Swedish women favour online sex

Every fifth Swedish woman between the ages of 18 and 35 has engaged in online sex, according to a TNS Gallup poll.

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Of those surveyed, 21 percent responded "yes" when asked: "Have you ever had cybersex?"

The survey also found that 29 percent of young women have used the internet to establish romantic or sexual relationships, with a further 13 percent willing to give it a try.

Just over 60 percent responded in the affirmative when asked if they had ever sent text or multimedia messages of a sexual nature.

A representative sample of 1,000 young women were questioned about their sex lives in a survey that forms the basis for Lustgården, a television series focusing on sex and relationships.

In order to delve further into the findings, The Local spoke to 'Inga', 31, who has experienced the world of internet dating at first hand.

"I liked the anonymity, or rather that you could choose how much of yourself that you wanted to reveal.

"You could keep your distance for as long as you wanted and choose who gets near, so to speak," she said.

In Sweden, online dating has long since shed many of the taboos associated with traditional dating services. And Inga's internet pastime is shared by "at least a handful" of her friends.

Although she has not "had cybersex", Inga conceded that she has said things online that she would think twice about IRL (in real life).

But what was she hoping to find when surfing onto a dating site for the first time, romance or sex?

"What's the difference?" she joked.

"Well, I think I was mainly hoping to find a boyfriend," she added by way of clarification.

In Inga's view, the online quest for romance is likely to triumph over cybersex in the long run. And talking dirty online will not necessarily lead to a bedroom tryst.

"I think in most cases it doesn't. Like phone sex, it's just a substitute for the real thing.

"But online dating I think will stay," she said.

Is there not a danger though that people's social lives will suffer as a result of spending so much time sitting in front of a computer screen?

"I don't think people will stop going out because they're dating online. I think it's more of a supplement.

"You try all the options available. And anyway, if you date online, you're sooner or later going out on real dates," said Inga.

And the trend is not likely to stop with the under 35s.

"It will maybe become more specialized.

"For example, there are already dating sites for people over the age of 60, as well as specialist sites for farmers, Christians, Jews, etc." said Inga.

As for sexual text messages, is Inga one of the 62 percent of young women who have sent them?

"Yes, I suppose so. Mainly late at night in a somewhat drunken state," she said.

One suspects that she is not alone.

Lustgården is to present its latest findings on TV3 on Wednesday evening at 10pm.