The global leaders in pleasure technology, Womanizer, conducted a recent survey on 6,000 people into the masturbation habits of people around the world.
In the research, Womanizer had hoped to discover pleasure parity in the number of times those who identified as women and men masturbated throughout the year, but in using the same formula that calculated Equal Pay Day, the pleasure tech company uncovered a 65% gap in masturbation habits of Australian men and women.
The data shows women are getting off 54 times a year (around once a week), while men are masturbating three times as much — around 155 times a year.
To highlight the disparity, Womanizer decided to name August 25 as ‘Equal Masturbation Day’, and by encouraging conversations around masturbation and the benefits of self-pleasure, are hoping to see the gap close before the next Equal Masturbation Day in 2021, if not sooner.
Womanizer’s head of sexual empowerment, Johanna Rief, says Equal Masturbation Day is an opportunity to note the importance of pleasure, regardless of one’s gender identity.
“Masturbation is an important part of sexual wellbeing, but unfortunately, shame, social stigma and lack of education prevent many women from exploring their own sexuality,” she said in a press release.
“Equal Masturbation Day is symbolic of these social barriers and is intended to remind women that it is up to them to take their pleasure into their own hands, literally, and close this gap.”
Victorian MP and Reason Party Leader, Fiona Patten, is getting around the occasion and is encouraging women to embrace self-pleasure.
“We’re all doing it, but there’s no reason why women shouldn’t be exploring self-pleasure just as often as their male counterparts. The notion that ‘men are simply hornier’ is an anti-feminist and dated notion with no validity and we need to combat these taboos to drive sex-positive conversations that benefit us all.”
The good news is that women have been buying more sex toys in isolation. Recently, the parent company of Womanizer, WOW tech, reported a drastic increase in sales.
“WOW Tech assumes that the need for high-quality individual masturbation increases as couples are less available to see each other due to quarantines increases, and people are less likely to use hook up apps as a precaution.”
Now, the work lies in continuing those conversations with our friends about self-pleasure to normalise masturbation for all. After some talking points? Start with the beauty benefits of sex toys for your skin, then discuss the five best sex toys for solos and couples.