What Academics Know about Sex in Italy
Italian calendar lady Alessia Merz, relaxing at home
The average frequency for sexual intercourse among the Italian population at the end of the Twentieth Century was 92 times per year. The highest levels of sexual activity are in the age group 18 to 25 for women and 35 to 44 for men. Young women have more sexual partners than men, while the situation is inverted in the higher age groups. The most recent (1998) major survey on the question confirms another aspect of the higher rate of sexual activity among young women; 33.8 percent had sexual intercourse two to three times a week (against 27.4 percent for males). Further, the percentage of young women who had no sexual intercourse during the previous three months was only half that of men (12.4 percent against 23.5 percent).
According to a 1978 survey, 49 percent of males would like to increase the frequency of sexual intercourse, but this was true for only 25 percent of females, most of whom were satisfied with things as they are (56 percent against 43 percent for males). Thirteen percent of females – mostly in the higher age groups – desired instead to reduce the frequency of sexual intercourse as compared with 3 percent of males.
Survey data indicate the average duration of sexual intercourse in Italy, excluding foreplay, is 14.2 minutes.
Males in contemporary Italy typically have their first complete sexual relations with penetration when they are 17 to 18 years old. The average age for females is 18 to 19, but they take off running, so to speak. It is more common for young women aged 18 to 21 from central and northern Italy to have complete sexual relations than it is for males of the same age group (females 71 percent vs. males 66.3 percent). The opposite is true for females from the south: Only 51.8 percent of females aged 18 to 21 had complete relations compared with 64.8 percent of males from the same part of the country. For the age group 26 to 30, the percentages are 84.7 for females and 88.2 for males.
According to the researchers, moral values determine why young females do not engage in sexual relations – if that is the case. For males the main reasons are the lack of opportunity or the refusal of the partner. They may, in other words, have difficulty finding anyone disposed to collaborate in the experience.
Especially for males, it is very rare that the partner of their first complete sexual relation is their wife (0.8 percent); it is somewhat more common for females to have this experience with their husband. About one in ten reaches the altar as a virgin, at least technically speaking.
Stable relationships become more common with the increase of age, but a relatively high percentage of young people aged 26 to 30 have no stable partner (38.5 percent of males and 21.2 percent of females). Love, physical attraction, and trust are believed to be the elements that determine the creation and the duration of a relationship.
According to the 1978 survey, 69 percent of males and 26 percent of females always experienced orgasm during sexual intercourse. About one fifth of women never or rarely experienced orgasm. Young, educated, and non-religious women had a higher orgasm rate. Of the women who experienced orgasm, 29 percent experienced it as a result of the oral or manual stimulation of the genitals and 27 percent experienced it during penetration, whereas for 44 percent of these women both activities resulted in orgasm.
At least 41 percent of Italian males and 14 percent of females have had extramarital sexual relations. Especially for women, the adultery rate increases with the level of education; it was 20 percent for women with a university degree. The most recent figures indicate that 38 percent of all Italians admit to having been involved in more than one sexual relationship at a time, though it is not specified whether this is within marriage or not.
Oral sex is practiced relatively often by 55.2 percent of young Italians and occasionally by another 26.8 percent. Earlier surveys indicated that 47 percent of females and 58 percent of males experienced oral sex, so the trend would seem to be showing substantial growth. Oral sex is a common element in the sexual fantasies of Italian males, especially during masturbation; this is less true for women. Both men and women prefer their partner to perform oral stimulation of their genitals, fellatio and cunnilingus, rather than performing these sexual acts themselves on their partners.
While anal intercourse is not part of the fantasies of the majority of women, it is for 75 to 80 percent of men. However, according to the data presented, the incidence of the practice is relatively low. According to the 1978 survey cited above, 35 percent of males and 23 percent of females had experienced anal sex. A more recent survey (1998) among young people indicates that 78.6 percent of females and 62 percent of males never experience anal sex.
The data above have been taken from the “The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality” – available online (here) – of which this note is a very limited abstract. Most of the material cited is from studies conducted during two waves of prurient curiosity in the late Seventies and then the late Nineties of the last century. Given that sexual behaviour appears to evolve relatively slowly, it is probable that for the most part the findings are still current. They are, though, largely derived from the kind of lies people tell researchers and should therefore be taken with quantities of salt.
The full document contains citations for sources and limited but interesting information on the broader range of sexual variants, including various flavors of homosexuality, incest, prostitution, marriage and cohabitation, “gender conflicted persons,” pedophilia, rape, sexual harassment and whatnot. Our decision to emphasize more or less “plain vanilla” heterosexual activities in this note should not be construed as recommending any specific preference (though we do rather draw the line at animals…) and was determined solely on basis of the implicit “Upper Italy” editorial policy of doing the greatest good to the greatest possible number of persons.