Social expectations continue to influence female sexuality

Women continue to face many societal expectations regarding their bodies, their social image, their behaviour and especially their sexuality. The Womanizer brand has surveyed women around the world, including Spanish women, and analysed the impact of social expectations on female sexuality and sex in general.

Half of women worldwide do not believe that what they see on television, in movies or in magazines reflects a realistic image of sex, sexual desires or sexuality. The Womanizer survey also showed that the social image of female sexuality has a major impact on their sexual self-esteem. Almost a third of Spanish women (31%) have questioned their sexuality because of the image portrayed in the media.

Ana Lombardía, wellness and sexual health expert for the Womanizer brand in Spain, comments: “The media constantly bombards us with a very idealised and limited idea of sexuality, which does not reflect the variety of sexual experiences that are really possible. This leaves many women feeling dissatisfied with their sexuality and frustrated by trying to achieve pleasure that doesn’t exist or by forcing themselves to indulge in practices that are not really satisfying for them”.

This limits many women from sharing their desires and fantasies with their partners, as these unrealistic media images create shame if someone does not fit in. In addition, women are not taught to communicate openly and confidently with their partners. Three out of four women surveyed in Spain (77%) confess that they have sexual fantasies on a regular basis. However, 17% of women in Spain never talk about their sexual desires and fantasies with their partner. Wanting the other person to get to know us better first (41%) is one of the main reasons.

Sexual expectations

20% of respondents in the global panel (comprising 22,315 people from 15 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and United Kingdom) have learned about sex from watching porn, a source that quite often imposes outdated gender roles and has created an unrealistic image of women’s bodies, roles, behaviour and reaction in the sexual context. 9.4% of men surveyed in Spain watch it on a daily basis, compared to 1.7% of Spanish women.

“These results show how important it is to educate about the anatomies of pleasure, sexuality and desire. Mainstream porn is made for the male gaze and has therefore created unrealistic expectations about body images and sexual practices,” says Elisabeth Neumann, Head of User Research at Womanizer. “Cis women face a wide variety of expectations about sex. Whether it’s having the perfect body, reaching orgasm with penetrative sex alone, or being submissive in the bedroom. Every woman should feel encouraged to break free from these societal expectations. And a good and loving relationship with one’s own body is the beginning”.