What percentage of women have engaged in women dominant sexual dynamics such as pegging
Executive summary
No reliable, population‑representative number exists in the supplied reporting for how many women have specifically engaged in “pegging”; what the research does show is that dominance/submission fantasies and BDSM‑related behaviors are common but measured very differently across studies, producing prevalence estimates that range from single digits to well over half the population depending on definitions and sampling [1] [2] [3].
1. What the published surveys actually measure — and what they do not
Large reviews and systematic scoping work make clear that prevalence estimates depend on whether investigators ask about broad identities (e.g., “BDSM practitioner”), discrete behaviors (e.g., “being tied up”), or fantasies about power dynamics (e.g., “arousal by dominance/submission”) — and those choices yield wildly different numbers: studies report anything from about 2% up to near 70% for some BDSM interests in different samples, a spread the authors attribute to definitional, measurement and sampling differences [1].
2. How common are dominance/submission fantasies and behaviors among women
Multiple sources converge on the idea that fantasies about dominance and submission are widespread: one review cites that D/s fantasies appear in roughly 45–60% of the general population in some studies [2], and a national YouGov poll reported that about 53% of Americans said they have some sexual preference for dominance or submission, with women more likely to report wanting to be dominated than to dominate [3]. These figures capture desire or fantasy more than concrete practice, however, and cannot be translated directly into practice rates without caution [2] [3].
3. Behavioral benchmarks that are relevant — anal sex and BDSM activity rates
When turning to behavior rather than fantasy, population‑based surveys give some useful anchors: a U.S. nationally representative study reported lifetime receptive anal sex among women at about 37%, while other partnered kink acts such as tying/being tied up and spanking appear in population surveys in the 20–30% range depending on the activity and age group [4]. Those behaviors are not equivalent to pegging or to female‑dominant role‑play, but they indicate that sexual practices involving anal contact or explicit power exchanges are not rare in lifetime experience [4].
4. Why pegging specifically cannot be credibly quantified from these sources
None of the provided reports give a direct, representative estimate for pegging (female‑performed anal penetration of a male partner) as a named behavior; pegging is a specific and narrower practice than the categories most surveys measure (BDSM, anal sex, dominance fantasies), so any attempt to produce a single percentage for “women who have pegged” would be speculative from the supplied material [1] [4] [2]. The systematic reviews warn that self‑selected samples, differing item wording, and cultural differences all bias prevalence estimates upward or downward [1].
5. Reasonable inference and caveats for readers
Based on the evidence provided, the best defensible statement is that a substantial minority of women report either fantasies about power dynamics (roughly 45–60% in some studies) or lifetime engagement in related sexual behaviors (anal sex ~37% and specific kink acts 20–30% in one U.S. probability sample), but pegging as a named, practiced act is almost certainly less common than those broader categories and cannot be pinned to a single percent from these sources [2] [3] [4] [1]. Researchers and advocates also note important caveats: measurement differences, cultural variation, and self‑selection in kink samples mean published figures can undercount private behavior or overcount interest in communities that self‑identify as “kink” [1] [5].