In Bed With a Brazilian

Brazilians spend an average of 30 minutes doing it.
By comparison, Thais don't spend more than 10 minutes
in the act and Italians despite their fame,
take an average of 14 minutes to make love.

Francesco Neves

Brazilians have been chosen once again as the world champions of sex. The latest title was given by an unsuspected source: the Penguim's Atlas of Human Sexual Behavior. The data were compiled by British doctor Judith Mckay, a member of the Britain's Royal College of Physicians, who says that Brazilians won because "they seem to have a better sense of humor and the ability to amuse themselves while having sex."

According to the study, Brazilians, besides being more tolerant with their partner's infidelity, have a larger number of sexual partners, have sex more frequently and spend more time in preliminaries when in bed. Brazilians spend an average of 30 minutes doing it. By comparison, Thais don't spend more than 10 minutes in the act and Italians despite their fame, take an average of 14 minutes to make love. McKay's work has also found that Brazil has at least 600,000 prostitutes who are younger than 18. And surprise: 44% of Brazilian women admit that they fake their orgasm just to please or to impress their male partner.

Many Brazilian experts do not agree with the rosier side of the results attributing them more to the national habit of lying and flaunting about sexual prowess than to facts. In an interview with weekly news magazine Isto É, which dedicated a recent cover story to the theme "Is the Brazilian Good in Bed?", sexologist Moacir Costa took exception to the British study: "We have to take into consideration the fact that it's common to lie a lot when the matter is sex even when responding to a researcher. I believe Brazilians are always telling to a friend what they do in bed. It is their way to assert themselves in the group. And this is male phenomenon. Women may even broach the subject, but in general they don't gloat over this."

A national study conducted at São Paulo's Hospital das Clínicas showed that 75 percent of women being treated in the so-called Sexuality Project had problems reaching orgasm. From this total 30 percent have the sexual desire but are not able to get to the "Big O," another 35 percent don't feel any desire, and 10 percent are not able to get excited despite feeling the sexual desire. According to data from Sociedade Brasileira de Sexualidade Humana (Brazilian Society of Human Sexuality), 35 percent of Brazilian male suffer from some sexual dysfunction.

For Nelson Vittielo, president of Sociedade Brasileira de Sexualidade Humana (Brazilian Society of Human Sexuality), Brazilian sexuality is still in pre-historic times with men and women victims of macho prejudices: "Women still have the obligation of seducing men as a proof of their femininity while men are supposed to know it all."

To the question "Are you good in bed" that Isto É asked in its website, 81.4 percent answered that they were. And what is it "to be good in bed?" the inquiry continued. For 35.5 percent it is to dedicate plenty of time to foreplay, for another 31.4 percent is to follow the rhythm of the partner, 19.3 percent stress the importance of accepting the other's fantasies, while 8.9 percent think the most important is to have intercourse slowly, 4.1 percent believe having sex several times is the ticket to be considered good in bed. Only 0.7 answered that having several sexual partners is the ultimate word in good sex.

Send your
comments to
Brazzil