We surveyed 7,000 women across seven markets — the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan — to understand what female sexuality and pleasure actually look like today. Not the version depicted in sex ed or pop culture. The real version.
What we found was clear, surprising in some places, and in others, exactly what we feared. This is what the data told us — and what we think it means.
Most women say sexual wellbeing matters. Fewer are actually satisfied.
68% of women globally say sexual wellbeing is important to them. In the US, that figure rises to 74% — the highest of any market surveyed. And yet only 53% of women globally are sexually satisfied.
Even in the US — the most satisfied market — that number only reaches 59%. In Australia and Taiwan, fewer than half of women are sexually satisfied. That’s a significant gap between how much women value their sexual wellbeing and how well they’re actually experiencing it.
This isn’t a niche issue. It’s a majority one. The benefits of a healthy sexual wellbeing are well established: improved sleep, stress relief, better mood, stronger immunity, and a more confident relationship with your own body. Women know this. The problem isn’t awareness — it’s access.
Income affects sexual satisfaction more than it should
Our data revealed something uncomfortable: high-income women are 33% more sexually satisfied than low-income women overall. In the US specifically, high-income earners are 56% more likely to be sexually satisfied than low-income earners.
But in Malaysia, where access to pleasure-positive education is more equitably distributed, the satisfaction gap between income groups shrinks to just 6%.
The conclusion is significant: income only determines sexual satisfaction when it also determines access to pleasure-positive education. Where knowledge is equalised, the gap closes. Education — not money — is the real currency of sexual wellbeing.
That’s why we created Vulva Talks, our free sex ed course. Because every woman deserves access to this, regardless of what she earns.
Single women are less satisfied — but it’s not why you think
Single women in our survey reported lower sexual satisfaction (37%) compared to women in relationships (63%) or married women (58%).
But here’s the important nuance: this isn’t about being single. It’s about how we’ve been taught to define sex itself. When satisfaction is measured only through partnered sex, single women will always appear less satisfied — because they’re being assessed against a metric that excludes their own experience.
We’d like to change the question from “when did you last have sex?” to: when did you last experience pleasure?
Because regardless of relationship status, the data shows that women who use vibrators are more satisfied with their sex lives — whether they have a partner or not. Sexual satisfaction is driven by sexual empowerment, not relationship status.
76% of women need external stimulation to orgasm
This is one of the most important findings in our entire report, and one of the least discussed facts in mainstream conversations about sex.
Yet from a young age, most of us are only taught about penetrative sex. In school, in pop culture, in the way vibrators were historically designed — internal stimulation has been presented as the default, the goal, the thing sex is “for.” The data tells a completely different story.
When we introduced our vibrator quiz in 2017 — asking women what kind of stimulation they actually enjoy rather than assuming — external vibrators immediately became our most popular products. Women weren’t choosing external stimulation because we told them to. They were choosing it because, once given the space to reflect without cultural influence, it’s what their bodies responded to most.
“Taking the time to think about sexuality without the cultural hints allows women to discover what they actually find pleasurable. Vibrators are enablers for self-exploration and pleasure discovery, which can help women understand and build a strong relationship with their own bodies. — Samantha Marshall”
Women know their bodies better than their partners do — but not by much
62% of women say they know their own bodies well sexually. Only 59% feel their partner knows their body well.
Women are more than twice as likely to be sexually satisfied if they know their bodies well. The correlation is direct and consistent across every market surveyed.
Vibrator use strengthens this significantly. Women who use vibrators are:
- 75% more likely to say they know their own body well (vs 50% of non-users)
- 66% more likely to say their partner knows their body well (vs 50% of non-users)
- Non-vibrator users are nearly twice as likely to say “my partner doesn’t know my body sexually at all”
“Knowing your own body, its stimulation preferences and all, is a gateway to pleasure during partnered sex. We will always advocate masturbation. — Mariàn Martínez”
Vibrator users have better sex lives — full stop
The data here is unambiguous. Women who use vibrators are 45% more likely to have better sex lives than those who don’t.
- 63% of vibrator users are sexually satisfied, vs 43% of non-users
- 80% of vibrator users consider sexual wellbeing important, vs 58% of non-users
- Vibrator users are more likely to understand the role of the clitoris in both solo and partnered orgasm
Vibrators are not a solution to a bad sex life. They are a contribution to a good one.
Think of it like a gym membership for your sexual wellbeing: having the tools to invest in your own pleasure creates a positive cycle — more self-knowledge, more confidence, more satisfaction.
This is why we design every vibrator from scratch, with anatomy at the centre.
The Firefighter sends vibrations across both the clitoris and labia.
The Ballerina cups the entire vulva for broader, grounding stimulation.
The Poet is our suction toy with squeeze sensors and three interchangeable mouths for personalised clitoral stimulation.
Take our vibrator quiz to find your match.
The sex education problem is global — and urgent
Perhaps the most sobering finding in our entire report:
- 28% of women globally received no formal sex education at all
- 75% of those who did receive sex ed say it did not prepare them to understand their own pleasure
- Only 16% of American women describe their sex ed as pleasure-informative In Australia, that figure drops to just 9%
The consequence of this isn’t abstract. It shows up directly in sexual satisfaction, in the orgasm gap, in women spending years not understanding their own anatomy. The clitoris wasn’t fully mapped until 1998. It’s still not routinely taught in schools.
When women do receive pleasure-positive sex education, the impact is measurable:
- 73% know their own body well (vs 54% who didn’t receive pleasure-positive ed)
- 46% more likely to say their partner knows their body
- 4 in 5 report being sexually satisfied (vs half of those without pleasure-positive ed)
- 47% more likely to own or use a vibrator
Knowledge is the equaliser
The most powerful insight from this report is also its most hopeful one.
In markets where pleasure-positive education is more equitably distributed, the gap in sexual satisfaction between income groups almost disappears. The US, where access to pleasure-positive education correlates heavily with income, has a 56% satisfaction gap between high and low earners. Malaysia, where education access is more equal, has a gap of just 6%.
Money isn’t the only thing that can buy orgasms. Knowledge can too.
This is why Smile Makers exists. It’s why we’ve invested in Vulva Talks — our free, pleasure-positive sex ed programme built with sexologists. It’s why we put vibrators in Sephora, in pharmacies, in bookstores — places where curiosity is welcome. And it’s why we talk openly about vulvas, clitorises, and pleasure in every conversation we have.
Because the more women understand their bodies, the better their sexual lives become. And that’s a cycle worth starting.
The three things the data tells us we need
- Better sex education — pleasure-inclusive, anatomy-accurate, and free. The research is unambiguous that pleasure-positive education transforms sexual wellbeing.
- A wider definition of sex. Sexual satisfaction starts with yourself. Solo pleasure and self-exploration are as valid as partnered sex — and often more reliably orgasmic.
- Tools designed for how women actually experience pleasure. 76% need external stimulation. Products should reflect that reality — not the cultural script that’s been handed to us.
This data comes from The Smile Makers Report, a sexual wellness study surveying 7,000 vulva owners across the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Explore our free Vulva Talks sex ed course, take the vibrator quiz, or browse the full vibrators collection and intimate wellness range. Written with insights from Samantha Marshall and Mariàn Martínez at Smile Makers Collection.
