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Facing the facts about sex
A worldwide survey of young people's attitudes toward sex shows that
youth are getting more adventurous, and at a younger age
By David Momphard
November 14, 2004
Do you konw where your 18.5 year old is? That's the average age that Taiwanese
youth are losing their virginity, according to a world-wide Internet survey
conducted by condom manufacturer Durex.
The company claims the survey is the largest of its kind and, while it has
obvious shortcomings, it offers a rare look at how attitudes of young Taiwanese
towards sex compare with those of others around the world.
Released last month, the Global Sex Survey is now in its eighth year and has
grown dramatically since it was first conducted online three years ago. That
year, only 50,000 young adults from 22 countries took part in the survey. This
year's poll, however, had 350,000 respondents in 42 countries.
Durex won't say exactly how many respondents there were in Taiwan, only that
each country must have had at least 1,000 valid responses to qualify. They also
decline to specify what constitutes a valid response or how they ensure that
participants aren't exaggerating in their answers.
"We trust that the responses are honest," said Joy Li
(李欣于), a local associate of Durex in Taiwan. "What's
important is the mean result and how the data compare from country to country."
Still, the company's polling methodology could be considered as pliant as their
products. The questions have changed over the years, making it difficult to
identify trends. Only a few questions have remained consistent: the frequency
with which respondents have sex and -- not exactly hard science -- which
celebrities are considered sexiest.
But if the survey seems prurient in approach, it reveals that Taiwanese are
prudent by comparison. If Taiwanese first have sex at 18.5 years of age, for
example, it means they're waiting nearly a year longer than their peers around
the world, who first have sex at an average of 17.7 years old.
More strikingly, Taiwanese have, for better or worse, consistently ranked near
the bottom in frequency of sex. If the survey results are to be believed, there
is increasingly less sex taking place in Taiwan. The average number of happy
endings fell from 121 two years ago to 113 last year. That number fell again to
80 this year, ahead of only Singapore and Hong Kong, tied at 79, and Japan at a
flaccid 46 times a year. The global average was 103, with the make-love-not-war
French topping the chart at 137 times a year. Of all the Asian nations polled,
in fact, only Thais rose above the 100 mark.
Nor, according to the survey, do Taiwanese spend much time warming up. Only
16.3 minutes are spent on foreplay, the fifth-least of all 41 nations surveyed
and 3.4 minutes short of the global average.
"There are many other surveys similar to ours conducted in Taiwan," Li said.
"The responses they receive are often very similar to what you'll read in the
Global Sex Survey. What they cannot provide -- and this is where Durex's survey
is most beneficial -- is a comparison of local norms and mores regarding sex
with attitudes in other countries."
Sensitive areas
Apart from its more titillating questions, such as whether or not respondents
own a vibrator or if they like to role play during sex, the survey also touches
on some areas of more serious concern to researchers.
Two years ago, for instance, the survey revealed that more than 40 percent of
Taiwanese claimed to have had unprotected sex. More worryingly, 48 percent said
they would still have sex with someone who refused to wear a condom, the
highest percentage of any nationality polled other than Yugoslavians. Perhaps
not surprisingly, 69 percent felt HIV/AIDS is a serious problem in Taiwan.
Those numbers fell this year, with 37 percent admitting to having had
unprotected sex -- two points more than the global average -- and less than
half of respondents (48 percent) worrying about HIV/AIDS. Another 37 percent
were concerned with unplanned pregnancy and a carefree 4 percent said they have
no concerns about sex.
These kinds of numbers often help guide pundits and politicians in crafting
public health policies. Realizing this, Durex this year asked even more direct
questions regarding what role respondents feel government should play in the
sex lives of its citizenry. For Taiwan, the results were surprising.
More sex education desired
Despite a heated political environment, Taiwanese were more likely than any
other nation polled to call for government educational incentives regarding
sex. Another 38 percent said the government should focus on implementing a sex
education syllabus in schools and 8 percent said it should just provide free
contraception.
Few were willing to entirely hand over sex education to the government. More
than half of respondents (55 percent) felt parents should be responsible for
teaching kids about the birds and the bees. Only 7 percent felt the government
should be handed the task. In China, 14 percent of the people said instruction
about intimacy is the government's responsibility, more than any nation
surveyed and twice the global average.
There are other numbers about which the government can do very little. Last
year's survey asked if respondents were happy with their sex lives. Taiwan
ranked third from the bottom, with 61 percent of respondents answering in the
affirmative. Taiwanese, according to the survey, were only 2 points happier
with their sex lives than Finns or Russians, who tied as the least-satisfied
nations at 59 percent. The global average was 73 percent.
Some claim that ranking at the bottom of a global survey on sex isn't such a
bad thing, citing a different set of statistics which show that with a low
frequency of sex come low rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned
pregnancy.
Wang Ping (王蘋), the secretary general of the Gender/Sexuality
Rights Association Taiwan
(台灣性別人權協會) and an
author known for her lascivious literary style, has a different opinion. "Our
sexuality is not just part of who we are, it's the primary thing that makes us
a society," she said. "It's the thing that brings us together. ... Having less
sex might lead to fewer problems, but it will also lead to a weaker
understanding of ourselves."
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