Why vibrators are so common - and sooooo good for you
-Carrie Seim, BettyConfidential.comWomen in the United States are now more likely to own a vibrator than to own a husband.
Approximately 53 percent of U.S. women report having used a vibrator at some point in their lives, according to the studies. Compare that to the only 51 percent of adult women who are currently married. This certainly says something about the can-do streak of the women in this country and their "hands on" approach to life.
"The study about women's vibrator use affirms what many doctors and therapists have known for decades - that vibrator use is common, it's linked to positive sexual function such as desire and ease of orgasm, and it's rarely associated with any side effects," Debby Herbenick, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, told Science Daily.
Ready for the real shocker (so to speak)? Forty-five percent of men ages 18 to 60 have also used a vibrator.
The great majority of those men have used buzzing buddies in collaboration with a female partner. That's gender equality we can all believe in.
The studies also prove that good vibrations bring good health. Women who use vibrators are far more likely to have visited a gynecologist in the last year and to have performed a genital self check in the last month, according to Science Daily's analysis of the study data. Vibrators & Hand-mirrors: the new Peanut butter & Jelly.
Equally important, women who use vibrators are much more likely to experience positive sexual function, such as desire, lubrication and orgasm, than women who abstain from sex aides.
We probably didn't need a team of scientists to hand us that fun fact, but it's nice to have some solid data to stick in our toy drawers. The studies, from IU's Center for Sexual Health Promotion, are, in fact, the first nationwide surveys about vibrator use.
On behalf of women everywhere, let me say, it's about time.
It turns out vibrators are such a hot commodity these days that companies are clamoring to get a piece of the vibrating pie.
Jim Daniels, V.P. of marketing for Trojan, told the New York Times that he was struck by how many people discussed vibrator use during early 2000's focus groups. He turned that information into solid - shaking - gold, by creating the Vibrating Touch Fingertip Massager in 2008.
I let my fingers do the walking with the Vibrating Touch in this review a few months ago for Betty. And let me tell you, in no way did this mini massager disappoint.
Daniels proudly points out that Trojan sells their vibrators in "all major retail outlets" and that despite tough times, vibrator sales are up 20 percent in the last year.
In the words of researchers and Martha Stewart (whose vibrator, if she owns one, must be a hand-whittled, decoupaged, masturbatory masterpiece) - vibrators are a very good thing.'
Read more about love and sex from Bettyconfidential.com: Should You Forgive a Cheater? and Do You Have a Sexy "O-Face"?
