World Sexual Health Day is celebrated annually on September 4th, in an effort to raise awareness of the social and cultural taboos associated with sexuality and to promote positive sexual health. This year, the Pornhub Insights team will be taking a closer look at our own free resource for information about sexuality, health and relationships: The Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center.
The Sexual Wellness Center is directed by Dr. Laurie Betito, a noted broadcaster, author, therapist and speaker. She is joined by numerous contributors, each with their own expertise and knowledge to share. Since launching in 2017, more than 40 million people have visited Pornhub’s Sexual Wellness Center for help and information on a wide variety of topics.
According to Dr. Laurie, “Here at the Pornhub Sexual Wellness Center, every aspect of sexuality is addressed (at least we try). Yet it is fascinating for us to see what kinds of information people look for the most.”
Most Searched for Information
“The top searched for term on the Wellness site is “masturbation”. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me for several reasons. Firstly, people navigate to porn usually because they want some visual stimulation to go along with some self pleasuring, so “masturbation” is definitely on their minds. Maybe there are different ways to masturbate that they can discover for example.”
“Another reason that people tend to seek out information about masturbation lies behind the beliefs we have in society about masturbation. Many people are raised to believe that masturbation is sinful, dirty, or that it will stunt your growth. So there is still a lot of shame surrounding masturbation. And because of this, people don’t talk about it. So how does one figure out if they are doing it too much, are hurting themselves, or if it will impact their relationships? Luckily, we have the answers on the Sexual Wellness site. So it is of no surprise that “masturbation” is at the top of the list of searched subjects.”
Dr. Laurie continues, “Following closely in second place is “BDSM“. Now here is a sexual practice that for a long time remained quite “taboo”. These days, I would have to say that it has gone far more mainstream thanks to the likes of 50 Shades of Grey. In fact, research is emerging that is showing that many women seek out BDSM porn more than they ever have. People clearly have questions when it comes to BDSM—How do I practice this safely? How do I introduce this to a partner? What does it mean if you like to be dominated? And so many more. Once again, the PHSWC provides you with the answers to these and many other questions.”
“In our top 10 searched for terms, we also find “anal”, “orgasm”, “premature ejaculation” and “gay”. I think you would agree that none of these topics are covered in sexual health education at school, nor talked much about by our parents. So that leaves many people with lots of questions about topics that very few talk about openly. From the questions I get from our visitors, I can see that there are many misconceptions out there about so many aspects of sexuality, and especially about the top searched subject mentioned above. On our site, we strive to dispel myths and misconceptions as well as provide you with valuable, science based information to help you make informed choices about your sexuality.”
The Most Viewed Sexual Topics
Of our results, Dr. Laurie says “The most viewed topics were “sexuality” and “getting healthy“: I’m thrilled that many of our viewers are seeking information on sexual health! The fact that “pleasure” is also near the top of the list tells me that this is something we rarely talk about in sex education, but that of course matters to us all! After all, why do we have sex if not for pleasure! If sex doesn’t feel good then something is up and people clearly are looking for answers and direction in this area.”
Visitor Demographics
More than 70% of visitors to the Sexual Wellness Center are men, indicating that men are just as interested in their sexual wellness as women. Millennials under the age of 35 make up just over half of the site’s visitors.
Says Dr. Laurie, “One third of our visitors are over 45—that tells us that we are never too old to learn a thing or two about sexuality. Our sexuality is not static, it is ever evolving, which is demonstrated by our numbers.”
Different Advice Sought by Men and Women
When compared to female visitors, men are proportionately 69% more likely to read about Erectile Dysfunction, 25% more interested in STDs, 15% more curious about Pegging and 12% more concerned about Penis Size.
Women are proportionately 54% more interested in topics Exploring Sexuality, 47% more interested in Casual Sex, and over 30% more likely to read about Female Orgasms and Oral Sex.
Dr. Laurie tells us that “Men and women are seeking info on their own sexuality primarily—Clearly, people want to learn more about themselves sexually, and this is a great thing! The more you know about yourself, and communicate this to your partner, the more satisfied you will be in bed.”
Topics More Often Viewed by Different Age Groups
When compared to older age groups, Millennials under the age of 35 are 104% more likely to read information about Sexual Transmitted Diseases, 45% more interested in Birth Control, 37% more curious about Hymens and read about Pandemic Playtime 29% more.
Visitors over the age of 35 were 234% more likely to research Erectile Dysfunction, 155% more curious about Circumcision, 64% more interested in Female Orgasms and 55% more interested in information about Anal Sex.
Where People are Visiting From
Of the 40 million people who have visited the Sexual Wellness Center, our statisticians found that per-capita, New Zealanders are the most likely to visit the Sexual Wellness Center. They’re followed by visitors from the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Canada and Australia.
According to Dr. Laurie, “When we look at the breakdown of visitors per country, it is interesting to note, but not surprising that at the top of the lists are countries that are generally more open about sexuality.”
The United States has more visitors to the Sexual Wellness Center than any other country, with per-capita visits being highest in the District of Columbia, followed by New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio.
Dr. Laurie notes that, “We get lots of visits from the more conservative Southern states. Thus, the states with less or no comprehensive sex education leaves people with little access to quality sexual health information. So glad they come here to get informed!”
We hope you enjoyed this special edition of Pornhub Insights, and we encourage you to visit the Sexual Wellness Center at pornhub.com/sex not just on September 4th, but anytime you may have questions about your sexuality, health and relationships.
We also welcome you to Send Your Questions to Dr. Laurie to be featured in her weekly Q&A.