Researchers have calculated the ideal duration of sex

Sexual health researchers say that movies and TV shows, not to mention adult videos, give us a false idea of the ideal duration of sexual intercourse. Mass culture convinces us that good sex should last a long time, but in reality, it's not like that at all.

According to the British tabloid Daily Star, the popular approach assures that a woman can only get true pleasure from a real marathon. If it's over in a matter of minutes, then a man should think about whether he is finishing prematurely.

In fact, doctors say that ejaculation that occurs less than 5 minutes after the start of intercourse can be considered premature. And even then, the pleasure of the partners should come first, not the stopwatch.

To come up with more accurate indicators, University of Pennsylvania researchers Eric Corti and Janay Guardiani interviewed more than 50 of their colleagues from the Society for Sexual Therapy. The result was the following duration scale:

• too short - 1 to 2 minutes;
• sufficient - from 3 to 7 minutes;
• desirable - from 7 to 13 minutes;
• too long - up to 30 minutes.

According to Associate Professor of Psychology Eric Corti, modern stereotypes about sexual activity are based on an unrealistic model that says love lasts all night. "Through our survey, we hope to dispel such fantasies and encourage men and women with real data on acceptable sexual acts and thereby prevent sexual frustration and dysfunction," the scientist said.

The researchers also pointed out that women do indeed need about 20 minutes to reach orgasm, while men need only 5 minutes. However, prolonged frictions still cause women more pain than pleasure, so experts advise using other methods of stimulation.

Moreover, a study published in 2017 in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy showed that only 18% of women said they were able to enjoy sexual intercourse alone. The remaining 82% admitted that they need clitoral stimulation, which cannot be achieved during penetrative sex.