Today I Learned: Study Says Women are Masturbating More, But It’s Not Because They’re Unsatisfied with Their Sexual Partners

The gender gap in masturbation is slowly but surely narrowing among younger generations and in societies with greater gender parity, according to a 2025 study published in the Journal of Sex Research.

Statistically, the percentage of women who said they had never masturbated in their lifetime dropped from 28.5 percent to 24.1 percent, while the percentage of women who said they masturbated in the past month rose from 37 percent to 40 percent.

Research suggests that more women are masturbating than at any other point in recorded survey history. Some people assume this is likely because she is unsatisfied with her male sexual partner. A study examining attitudes toward female masturbation confirmed that many men interpret women taking things into their own hands (so to speak) as a sign of dissatisfaction within the relationship, or even as a reflection of their own sexual inadequacy. 

But that may not actually be the case.

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Obviously, female masturbation is still widely misunderstood, particularly by men. And there may be several reasons for this.

Released to coincide with International Masturbation Month, the Erobella Pleasure Gap Report 2026 found that while 87.5 percent of women masturbate at least occasionally, nearly half said they never discuss it with anyone at all. Not with friends, not with family, and not even casually. 

It also found that 42.5 percent of women either agreed, or could not bring themselves to disagree, with the statement that masturbation is shameful or wrong. In short, they don’t talk about it. And many are only learning about it on their own.

According to Erobella, nearly eight in 10 women said sex education did not adequately cover female pleasure while they were growing up. Instead, sexual education largely centered around reproduction, disease prevention, and abstinence, with female pleasure treated as an afterthought—if given any thought at all. 

In short, women are left to figure things out alone, quietly and privately, through the internet, where misinformation, unrealistic portrayals, and unsafe practices often far outnumber reliable guidance.

Research also shows that women often avoid discussing masturbation within relationships due to shame, fear of judgment, or concern that self-pleasure may threaten a partner’s ego. This shows that culture, access to information, religion, and education all contribute to the shame tied to the pleasure that comes from masturbation.

And this blocks communication, a key aspect of relationships, sexual or otherwise.

Sex expert at Erobella, Gemma Nice, said, “When self-pleasure feels like a secret, women walk into the bedroom carrying pressure instead of presence. You can't tell a partner what works if you've never been given permission to find out.”

Patricia*, 29, who lives with her long-term partner, says masturbation was never about replacing intimacy in her relationship.

“We regularly have sex one to two times a week, but masturbation helps me identify what feels good,” she says. “Then I share it with my partner so we can explore it together.”

She says masturbation increases her libido, which helps their relationship. “I’m lucky to have a partner who lets me explore my wants and curiosities in bed, so I don’t struggle with confidence.”

A multinational study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that women who incorporated the kinds of stimulation they discovered through masturbation into partnered sex reported higher orgasm frequency and greater overall sexual satisfaction.

Her experience is more aligned with research consistently showing that couples who communicate more openly about sex report higher relationship satisfaction, greater sexual satisfaction, and higher orgasm frequency.

“I feel like growing up, women are shamed for doing it, but it’s a normal form of sexual expression and it really helps you get to know yourself, and sometimes even release stress or tension,” Patricia says.

The perception around female pleasure matters because it is often framed in relation to relationships, either as a replacement for men or as evidence that something in the relationship is broken. 

But for most women, masturbation serves entirely different needs, including autonomy, stress relief, fantasy, curiosity, emotional regulation, body awareness, or simply pleasure without performance anxiety.

Men often think female masturbation is about them, but science suggests it is often about women themselves.

*names have been changed.