NEW YORK — Le Wand is reporting the findings of its monthly #AskEva survey, which most recently focused on how media’s depictions of LGBTQ+ people might influence people’s relationships with their sexuality and sexual experiences.
Of nearly 300 participants, 80.3 percent were women 5.5 percent were men, 6.9 percent of respondents were non-binary and 7.3 percent of individuals were non-binary women, non-binary men, genderqueer, demigirl and trans masc, while 8.1 percent (22) of participants identified as transgender.
For the survey, participants were asked about the influence of mainstream media (i.e. movies, television, music) as well as new media (social networking sites and online platforms) and how they may have influenced their sexual experiences.
Regarding mainstream media, respondents of the LGBTQ+ community, 46.1 percent said they were somewhat affected, and 45 percent said they were not at all affected, while 8.9 percent said that they were extremely affected.
“However, when given the opportunity to share further, respondents provided many examples of the ways that mainstream media had negatively influenced their experience of their sexuality,” Le Wand’s report of the survey findings says. “Many participants described how queer women were over-hypersexualized and fetishized within the male gaze. Mainstream porn was also mentioned as a perpetrator of these harmful ideas.”
One participant described how media stereotypes have impacted her sexuality “I think a lot of the narratives around bi women have contributed to instances where I have felt pressured to do certain things, or that I should be more confident with casual sex.”
To read the full survey findings, click here.
