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The research
Somebody measured it with a stopwatch
500 couples, five countries, and a number far below the guess.
Photo:
R. Henrik Nilsson
· CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Guess first
What do you think the number is? Move the handle, then see how close you were.
the measured median
Guess first
Show me the answer
5.4 min
the measured median
Rather than ask, the researchers handed 500 couples in five countries a stopwatch and asked them to start it at penetration and stop it at ejaculation, at home, over four weeks. The median came to 5.4 minutes. The full range ran from 33 seconds to 44 minutes.
The distribution is heavily skewed, which is why the median is the honest figure and the average is not. The study also found no relationship with circumcision status and only a weak one with age — and, notably, that the Turkish couples in the sample were markedly quicker than the other four countries.
Where do you fall?
Drag the handle. The curve is the distribution the study actually measured.
Where do you fall?
Nothing you move here is sent anywhere, saved anywhere, or put in the address bar. The whole calculation happens in your browser.
Did you know
Asked separately what they believed was normal, both men and women estimated far higher figures than anyone in the study recorded. The gap between the perceived norm and the measured one is the most consistent finding in this entire field.
The sex-toy guide
A shop has two hundred of them. One of them is right for you.
Seven questions: who it is for, what sounds appealing, how quiet it has to be, what it may cost. Out comes one type — with what to look for, what it costs, and what nobody prints on the box.
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Two minutes, and nothing is saved
Start the seven questions
For the two of you
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You each answer twenty questions on your own, and neither of you ever sees the other’s answers. Only what you both said yes or maybe to comes back. A no and a maybe look identical from outside, so saying no costs nothing — which is what makes the answers honest.
Six sets of twenty questions — three by depth, three by subject
An evening you can actually plan, built from what you agreed on
No account, no names, and it deletes itself after a few days
Open Let’s talk about sex
General information, not medical advice. Anything persistent or painful belongs with a doctor, who has heard it before.
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General guidance about categories of product, not medical or therapeutic advice, and not a recommendation of any particular brand.
