Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Science, Sex and Relationships
Poppy Bilderbeck
A survey has revealed the average length of time of 'sex' and what the most 'desirable' amount of minutes for it to last is too.
Look, when it comes to sex, as long as it's consensual and as pleasurable as possible for all involved, who's to say how long it should last or what even officially constitutes as 'sex' or not?
However, if you did want to have a check as to what the rough standard time is to have one particular type of sex then a survey has shared its results after asking people how long is 'too short,' 'too long' and - without beginning to sound too like an x-rated fairytale - just right.
A 2005 member survey for the Society for Sex Therapy and Research, quoted by Healthline, defined 'sex' as penile-vaginal intercourse and is - shockingly - based on intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT).
IELT is 'the time it takes a person with a penis to ejaculate during vaginal penetration,' Healthline explains - lest we forget that it's not just those with penises who should be enjoying themselves during sexual relations and that you don't have to ejaculate to feel pleasure during it either.
Advert
But how long do people typically enjoy this type of sex lasting for really?
Well, when it comes to penile-vaginal intercourse specifically, the survey revealed it typically lasts between three to seven minutes.
Advert
If you're hitting between one to two minutes this is considered too quick and anything from 10 to 30 minutes is considered too lengthy, but what about the most 'desirable' time?
Apparently according to 2005 standards, that's between seven and 13 minutes.
And it's not taken long for people to flood to social media to weigh in.
Advert
A TikTok user wrote: "Two seconds take it or leave it."
"THAT'S THE AVERAGE?!?!!! Boys need to learn it's a marathon," another added.
A third commented: "For me it's either five minutes or 50."
"What happens to 30-45 minutes," a fourth said.
Advert
And a fifth simply resolved: "This is why silicone is my lover."
It's important to note, this should all be said without forgetting the fact 'sex' is far from just penis-in-vagina action - where did all the foreplay go, eh?
Touching, oral sex, vagina-on-vagina, anal and anything else you get up to in your spare time can rightly be considered sex too.