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How does pegging popularity vary by age group in surveys?
Executive summary
Survey and sales-based coverage consistently shows pegging becoming more talked-about and more practiced among younger cohorts, with multiple outlets reporting higher uptake or interest among Millennials and Gen Z; for example, a Lovehoney 2020 poll (reported in Marie Claire) found about 10% of women had tried pegging and one in ten wanted to try it [1], while commentators and industry data link spikes in searches and sales to younger audiences and online trends [2] [3]. Reporting and commercial analyses disagree on precise rates by age because major national sex surveys rarely ask explicitly about pegging, so most age comparisons rely on industry polls, porn-platform search data, cultural trend pieces, and single-source surveys (p1_s1, [8] not loaded, p1_s9).
1. Millennials and younger adults are repeatedly named as the most likely to have tried pegging
Multiple outlets summarize survey or survey-like findings that Millennials (and often younger adults) are the generation most likely to have experimented with pegging; an Astroglide summary states Millennials were "the generation most likely to have tried pegging" in the survey it cites [4], and cultural coverage highlights millennials/Gen Z as driving recent mainstreaming [2] [3].
2. Direct, comparable age-breakdowns are sparse in mainstream sex surveys
Reliable, nationally representative sex surveys typically ask about anal sex in broad terms and "do not really get into the nuances" like pegging, so precise age-group prevalence is hard to extract from standard academic datasets — reporting by Astroglide explicitly flags the difficulty of finding pegging-specific questions in major surveys [4].
3. Industry and media metrics show generational signals, not exact prevalence
Porn platforms and retailers report large increases in searches and strap-on sales—signals often interpreted as higher interest among younger, internet-native cohorts—yet these are trend indicators rather than age-specific prevalence measures (p1_s9, [8] loading/not available) (p1_s4 notes proprietary sales data). Media pieces rely on those indicators to argue pegging is trending among younger people [3] [5].
4. Small, branded surveys give headline percentages but limited demographic detail
Consumer-focused surveys repeated in outlets show round figures — e.g., Lovehoney’s 2020 poll that 10% of women had pegged and 10% wanted to try [1] — but these studies often sample customers or online panels and may not break results down into fine-grained age bands or control for sexual orientation, geography, or sampling bias (p1_s4 highlights proprietary data and aggregated metrics).
5. Cultural coverage ties TikTok and social media virality to Gen Z interest
Reporting on TikTok and social trends connects pegging’s visibility to Gen Z’s online culture: Vice and BuzzFeed note “pegtok” and other viral moments that implicate younger users in normalizing or meme-ifying pegging [3] [5]. Such accounts indicate rising discussion and curiosity among younger users but do not produce population-level prevalence rates by age.
6. Sexual fantasy vs. practice: age signals differ by metric
Sex-science summaries (e.g., Dr. Justin Lehmiller’s work cited across several pieces) show many men fantasize about receptive anal play (approaching figures like ~60% fantasizing in some samples), which reporters use to suggest potential interest in pegging among men across ages; however, fantasy endorsement does not equal reported practice, and the age distribution for fantasy vs practice is not consistently reported [6] [7].
7. Conflicting interpretations and potential agendas
Commercial outlets and sex-toy retailers have a vested interest in promoting growth narratives [7], while culture writers highlight youth-led normalization to explain trends [2] [3]. Industry sales/search data can amplify perceived prevalence; conversely, sex-researchers cited in media sometimes caution that mainstreaming narratives overstate how common the behavior is because representative survey questions are lacking [4].
8. What we can and cannot conclude from available reporting
Available sources consistently indicate younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z) are more visible in pegging trends—via sales spikes, social-media virality, and some branded surveys—but they do not provide standardized, population-representative age-stratified prevalence estimates; reporting often mixes fantasy, sales, search trends, and small surveys to infer age differences [4] [2] [1] [3]. If you need precise age-group prevalence (e.g., percent of 18–24 vs 25–34 who have tried pegging in a representative sample), available sources do not mention such a dataset.
If you want, I can: (A) compile the specific survey or sales numbers cited in each article; (B) draft questions that a representative survey should ask to measure pegging by age; or (C) search for any academic or nationally representative surveys that explicitly include pegging (note: only within sources you provide). Which would you prefer?