Can West News Service

Oct 13,2004

Nearly three-quarters of adult Canadians use vibrators, handcuffs, costumes, blindfolds, role playing or spanking during sex. And more than half of us snuggle down as couples to watch pornographic videos.

Ohhhhhhh, Canada!

This country may as well throw away the Victorian clichés right now, the Annual sex survey from the Durex condom company shows.

Only 27 percent of adults here do not use pornography, sex toys or handcuffs, which puts our love of sexual technology among the highest in the world.

And our ownership of vibrators –39 percent of adults here own at least one, the survey says –is way over the global average of 27 percent. (We are well behind Iceland –52 percent there own one –and Britain at 49).

In Canada, 45 percent of women and 33 percent of men own a vibrator or an “intimate massager.”

“People don’t talk about it too much, but there is a higher proclivity of ownership than people would normally think,”said Durex brand manager Kimberly Liss.

“Also interesting is that 61 percent of all people surveyed between the ages of 45 and 55 either own or have a partner that owns a vibrator,”she added.

As well, one quarter of us take photos or videos of our partners during sex –the

kind of pictures that may cause surprises if they aren’t hidden whenever out-oftown relatives visit.  We’re behind the Brits and Danes (at 29 and 30 percent respectively), but ahead of lovers in most countries.

Canadians, meanwhile, rate pretty high on the sexual activity scale: We have sex on average 108 times a year. The global average is 103, but it ranges from the randy French (137) down to repressed, or maybe just exhausted, Japanese (46).

Durex’s annual Global Sex Survey is conducted on the company’s Web site, which may skew the results to those cruising the Internet for sex information. It drew 350,000 responses from 41 countries.

Breakdowns between men and women weren’t immediately available for many questions, except on a global scale. Globally, women are having sex 106 times a year while mean are doing it just 101 times.

This may explain all those vibrators!

And, what do we find sexy?

If everyone told Durex the truth, we’d pick a grey-haired retired professor with no money over a rich young blond with a great body every time, as long as the professor had the right personality.

Given a long list of physical attributes from eyes to bottoms, Canadians picked attitude ahead of any body part. Seventeen percent are attracted first to attitude –or claim they are –compared with 16 percent for eyes, 11 percent the overall face, 10 percent to a toned body or chest (including breasts), and fewer than 10 percent for all the rest.

Youthfulness, wealth and hair colour drew no votes in the list of sexiest features.