain the rest of the entries have. Seriously, what’s up with that?!)

The UK has had a long, uncomfortable history attempting to regulate porn. (Robert Rosen’s “Independent” article provides some enlightening historical context.) The country only legalized hardcore porn in 2000, about 30 years after the rest of the Western world. And you’d be considered a criminal for possessing “non-realistic sexual images of a minor,” or, in popular parlance, cartoon porn.

This ruling certainly changes the game for British porn producers and consumers, so it’ll be interesting to watch how its landscape changes over time. Who knows, Britain could, at some point, enact a law dictating that only a certain amount of porn can be imported at any given time. After all, Pelchat’s amendment worked for French radio.

#ThrowbackThursday: “Seinfeld” Undateable Conversation

“Seinfeld”‘s Jerry and Elaine

I’d forgotten about this apropos exchange from one of my favorite shows. It’s from Season 7’s episode “The Wink,” which first aired on Oct. 12, 1995.

Undateable bit from “Seinfeld” episode “The Wink”

Hmm, I have to question his methodology, which he’s not exactly being transparent about…

I wonder if the fictional Jerry Seinfeld would say that those numbers still hold true today, or have changed? Too bad we’ll never know.

How Long Does Foreplay Last for Couples?

Couple in bed

It sets us on the path to get the big O: foreplay. We’re told to put some time into it (i.e. around 20 minutes or so) before starting intercourse for good reason. But how much time do couples spend on it?

A 2013 “Glamour” survey delves deep into this one. They found that the majority (33%) spent a measly 5-9 minutes on foreplay, with 10-14 minutes (24%) and less than 5 minutes (23%) closely following. Longer foreplay times of 15-19 minutes and over 20 minutes clocked in at 12% and 8%, respectively.

But we can’t really glean a whole lot of information from this, due to the methodology (or what “Glamour” is willing to reveal about it). The article notes that it surveyed 1K+ “young women,” but we have no idea the age range of said women. So we can’t draw any conclusion on how long foreplay lasts based on age.

There’s also the self-selection bias, in that they only surveyed readers who would be up for spilling those details. And since “Glamour” readers tend to skew in their ’20s and ’30s, we’d only be able to see details within that range.

Bottom line: we could all stand to spend more time on foreplay, beginning with outside the bedroom.

Sex & Stats: Where Numbers Come to Bang

Statistics. Economics. Sex.