Sex Files: How Long Should It [Fucking] Last?
Forget steamy nights of passion
- all you need for some great sex
is seven to 13 minutes,
according to a US survey
Even three minutes is deemed
"adequate" in the study,
which looks at the ideal length of time
to have penetrative sex
Stopwatch SexIn 1980, AC/DC sang “You Shook Me All Night Long.” And since then, many recording artists – think Prince, Faith Evans and Rhianna – have allusions of all-night sex in their lyrics.
But, can you really go “all night long?”
Forget steamy nights of passion - all you need for some great sex is seven to 13 minutes, according to a US survey.
Even three minutes is deemed "adequate" in the study, which looks at the ideal length of time to have penetrative sex.
Americans and Canadians interviewed said seven to 13 minutes was the most "desirable", said the report published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Intercourse lasting between three and seven minutes was "adequate", but anything less was "too short" and beyond 13 minutes was "too long".
The study aims to dispel unrealistic beliefs among couples that good sex should go on for a long time.
The study also aims to help calm couples' unrealistic beliefs that healthy sex should last a long time.
"Usually women are quite happy with short intercourse, and are not bothered about prolonging it at all, but nearly all men want it to be much, much longer," Dr. Jane Howard, a medical sex therapist from Brisbane, Australia
Americans expect penetrative sex to last between 15 and 20 minutes, according to US studies, even though reports suggest it is over in less than half this time.
How Long Is a Fuck?
The best sex should last between seven and 13 minutes, and even three-minute sex is "adequate", a major survey of US experts has concluded.
But Australian sex therapists commenting on the new research say most men Down Under wanted it to last considerably longer while most women were "not bothered" if it was over with fast.
The sex study is the first to review what the experts believe is the ideal length of time to have penetrative sex, with the random sample of Americans and Canadians labelling seven to 13 minutes most "desirable".
Intercourse lasting between three and seven minutes was deemed "adequate", but anything less was "too short" and beyond 13 minutes was "too long".
The study, published today in the international Journal of Sexual Medicine, is designed help calm couples' unrealistic beliefs that healthy sex should last a long time.
US studies show Americans expect penetrative sex to last between 15 and 20 minutes, even though sel- reports indicate it is over in less than half this time.
Lead researcher Dr Eric Corty, from the Behrend College in Erie, Pennsylvania, said this was a situation "ripe for disappointment and dissatisfaction".
"In the fantasy model of male sexuality, men have large penises, rock-hard erections, and can sustain sexual activity all night long," Dr Corty wrote.
"It appears that many men and women hold this fantasy. The results from the present study, by providing a realistic not a fantasy model of sexuality, are useful both in treating people with sexual concerns and dysfunctions, and, with wider circulation, in preventing the onset of sexual dysfunctions."
Dr Jane Howard, a Brisbane-based medical sex therapist, said there was a dearth of data on Australians' expectation of sex.
Anecdotal evidence suggested most Australian women would be happy with the therapists' "adequate" time of three to seven minutes, while men would not.
"There is a major gender difference in this area," Dr Howard said.
"Usually women are quite happy with short intercourse, and are not bothered about prolonging it at all, but nearly all men want it to be much, much longer."
She said it was important not to obsess over the length of intercourse, with time often suspended during the act anyway.
"I mean really, who's counting?" the expert said.