Sex Poll: Men, women clash on size, fornication

By Hilary Bainemigisha

Last week, we brought you an online sex poll, which covered 800 urban respondents. They were sampled randomly and 248 responses collected, 130 males and 118 females of different ages, locations, marital status, tribe, level of income and religion.

The survey, which was carried out in July, took two weeks. It relied on self-confessed, unverified feedback and the data was run aggregately, using the analysis software known as SPSS.

Today, we bring part two of what Ugandans say about size in sex, sex without love, dry sex, confessing adultery, fighting a rival and more.

Most people overwhelmingly voted against sex just for fun, except those in the 45-50 age bracket. Eighty percent said they needed an emotion to feel comfortable enough for sex. Respondents younger than 35 said their conscience bothered them so much when it comes to sex and this guilt reduced progressively after 36 years. But generally, more women were bothered by their conscience than men.

DOES SIZE MATTER?

This was the most controversial subject. A total of 140 people responded to this question, 43% saying size does not matter, 35% saying it does and 22% did not know. Younger people below 30 insist it matters and the older ones, above 31, do not think so. Most females said size matters, but men insisted it did not matter. Most married people and those in relationships said it did not matter, but the separated and single insisted it did.

DRY SEX

The question asked was if the respondent wanted a shy partner. There was general consensus, with 90% of 141 saying they did not. This consensus extended to dry sex, with 84% saying they did not like dry sex. A few who said they preferred it to wet sex came from the following tribes: Jopadhola, Samia, Baganda and Bakiga. Unlike popular belief, 6% of Banyankole said they liked dry sex.

FORNICATION AND VIRGINITY

Although 88% of the respondents confessed to having had sex before marriage, the majority (49%) said it was wrong. Only 44% found it excusable under certain conditions. Most of those who are below 30 years believed it was wrong and those above found reason to justify it.

About 56% of men said it was okay and only 30% condemned it. On the other hand, 60% of women condemned it, while 39% said it could be acceptable. All religions condemned sex before marriage, except Catholics, whose 68% said it could be justified. Those who justified fornication included the engaged, dating, cohabiting and single.

About 89% of singles have already lost their virginity and 80% of the married were not virgins when they married. Respondents, who confessed to being virgins at the time they married, included Samias, Basoga, Baganda, Batoro and Banyankole.

CIRCUMCISION

Respondents were confused about circumcision. 43% said circumcised men were better and 42% said they did not know. Only 25% preferred  uncircumcised men. Most women (50%) preferred circumcised men and most men (43%) said they had no idea.

CONFESSING ADULTERY

It was general consensus for respondents that it was a bad idea to confess adultery. About 59% advised against it, including all religious denominations; only 25% said it was proper. Fifty-eight percent of the Born-again advised against confessing and only 27% would. About 61% of Catholics said it was a bad idea, only 24% would. Sixty-seven percent of Anglicans said they would never mention it, only 17% said they would. A total of 56% Muslims advised against it, 22% said it was advisable.

Those who described themselves as Christians supported confession (50%) against 45% who advised against it. Most married people, those in a relationship and the singles advised against confession, while dating couples insisted by 67%, against 33%, that confession is the way forward.

SEX WITH A STRANGER

Respondents were asked if in their lives, they had ever had sex with someone they just met less than a week and 54% said no. The only age-group where most people said they had was 36-45, with 62%. Most men (56%) said they had and most women (76%) said they had not.

MARITAL RAPE

Most respondents (65%) believe marital rape exists, 31% say it does not and 4% do not know. Most females (83%) say it exists, but the males were almost equally divided over the issue. Fifty-four percent said it exists and 45% say it doesn’t. Sixty-eight percent of married people acknowledged marital rape, 24% said it did not exist and 8% did not know.

PORNOGRAPHY

About 68% respondents have watched pornography, most of them being female. Only 26% of females and 29% of males said they had not. All religions have watched, except the Born-again, 65% of whom insisted they had not.

PAYING FOR SEX

The majority (72%) said they have never bought sex directly. The surprises included two women, seven Muslims out of nine and one cohabiting person who confessed to have ever paid for sex.

SEX AT WORK

A total of 142 people responded to this question and 66% said they have never had an office affair, while 33% have. Of these, 38% were males , 25% female, 44% were married, 34% were dating, while 28% were single.

SEXUAL DEBUT

The question was: When was the first time you had sex? The majority (40%) started when they were 20-25, followed by 13%, who said they started before they were 15 years old. About 11% lost their virginity after 25 years. None of the respondents above 40 had their sex debut before 15 and the majority, who started sex at that young age, are in the 20-25 age group.

ABSTINENCE

However, asked when abstinence should stop, the majority (45%) said at marriage. About 18% said at 18 years, followed by 12%, who said after school. Only 5% said abstinence is not possible, 4% proposed abstaining till one gets a job and 3% said at 13 years, a person can become sexually active.

Most females voted for abstinence till marriage, at 65%, followed by 14%, who recommended it till after school. About 9% said after 18, 7% after 20 and 5% said it was impossible.

Comparatively, 33% males wanted abstinence till marriage, followed by 24%, who recommended it till 18 years, then 19% who wanted it till 20 and 11% who deferred it to after school.