OUTLOOK-MOODS SEX SURVEY All In The V Not tonight, honey? India finds a middle ground between the sheets.
Who would have thought that twelve years after our groundbreaking survey of the sexual habits and attitudes of urban Indian married couples, we would find that Indians today are having less sex, despite a far more open and liberal sexual environment? It's just one of the many eye-opening findings that turned up in the Outlook-Moods Sex Survey 2008.
The frequency has come down, as compared with 1996, and so has time spent on foreplay. All work and no (fore)play, it would seem, has made Jack a duller boy. More couples in full-time jobs, longer working hours, battling traffic jams on the daily commute, worrying about pink slips and home loans and terrorism—the typical pressures of life in the city today have no doubt taken their toll on the romantic life of urban couples. Fortunately, the scenario isn't entirely gloomy. Couples may be more pressed for time and energy, but they're trying even harder to squeeze all the fun they can out of life, and they're more open to experimenting. In 2008, as our survey reveals, there was a lot more spontaneous sex, early morning sex and oral sex; and greater adventurousness in trying out new positions.
Which city is the most active in oral sex? What is the biggest turn-on for women—six-pack abs or a handsome face? What percentage of couples have never had an orgasm? In what way have attitudes towards pre-marital sex and homosexuality changed in the 21st century India? Read on to discover the many fascinating, illuminating—and surprising—findings of the Outlook-Moods Sex Survey.
12 times a month is how frequently couples now have sex, down from 14 times a month in 1996
Respondents: men
Height
43% of Kochi men are aroused by a positive attitude; 50% of women in Ahmedabad like a muscular physique.
Respondents: women
What is your most preferred time for having sex?
Preference for morning sex has doubled for men; 59% of men in Ahmedabad prefer it
Men still initiate most of the sex. 'Pre-decided' sex isn't frequent. Spontaneous sex has risen from 13% in 1996 to 22% in 2008.
Is it pre-decided?
How long does it last?
Mumbai has the highest percentage (65%) of people who tried oral sex, while Lucknow has the lowest (23%).
Have you ever tried oral sex?
52% of women perform oral sex at the man's request while 40% of men do it at their partner's insistence.
Despite more people having oral sex, 43 per cent think it is dirty and 40 per cent think it is harmful.
Practised more by men, masturbation is highest in Kochi (80%) and in the age group 20-25 years.
More males (17%) than females (6%) are in favour of multi-partner sex, most in the below-25 age group.
Overall 16% did not experience an orgasm. But more people are having multiple orgasms.
23% of women don't have an orgasm, up from 9% in 1996. 33% of women in Lucknow don't have an orgasm.
Couples who watch TV or read books after sex have become inclined towards caring activities like kissing.
More men than women are in favour of homosexuality.
Average foreplay time is highest in Kochi at 12 minutes; 8 per cent in Calcutta do not indulge in foreplay. In every city, foreplay is down.
Average time on foreplay 11 minutes
80% say that society is more liberal in discussing sex, but nearly 50% refrained from talking about it.
Average frequency per week
Missionary continues to be the most preferred position, a preference for new positions was also seen in 2008.
Nearly one-fourth of the respondents have had sex before marriage.
Of those who are in favour:
61% of pre-marital sex was with a boy/girl friend, the highest in Ahmedabad (88%) and Mumbai (81%).
57 per cent of people who had premarital sex had it with two or more individuals.
The study was conducted in eight centres across the country—Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Kochi.
For purposes of comparison we have drawn samples from the same survey centres as in the 1996 survey.
A total of 1,640 respondents participated in the survey. In each city, 100 males and 100 females in the age group 20-45 years from SEC A, B and C were interviewed with the help of a close-ended questionnaire.
We at Outlookindia.com welcome feedback and your comments, including scathing criticism
But:
1. Scathing, passionate, even angry critiques are welcome, but please do not indulge in abuse and invective. Our Primary concern is to keep the debate civil. We urge our users to try and express their disagreements without being disagreeable. Personal attacks are not welcome. No ad hominem please.
2. Please do not post the same message again and again in the same or different threads
3. Please keep your responses confined to the subject matter of the article you are responding to. Please note that our comments section is not a general free-for-all but for feedback to articles/blogs posted on the site
4. Our endeavour is to keep these forums unmoderated and unexpurgated. But if any of the above three conditions are violated, we reserve the right to delete any comment that we deem objectionable and also to withdraw posting privileges from the abuser. Please also note that hate-speech is punishable by law and in extreme circumstances, we may be forced to take legal action by tracing the IP addresses of the poster.
5. If someone is being abusive or personal, or generally being a troll or a flame-baiter, please do not descend to their level. The best response to such posters is to ignore them and send us a message at Mail AT outlookindia DOT com with the subject header COMPLAINT
6. Please do not copy and paste copyrighted material. If you do think that an article elsewhere has relevance to the point you wish to make, please only quote what is considered fair-use and provide a link to the article under question.
7. There is no particular outlookindia.com line on any subject. The views expressed in our opinion section are those of the author concerned and not that of all of outlookindia.com or all its authors.
8. Please also note that you are solely responsible for the comments posted by you on the site. The comments could be deleted or edited entirely at our discretion if we find them objectionable. However, the mere fact of their existence on our site does not mean that we necessarily approve of their contents. In short, the onus of responsibility for the comments remains solely with the authors thereof. Outlookindia.com or any of its group publications, may, however, retains the right to publish any of these comments, with or without editing, in any medium whatsoever. It is therefore in your own interest to be careful before posting.
9.Outlookindia.com is not responsible in any manner whatsoever for how any search engine -- such as Google, Bing etc -- caches or displays these comments. Please note that you are solely responsible for posting these comments and it is a privilege being granted to our registered users which can be withdrawn in case of abuse. To reiterate:
a. Comments once posted can only be deleted at the discretion of outlookindia.com b. The comments reflect the views of the authors and not of outlookindia.com c. outlookindia.com is not responsible in any manner whatsoever for the way search engines cache or display these comments d. Please therefore take due caution before you post any comments as your words could potentially be used against you
10. We have an online thread for our comments policy: http://blog.outlookindia.com/default.aspx?ddm=10&pid=1669&eid=5
You are welcome to post your suggestions here or in case you have a specific issue, to directly email us at Mail AT outlookindia DOT com with the subject header COMPLAINT