Fandom and Sexuality Survey Results

The Results are In.

The fandom and sexuality survey was open from September 1st to 21st, 2016. During this time, over 2000 fans completed the survey. Thank you to all of our participants!

Learn about the the results by looking at the teaser report, by listening to the consulting fans discussion, or go through question by question in the initial report pdf. You can also download and explore the data yourself!

Analysis of specific themes and more involved interpretations are still being produced and shared on the three patch podcast’s fandom stats tumblr. Feel free to submit asks there on any aspect of the survey.

More detailed analyses of the following topics have already been released

  • Fandom Full of MOGI: blog post on the high percentage of LGBTQA fans, including numbers from general population censuses and past fandom surveys.
  • Race and Ethnicity: blog post on the results of the survey on this demographics question (response to an ask)
  • Age and Experience in Fandom: blog post on the ages of fans according to online surveys and their reported time in fandom.
  • The (extra)ordinary Sex Lives of Fanfiction Readers: the slide deck (pdf) from Finn’s presentation of survey results at FSN 2017. This report looks at some results from the sex live portion of the survey and ways in which the results challenge existing theories around sexuality and fanfiction readers.
  • Sex Lives of fanfiction readers: A review of the sex life portion of the survey results, including sexual histories, current practices, and opinions.
  • Asexuality and Aromantism in Fanfiction Readers: A report on how the participants who identified as Asexual and Aromantic differed from the (implicitely) allosexual and alloromantic participants, in terms of their sex lives and engagement with sexually explicit fanworks. Also available in pdf.

About the survey

Sex is a big part of fandom. Not in everything, not for everyone, but it’s hard to miss. Looking at fan creations, we can sometimes count how many mature works are in any given archive, but we don’t know much about how all that sexy stuff is used by us readers of fanfiction, or admirers of fan art, or gifs, or vids, or other stimulating works.

Three Patch Podcast has been openly discussing sex in fandom since we started, sharing individual fans’ perspectives. Our Fandom and Sexuality survey allowed hundreds of fans add to the discussion. In four parts, the anonymous survey collected information on demographics, fandom life, sex life, and the intersection of fandom and sexuality. We asked about masturbation habits, fans’ first fandoms, their sexual orientation, and whether they felt comfortable reading sexually explicit fic in public. We asked whether fandom had challenged their attitudes towards sex and how they related to their favourite characters while getting it on.

The questions themselves came from sex studies literature and fan discussions of that heavy hotness we have made and shared. The survey was composed to be sex positive and inclusive of fans who are not sexually active. Participation was voluntary, open to fans aged 18 and over, and all questions were optional. The whole shebang toke aproximately 30 minutes to complete.

Inspiring materials:

  • “Monsters! Monsters from the Id!”  by Ellen Fremedon 2004–12–03 14:51:00, + comments
  • “It’s not something you talk about” – far too verbose thoughts about society vs fandom in regards to your personal sexuality by SincerelyChaos,  Aug 10th, 2016, + comments
  • Anon Question: i’m just curious: hypotetically, if you found out someone fapped Berlynn Wohl, August 10th 2016 + comments
  • Subversive fanfic, a panel at Flamecon 2016, hosted by On Wednesdays, We wear capes
  • The importance of queer erotica, a panel at Flamecon 2016
  • Henderson, A. W., Lehavot, K., & Simoni, J. M. (2009). Ecological models of sexual satisfaction among lesbian/bisexual and heterosexual women. Archives of sexual behavior, 38(1), 50-65.
  • Sanchez, D. T., Crocker, J., & Boike, K. R. (2005). Doing gender in the bedroom: Investing in gender norms and the sexual experience. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(10), 1445-1455.
  • Thirlaway, K., Fallowfield, L., & Cuzick, J. (1996). The Sexual Activity Questionnaire: a measure of women’s sexual functioning. Quality of Life Research, 5(1), 81-90.
  • Taylor, C. (2015). Female Sexual Dysfunction, Feminist Sexology, and the Psychiatry of the Normal. Feminist Studies, 41(2), 259-292.
  • Goldey, K. L., Posh, A. R., Bell, S. N., & van Anders, S. M. (2016). Defining Pleasure: A Focus Group Study of Solitary and Partnered Sexual Pleasure in Queer and Heterosexual Women. Archives of sexual behavior, 1-18.
  • Gerressu, M., Mercer, C. H., Graham, C. A., Wellings, K., & Johnson, A. M. (2008). Prevalence of masturbation and associated factors in a British national probability survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(2), 266-278.
  • Leff, J. J., & Israel, M. (1983). The relationship between mode of female masturbation and achievement of orgasm in coitus. Archives of sexual behavior, 12(3), 227-236.
  • Bogaert, A. F. (2001). Personality, individual differences, and preferences for the sexual media. Archives of sexual behavior, 30(1), 29-53.
  • Schalet, A. (2010). Sexual Subjectivity Revisited The Significance of Relationships in Dutch and American Girls’ Experiences of Sexuality. Gender & Society, 24(3), 304-329.
  • http://www.nationalsexstudy.indiana.edu/ National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB) 2010
  • Hatfield, E., & Sprecher, S. (2011). The passionate love scale. Handbook of sexuality-related measures, 469-472.
  • Cummings, J. A., Zagrodney, J. M., & Day, T. E. (2015). Impact of Open Data Policies on Consent to Participate in Human Subjects Research: Discrepancies between Participant Action and Reported Concerns. PLoS ONE, 10(5), e0125208. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125208