Equal Masturbation Day: It’s Time to Close the Masturbation Gap!

Let’s be frank: women will still have to deal with quite a few gaps in 2020. The pay gap, the orgasm gap and now also the masturbation gap, as a specially commissioned study by Womanizer reveals. Accordingly, men are way ahead not only in terms of salary and orgasms but also in terms of masturbation frequency. To change that, it’s time to announce Equal Masturbation Day on September 5!

Raw numbers

In the study, 6,000 women and men from 12 countries were interviewed. The results are sobering. Internationally, the masturbation gap is 68 percent. This means that men masturbate an average of 154 times a year, while women on average masturbate only 49 times in the same period. In the US the gap is around 60 percent. Around 35 percent of women from the participating countries stated that they never have solo sex, compared to just 18 percent for men. If you do the math, then from an international point of view, September 5 is International Equal Masturbation Day (EMD).

Womanizer believes that this has to change! In order to create more awareness for this topic, we are proclaiming September 5 International Equal Masturbation Day. Following the same logic as Equal Pay Day, up until this day, women – calculated for a year – had not yet masturbated when compared to their male counterparts! Similar to the Pay Gap, women work around 77 days a year for free because their salary is on average lower than that of men.

Less masturbating = weaker libido? Not true!

From Equal Masturbation Day on September 5 onwards, men and women masturbate about the same amount for the rest of the year – around three times a week according to the survey. But why do men masturbate so much more than women viewed across the whole year? This question is very often answered with outdated, stereotypical clichés. “Men just have more sex drive, that’s their nature” … No, it isn’t. The current study shows that with regard to the assessment of their libido on a scale from 1 to 10, there is a small difference but not nearly enough to explain the masturbation gap: Men estimate their libido at 6.5, while women on average rate theirs at 5.5 (In the US: 6.8 vs 5.9). However, masturbation is an important part of sexual self-determination. Unfortunately, internalized shame, social stigma and a lack of education keep many women from exploring their own sexuality. “

No time for solo sex?

The survey asked participants why they rarely masturbate. The following were some of the most common reasons mentioned globally:

• I am sexually fulfilled in my relationship and don’t need it (33 percent)
• I don’t have the desire to masturbate more (33 percent)
• I am often too tired (15 percent)

Whatever the reasons, the fact is women masturbate significantly less. Another discrepancy between male and female sexuality becomes clear in the survey. When asked about acceptance of sex toys, four out of ten respondents said it is more okay for women to use toys than men, but only six percent say that society is more likely to accept female masturbation. And this is where Equal Masturbation Day and with it awareness of the topic, comes into play again.

Equal Masturbation Day symbolizes these social hurdles and is intended to remind women that it is – in the truest sense of the word – it is in their own hands to close this gap – if they want.

(Johanna Rief, Head of Sexual Empowerment, Wow Tech Group)

Why masturbation is so important

Sure, the goal of solo sex for most people is a wonderfully intense orgasm – or several. But masturbating is important for completely different reasons. We have collected a few here:

• You have good sex if you know your body and your needs exactly. Solo sex is the perfect way to get there. Explore your body and enjoy your lust …
• Due to the release of certain hormones, orgasms are real immune boosters. So masturbating regularly is good for your health.
• Had a stressful day? Then switch off and have fun with yourself, with your body, your lust. All you need is rest, a nice place and maybe a sex toy …

• There are phases when you don’t feel comfortable in your skin – and anything but sexy. Masturbation is a good way to escape this feeling, because the touch and the released endorphins it releases make you feel great.
• You can discover completely new sides of yourself – and the best way to do this is to try out different toys. As they say, appetite comes while eating…