Mind the pleasure gap: Why are women having such a bad time in the bedroom?

With such a big focus on sex positivity and wellness, why does a new survey reveal women are feeling let down by what’s actually happening in bed? Olivia Petter talks to the experts to try and discover what’s going on and how to fix it…

Good sex isn’t just about buying the right vibrator, it’s about connecting with your partner and, more importantly, with yourself (Getty)

If you’re a woman in 2024, you should be having an incredible sex life. Think about it: we are living in an extraordinarily sexually liberated time when nothing is off the table and you can now buy vibrators and sexaccesories in almost any high street lingerie shop.

Sex positivity feels like it is everywhere, but apparently not in our bedrooms. A new survey has shown that two in three women are doing things during sex that they don’t enjoy and, more worryingly, one in four saying they find it hard to say “stop” to a partner doing something they don’t like. 

These statistics, from a survey of 3,000 adults conducted by dating app Pure, may sound shocking, but not me. Nor would they, I suspect, surprise any of the women I know who are very aware of the pleasure gap between what is meant to be happening in the bedroom and what is actually happening in there.