Women, Vibrators, and Shaky Sex Research

Sexual exploration is a fine idea, but we need to be radically honest with ourselves about researching its effects, lest we overlook signs of excess.

A couple of years ago, I wrote “Vibrators and Other Pleasures: When ‘Moderation’ Fails.” It included self-reports by women for whom vibrator use was making it more difficult (or impossible) to climax during intercourse and sex without toys. More recently, I’ve checked through hundreds of posts by women on a forum where thousands of people are experimenting with cutting back on excessive (in their view) masturbation—usually to Internet porn but sometimes using other sex aids.

The same phenomenon is showing up among these women. Real sex, and even dating, are losing out to the hyperstimulating phenomena of Internet porn and sex toys—and some women aren’t happy with the uni-directional course their sex lives have taken:

First woman: “My biggest problem was using vibration to get off and it destroying my sensitivity. Tossed my vibrator out completely. Unfortunately I had to get rid of everything in the house that vibrates because I kept trying to find a replacement. Goodbye Sonic-Care face-cleaning tool. Sex is much better. There is no question. My clitoris was basically dead to anything not battery operated.”

Second woman: “Hopefully a dry spell from myself will get me more interested in dating. 18-year old women should not be confined to their rooms with porn and toys. I’d like to graduate from high school with a dry hand.”

Third woman: “I read hentai quite a bit and masturbate almost every day. I need to quit. I’ve noticeably lost sensitivity in my clitoris from my vibrator.”

Conflict of interest and sidestepping the key question

Curious about the research in this area, I was directed to this study by the Kinsey Institute: Prevalence and Characteristics of Vibrator Use by Women in the United States: Results from a Nationally Representative Study. After polling over 1000 women, researchers concluded that the majority of vibrator users “did not experience any side effects from vibrator use,” and that “vibrator use is a safe activity.”

I was struck by two things about this vibrator study’s…um…contribution to science. First, it was funded solely by Trojan, a company with an entire division devoted to vibrator sales. Here’s Trojan’s webpage touting this “unprecedented, comprehensive Vibrator Study.” Major conflict of interest there, folks!

Second, it was anything but comprehensive. It failed to ask the question of most interest to lovers: Did vibrator use make toyless sex with a partner less pleasurable? The researchers themselves acknowledged, and downplayed, this glaring omission:

“Given the historical belief that vibrator use may habituate women to particular ways of sexual response (i.e., experiencing orgasm more easily with a vibrator and less so with a partner), future research should consider assessing to what extent women’s sexual response becomes habituated—or, alternatively, enhanced—in relation to vibrator use.”

Notice that the very idea of sex toy-induced problems during toyless partnered sex is reduced to a mere “historical belief.” Moreover, readers would be unlikely to realize that the researchers had never asked this vital question about this “historical belief” unless they read to the end of the study, because the study did ask about genital numbness (as well as irritation, pain, tears and cuts, and inflammation).

Thus, the casual reader might assume that decreased responsiveness during sex had been addressed in the “numbness” category. Not so.

Despite the researchers failure to hone in on the prime question in their artfully crafted investigation, “numbness” was still the most commonly reported side effect for vibrator use. In fact, a rather alarming 16.5% of users reported numbness as a side effect of vibrator use.

So, does vibrator use interfere with sexual responsiveness?

No one yet knows. Under the circumstances, maybe we should pay more attention to the anecdotal accounts of women who had to jettison their vibrators to return to normal sexual responsiveness.

There are other ominous signals, too. When researchers polled 19 new vibrator users, “Women spoke a great deal about the change in their arousal and orgasmic response when they began to use the vibrator. …Significantly, eight women directly stated that they were concerned with becoming dependent on the vibrator. …Only three women talked specifically about their partnered sex lives being enhanced by a vibrator.”

Incidentally, like many of today’s young male porn users, women, too, are reporting that Internet-porn use is decreasing their sexual responsiveness during partnered encounters (hopefully only temporarily). A stubborn numbed pleasure response in the brain may turn out to be as awkward and debilitating as numbed nerve endings.

Speaking of internet porn, research confirms a tremendous rise in male sexual problems (ED, delayed ejaculation and low sexual desire). In the last 20 years ED rates in men under forty have skyrocketed 1,000% or more, while low libido rates have jumped 400%. Not surprisingly, several recent studies have found relationships between porn use in young men and ED, anorgamsia, low sexual desire, delayed ejaculation, and lower brain activation to sexual images. In addition, this page contains articles and videos by about 65 experts (urology professors, urologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists, MDs) who acknowledge and have successfully treated porn-induced ED and porn-induced loss of sexual desire. It must be noted that over 20 neuroscience-based studies on porn users offer support for the concept of porn addiction.

Incidentally, since the Kinsey vibrator research came out, other researchers have found that, “Anxious attachment was associated with lesser vaginal orgasm consistency, but with higher frequency of vibrator and anal sex orgasms. Avoidant attachment was associated with higher frequency of vibrator orgasms.”

In short, it could be unwise to decrease sensitivity to vaginal intercourse with chronic hyperstimulation of any kind. As an aside, karezza lovers report that their sensitivity to sexual pleasure and sexual contentment increase, even though (perhaps because?) they don’t go for climax during intercourse.

Bottom line: Chronic vibrator use may be a bit of a one-way street for some users. They need to ask if it is taking them to their desired destination. Above all, researchers need to exercise full integrity in their research in order to help sex-toy users chart their course based on accurate—not purchased—conclusions.

Watch for shaky studies

How often have you glanced at a study abstract’s last few lines and assumed the researchers had reached a legitimate conclusion? This happens, in part, because we place inordinate faith in the peer-review process. “Inordinate” because an surprising number of researchers cut corners, cook data, and lie about results. “Clinical psychology is especially rife with misconduct.”

One in three scientists report using questionable research practices, such as changing a study’s design or results due to pressure from a funding source. Hmmm….