THE 2019 playboy sex survey

ON SEX & SATISFACTION

“Sex is life’s ultimate pleasure,” according to more than 40 percent of our respondents. This should be cause for celebration, given our nation’s puritanical roots and the myriad claims that we’re experiencing a “sex drought.” There is a caveat, however. After correlating our data, we learned that among people who watch porn, the number who agree with the above statement jumps to almost 60 percent. That might mean either pornography is contributing to a rise in sex positivity or people who like sex are becoming more reliant on porn to get off. Either way, expectations in the bedroom remain vanilla: Relationship sex is the best, according to eight in 10 women, and vaginal intercourse is the best sexual act, according to straight people.

10-20 MINUTES

AVERAGE LENGTH OF TIME A PLURALITY OF HETEROSEXUAL MEN AND WOMEN PREFER VAGINAL INTERCOURSE* TO LAST

5-20 MINUTES

AVERAGE LENGTH OF TIME HOMOSEXUAL WOMEN PREFER VAGINAL INTERCOURSE* TO LAST

1

NUMBER OF HETEROSEXUAL PEOPLE WHO WANT VAGINAL SEX* TO LAST LONGER THAN 60 MINUTES

*Reminder, folks: This does not include foreplay.

44% VS. 43%VS.

PERCENTAGE OF MEN WHO REPORT THAT SEX “ALWAYS” ENDS IN THEM HAVING AN ORGASM

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN WHO REPORT THAT SEX “REGULARLY TO NEVER” ENDS WITH THEM HAVING AN ORGASM

IS YOUR SEX LIFE AVERAGE?

49% think they are having LESS SEX than others

47% think they should be having WAY MORE SEX Everyone is great at masturbating, apparently: Half of respondents believe they touch themselves “the right amount.” How much is that, you ask? Men are twice as likely as women to say “at least once a week.”

1/3 of females say they’ve never sown their own oats

1/5 of 25- to 44-yearolds think they should be masturbating way less than they do

LGBTQ people have more sexual partners overall*, with one in five reporting they’ve had more than 25 sexual partners. The number of sexual partners a plurality of heterosexual people report having had: 1

*More sexual partners doesn’t equate to a better sex life. LGBTQ people report masturbating more frequently and struggling with sexual performance more often than heterosexual people.

AFTER VAGINAL SEX, THE ACT PEOPLE MOST WANT TO BE BETTER AT PERFORMING: HAND STUFF

7% report being most comfortable discussing sex with their therapist

OPEN INVITATION?

GENDER

SOME 60 PERCENT OF MEN ARE CURIOUS ABOUT, OR HAVE BEEN IN, AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP. WOMEN? ONLY 34 PERCENT.

ORIENTATION

THREE QUARTERS OF GAY MEN HAVE OR ARE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP.

RACE

ROUGHLY TWO THIRDS OF NON-WHITE PEOPLE HAVE OR ARE INTERESTED IN EXPLORING AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP.

AGE

ONE IN 10 PEOPLE AGES 25 TO 34 ARE ALREADY IN AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP.

WE STILL VALUE SEX HIGHLY

…especially in the confines of a relationship

Although interest in open relationships is broadening in 2019 (see demographic trends at left), the majority of people consider exclusive relationships sacred. Some evidence: Our research shows that many nonsexual but sexually suggestive acts—flirting and close dancing, for example—qualify as forms of cheating. Fifty-four percent of men and 65 percent of women ranked cuddling as their favorite post-sex activity. While people agree that dating apps are necessary today, roughly one third believe that relationships that “start in the real world are more meaningful.”

WHO MAKES THE BEST SEXUAL PARTNER?

52% OF ALL RESPONDENTS (STRAIGHT AND GAY) HAVE OR ARE OPEN TO EXPLORING CASUAL SEXUAL RELATIONS OUTSIDE THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS

67% OF LGBTQ RESPONDENTS HAVE OR ARE OPEN TO EXPLORING CASUAL SEXUAL RELATIONS OUTSIDE THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS

WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DON’T

Are you cheating on someone right now? Perhaps. Are you pansexual? Maybe. It all depends on your knowledge of the evolving lexicon of sex. For the most part, though, no one knows what they’re talking about.

You’d think with all the tapping, sexting and swiping, we’d communicate more about what we like when we get naked. Nope. Only one in 10 people talk about sex “often” with their partner. One in five people “almost never” talk about sex.

I know what this means

I’ve heard of this but don’t really know what it means and want to find out

I’ve heard of this but don’t really know what it means and don’t care

I’ve never heard of this

68% VS. 67% BY A HAIR, MORE LGBTQ PEOPLE CONSIDER KISSING AN ACT OF CHEATING THAN STRAIGHT PEOPLE...

75% VS. 83% ...BUT FEWER QUEER PEOPLE THINK SEXUAL INTERCOURSE IS A FORM OF CHEATING

LOVE AT A DISTANCE

Midwesterners have a broader definition of cheating, and people in the West are more likely to think their partners are cheating if they have “an intimate emotional connection” with someone else.

A MAJORITY OF WOMEN* AGREE CHEATING INCLUDES:

SEXUAL INTERCOURSE SEXUAL FAVORS KISSING EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS GRINDING

A MAJORITY OF MEN DO NOT THINK CHEATING INCLUDES:

SLOW DANCING FLIRTING EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS GRINDING

*Seventeen percent of women do not consider sexual intercourse a form of cheating.

HOLD UP!

WOMEN LOVE TO

CUDDLE

AFTER SEX

What do men prefer to do outside of cuddling?

TALK, WATCH TV TOGETHER—AND

GO STRAIGHT TO SLEEP.

WHAT WE’RE INTO (NOT MUCH, UNFORTUNATELY)

A majority of people indicated no interest in learning about 31 sex toys they were unfamiliar with; below is a subset of that data. For the 46 percent who don’t know what a flogger is: Turn to page 142.

DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO

THE SOUTH IS THE MOST

SEXUALLY CONFIDENT

REGION OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH NEARLY ONE THIRD OF SOUTHERN RESPONDENTS AGREEING THEY “ALWAYS KNOW WHAT TO DO IN BED AND ALWAYS GET GREAT FEEDBACK.”

RESPONDENTS IN THE WESTERN U.S. WERE THE LEAST LIKELY TO AGREE THAT THEY

“ALWAYS KNOW WHAT TO DO IN BED.”

FROM A LIST OF 10 SEXUAL PRACTICES, (see right) a majority of respondents said they would like to “get better” at both giving and receiving vaginal intercourse.

NEARLY 30% had zero interest in getting better at any of the 10 sexual activities.

MAKING OUT CUDDLING VAGINAL INTERCOURSE HAND STUFF SEXTING ANAL INTERCOURSE FELLATIO ANILINGUS HAVING SEX ON CAMERA CUNNILINGUS