A study by Chicago’s Berman Center showed that, of the women studied, sex toys are currently being used or have been used by many women. And, interestingly enough, women who were in relationships were even more likely to currently be supplementing their relationship with sex toys.
2,600 women whose ages ranged from 18 to 60 were randomly invited to take part in the survey. Of those, 1600 participated and finished the survey which asked about their past and current use of sex toys and relationship status. The end results were then shared with the community at the Women’s Sexual Health State-of-the-Art Series held in Chicago.
There were many interesting results that came out of the survey. They found that vibrators were the toy of choice for most women and that of all the women asked, 43% had tired or were currently using sex toys. Older women, whose ages ranged from 55-60, were currently using sex toys about half as much as their younger counterparts. There was no significant age related difference, however, in the previous use of sex toys. 51% of woman 25-34 years reported that they have, or were currently using, sex toys.
One of the unexpected results was that the majority of women who used sex toys were in relationships. 43% of unmarried women who had live in partners said that they were currently using sex toys where as only 17% said they had tried them before but were not using them now. Only 35% of woman living separately from their partners used toys like vibrators and 21% had tried sex toys at least one before. Among singles there was a significant drop in use of sex toys. Only 22% of women not in a relationship were currently using sex toys and 21% had a history of use.
Less college education and being Caucasian also seemed to increase sex toy use. 34% of white woman were sex toy users as compared to 19% of Hispanics and 22% of African American contributor. There were 11% more women with partial college degrees and used sex toys as compared to women with completed degrees. 29% of women who had never been to college, 37% of women with uncompleted degrees and 26% of college graduates all reported current use of sex toys.
Curiosity was the main reason given for past or current use of sex toys. 90% of users in a relationship told their partners of their use and 2/3 of them even said that their partners supported their decision to use them. Women, overall, viewed the use of sex toys as “neutral-to-positive.” If the demographic variables were controlled for, women who were currently using sex toys were much more likely to have higher drive, desire and interest in sex while at the same time experiencing less discomfort or pain during the act of intercourse or following it. A healthy and stable relationship did significantly increase the woman’s satisfaction with their sex life if they had previous or current sex toy use.
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