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Durex Survey: Urban Indians Have Exciting Sex Lives
Deepti Lamba
According to a recent survey urban Indians are quite happy with their sex lives as compared to other countries around the world. We desis apparently don’t shy away from telling our partners what we like, we pour over porn material together, love role playing and enjoy massaging each other to get into the mood.
Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of Indians surveyed are comfortable with telling their partners what they like in bed way above the global average of 58 per cent and the UK with just 49 per cent, says the Durex ‘Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey’.Maybe it’s time that the myth that we are a sexually repressive society will finally be laid to rest. We may not openly discuss our antics in the bedroom but we do like romping around in the privacy of our rooms. Why else would we be producing like rabbits?
The survey further points out that two-third of Indians (68 per cent) think their love lives are exciting, a sharp contrast with 38 per cent for English lovers and 36 per cent for famed lovers in France. Moreover, 63 per cent of Indians say they have enough variety, compared with 47 per cent in the UK and just 9 per cent in Japan.
With the opening up of society, globalization and women becoming far more empowered, the equations in the bedroom have also changed. Women are more in tune with their sexuality, willing to be the ones to initiate the act and willing to learn more about how to please themselves and their partners.
Men on their end seem to have discovered the female magic button- the clitoris and many like their female counterparts are curious about how to be good lovers.
But certain patterns from the past continue to prevail:
Fidelity is still something that Indians are proud of, shows the survey which said that Indians have had fewer sexual partners than most other countries. Indian men have averaged six lovers and women have averaged two, while in the UK the figures are 16 and 10 respectively. Globally men, on average, have 13 partners and women have seven.Marriage, fidelity and children are considered as requirements that Indian youth are expected to follow. Confirmed bachelors and spinsters are considered to be oddities in Indian society and pre-marital sex continues to be frowned upon and rarely are live in relationship accepted by most families and communities.
Another surprising fact was that we are willing to use sex toys and lubricants to make sex more pleasurable:
"Almost six in ten (57 per cent) Indians think it is acceptable for products aimed at improving sex lives to be available in mainstream stores. Currently just 9 per cent of Indians use vibrators compared to 21 per cent globally although 13 per cent of Indians are interested to have a try," the survey said.
The survey said Indians are using more of lubricants to make sex more enjoyable with 33 per cent of Indians using them more as a part of their sex lives which is similar to the global figure of 34 per cent.
Apart from imported Vibrators, Indian vibrators are also available though they are sold under the guise of being educational materials. While condoms and contraceptive pills are easily available yet for things like vibrators and lubricants one has to go hunting around the town which is surprising for urban centers.
We are not only one of the happiest people but also adaptable. Ads about HIV and AIDS are being telecast and ads for above the counter contraceptives have also been allowed by the government. Recent public service advertisements have encouraged the open discussion of sex, AIDS, etc., which is a positive step.
While issues such as pre-marital sex and unwanted pregnancies are not openly discussed, yet avenues are there to help people who find themselves in a quandary. The low cost of the i-Pill can only help in this regard.
The urban Indians seem to be grounded in Indian values and yet seem to have embraced the Western concept or rather rediscovered the ancient Indian art of being comfortable with their sexuality and with their partners.
When asked what would improve sex lives, Indians said that more romance (47 per cent), more fun (46 per cent) and being able to spend more time with their partners (44 per cent) would be among the top priorities, with 45 per cent of surveyed Indians wanting to increase their knowledge so as to make things better for their partner.Sex, for most, it seems is merely not a bodily function - they want the romance and happily-ever-afters to go along with copulation.
Sumanth
September 28, 2007
06:14 AM
Deepti,
Recently mathematicians have disputed the "number of partner's theory".
"Indian men have averaged six lovers and women have averaged two, while in the UK the figures are 16 and 10 respectively. Globally men, on average, have 13 partners and women have seven."
Mathematically, the number of sexual partners for males and females in their lifetime have to be the same.
Actually, if one does surveys, men over-report and women under report. So, the survey's give two different values with men claiming to have more sexual partners.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/210029.html
ravi
September 28, 2007
02:00 PM
sumanth
me too feeling the same.
smallsquirrel
September 28, 2007
02:41 PM
uh sumanth.. please DO explain to me how the number of sexual partners for males and females HAS to be the same.
this oughta be good. I always loved fuzzy math.
temporal
URL
September 28, 2007
08:23 PM
dee:
oh dear!
who conducted this survey? how were they selected? how many? from what income group/s? regions?
to me this survey appears suspect...either the target selected is extremely limited and not across the nation or it is interpolated erroneously or they are not coming clean
am i the only one who feels this way?
ravi
September 28, 2007
10:31 PM
deepti
http://deccan.com/Hyderabad%20Chronicle/Hyderabad%20ChronicleDescription.asp#Sex%20survey%20findings%20fall%20flat
go through this link.you will find opinions of one andrologists and some sexalogists.what they are feeling about this survey. It's not a perminant link, so better read this day. other wise content may change.
Ledzius
September 29, 2007
12:14 AM
These sex surveys are invariably wide off the mark. Every year they paint a different picture.
Deepti Lamba
URL
September 29, 2007
04:07 AM
Maybe they asked those who use their products;) But generally I think we Indians tend to believe negative surveys more than positive ones;)
Thanks for commenting
Sumanth
September 29, 2007
04:39 AM
smallsquirrel,
The link that story is in the first comment itself.
The "average" number of sexual partners for males and females have to be the same.
In fact, with so called reports saying there are 50 million women missing in India, the "average" sexual partners for females have to be more than the average sexual partners of men.
Say, there are 10 men and 10 women in an Island. 5 men had sex with all 10 females. So, each of these men have 2 partners where as each of the females have one partner. But, when we take an average, 5 men had 2 partners each and 5 men had no partners. so, the "average" partner per man is 1.
So, there are serious holes in these surveys and news articles. unfortunately, most people in media rarely specialise in mathematics or logic beyond high school.
Sumanth
September 29, 2007
04:47 AM
Temporal,
Its good news for you. Is not it?
Indian has reached where you guys have always wanted India to reach. Still you believe Indians are not good lovers.
I have a nice "puzzle" for you.
Go to Alexa.com and find the 100 most visited websites in India. You will find name of a highly visited website which is also name of a famous Indian magazine in the topic.
You will get data and convincing that not only Indians are great lovers on bed, but also Indians are ranked no.1 in uploading their sexual exploits (videos) in Internet.
This is a survey which you guys can do without waiting durex to do it.
Sirius
September 29, 2007
01:04 PM
Wonder what Durex gains out of all this anyway. Will they be able to make better condoms? Condoms with these statistics printed on them, haha.
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