Sexual Foreplay is Overrates (Article)

note: These study was done on Czech women, so we cannot know if its universal. And the men were not necessarily skilled at foreplay or into energetic sex, so we cannot apply this study to Taoist lovemaking. But it raises an interesting question which I think only women can answer: Is foreplay overrates? I welcome your comments. – Michael

FOREPLAY IS OVERRATED, RESEARCHERS CLAIM
By Roger Dobson
The Telegraph
November 8, 2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3405928/Foreplay-is-
overrated-researchers-claim.html

Foreplay may be overrated according to a survey based on 2,300 women, which
found that it has little or no significance when it comes to the likelihood
of having an orgasm.

The duration of intercourse — 16.2 minutes on average — is the clincher,
according to the research. The findings suggest that sex therapists, who
emphasise the value of foreplay, may have that been getting it wrong.

“In contrast to the assumptions of many sex therapists and educators, more
attention should be given to improve the quality and duration of intercourse
rather than foreplay,” say Professor Stuart Brody of the University of the
West of Scotland, and Professor Peter Weiss, from Charles University,
Prague.

In the study, reported in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the academics
quizzed a representative sample of 2,360 Czech women of all ages about
details of their sex lives, including orgasmic consistency with a partner
along with estimated duration of foreplay and intercourse.

Results show that for the women in the study, the average duration of
foreplay was 15.4 minutes, and intercourse, 16.2 minutes.

The researchers point out that 16.2 minutes is considerably longer than
reported in American studies, where intercourse was found to last on average
seven minutes.

They added: “It could be that this reflects, a greater appreciation of
intercourse and sensuality by Europeans than by Americans.”

The researchers looked at frequency of orgasm in the women, and foreplay and
intercourse data. They concluded the links with foreplay were insignificant.
Instead they suggest that the longer intercourse lasts, the greater the
probability of orgasm for the women.

“This was a large number of women and the results are robust,” says
Professor Brody. “Sex therapists and educators put the overwhelming emphasis
on foreplay, but they need to be guided by the evidence which shows that it
is not the case.

“Intercourse is significantly more important. Our findings should lead
researchers, educators, and clinicians to reconsider the contributions of
foreplay and intercourse.”