[ItsASecret]

I don't understand how only 60% of men masturbate, maybe the other 40% are sexually active and do not feel the inclination to because their partners keep them satisfied?

It accounts for a wide variety of ages, not just the horny teenagers who walk around humping the air or the men who vigorously do themselves 5 times a day...it is also the males who just do not want to. Average all that out and you get 60 some percent which sounds very reasonable considering it still means more than majority masturbate.

[DSemcho]

Not necessarily true. Men that are satisfied with their partners can still masturbate frequently. My husband enjoys sex with me, but there have been times I walked in on him masturbating. (we have a problem with him watching to much porn)

[jns]

Apparently you've never seen American porn - cause a lot of women masturbate. I certainly do - sometimes so many times in a day that my clit is to sore to do anything..... And honestly, in the long-term relationships I've been in I've always been the hornier partner.

I never use porn to determine much of anything. Some would say masturbating in porn is mugging for the cameras, not even real masturbation because the reason is very different than true masturbation. I think for the 70% - 80% of women who can get to orgasm, masturbation is an option. You can chip away on that number for those who are highly religious and wouldn't masturbate, those who feel that their SO should be the one who brings them pleasure, those with low libidos, those who find it very hard to get to orgasm by masturbation, etc., etc., etc. For the older set, there was much debate about a woman's sexual capability for decades and some women are probably still uninformed. Women were also taught that touching themselves there was dirty to a much greater degree than guys. Guys may have been taught it by their mothers, but most rejected those teachings along the way.

[JonDoe]

Among those aged 18–60, 38% of women and 61% of men reported any masturbation over the preceding year.

Notice, the study mentions the previous year, not daily, weekly or even frequently. Thus I find it difficult to believe that 62% of women didn't masturbate at least once in the last 12 months.

From anecdotal evidence, woman are much less likely to admit to masturbation then men, which I believe skews the data disproportionally. My wife of 20+ years has a difficult time admitting to me that she masturbates. A close female friend of mine openly shared with me that she enjoyed kissing other women when she was younger, and would like to include multiple partners, but turns three shades of red when the topic is masturbation. She coyly admits that she masturbates, even though she doesn't come right out and say so. She gives me a knowing nod and wink when others aren't looking. I know her well enough to know that is her way of telling me she can't lie to me, but the others don't need to know.

The next time we have a dinner party with our close friends, I am going to put my hand in the air and say "Let's see a show of hands if you have masturbated in the past 30 days!", then I'll report bacK the results of my unscientific survey.

[TJPatriot]

I would say the numbers for males are low for sure. As for why women are lower? Easy answer, they're told not to do stuff like that their entire life. Men are expected to be horny and all over the place, women are told about purity and how to act like a lady. This translates into men having few inhibitions for sex and women having all sorts of issues regarding them. Maybe in a few more decades if we can even things out both genders will masturbate on a similar frequency.

[jns]

I think the 61% for men is probably not too far off if it is off at all. There are men who have no libido and frustrate their SO's. There are the religious men, the excessive cleaners, the ones that always save themselves for their SO, etc., etc., etc. Although a guy that is in his teens or 20s may think every guy is masturbating because every guy that he knows is, such anecdotal evidence cannot be applied to men in general from any given country. I know when I was first married and was having sex almost every day, porn and masturbation were far from my mind.

[AntLondon]

Hmm they all sound a bit low to me - but then the age ranges are quite large so that may be the factor I'm missing.

For 18-30 year old males, I would expect the "have you in the last 4 weeks" to be closer to 90%, and for the 18-30 year old females at least over half.

I don't know of any guy (18-30) who does - but by that I mean of any guy who I've ended up discussing this with(!) so a small subsection. I know of only one girl (18-30) out of perhaps ten, who I've talk to about this area, who says she doesn't - well in fact, she says she has tried on a number of occassions, but gets frustrated as she can't bring herself to orgasm so gives up - in fairness though, she has tried a few time a year - so even then it's not 100% no.

Add in the full range of years, and perhaps what brings down the averages is that people has a lower libido as they get older, with the stresses of family/work and the natural urges subside a little. So not sure it's really fair to simply say about 2/3s of women don't masturbate. It might be that they "have previously" but "don't now regularly" ?

[naree]

masturbating is so fun and interesting i just love it ...

[JonDoe]

"Estimates suggest that about 70% of married men -- and married women -- pleasure themselves."

Source: The Multi-Orgasmic Man