An international study conducted by the sexual pleasure brand TENGA revealed that gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals masturbate an average of 23% more weekly than straight people.
The major study polled 13,000 men and women, ages 18-74, in 18 various countries across the globe, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Russia, Germany, India, and the United States.
In addition to masturbating more frequently, LGB-identifying individuals started masturbating at earlier age, 13, compared to 15 for heterosexuals.
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Other key takeaways from the study included:
-- Gay and bisexual people are significantly more likely to have talked about masturbation with a friend or significant other. In the UK, 7 out of 10 gay/bi people had spoken about masturbating with someone else, compared to only 4 out of 10 straight people.
-- 72% of gay and bi people believed that society would benefit more if people openly discussed sexual topics, including masturbation, compared to only 44% of heterosexuals.
-- LGB people were also more likely to have ever tried masturbating. (It’s weird to think that there are men and women out there who have never masturbated before…) In the UK, 97% of LGB respondents said they had tried masturbating, compared to 86% of heterosexual respondents.
UK-based psychotherapist Jane Czyzselska wonders if straight people are more prone to thinking of masturbation as wrong or sinful.
She told Gay Star News,
"I wonder if there’s something about a certain kind of conservative heteronormativity that attaches shameful narratives to masturbation? I’m thinking of patriarchal religions that consider it sinful … or that to self-pleasure whilst in a monogamous relationship suggests that something is missing? If this were so, perhaps then the gay, bi and lesbian folk who are less likely to pay heed to such conservative belief systems, enjoy masturbation whether in or outside of relationships, alone or with other sexual partners?"
