When It Comes to Sex Positions, Millennials and Boomers Can Actually Agree on One Thing

Whether it’s how they obsess (or don’t) over their pets, say “I do” or even purchase a home, millennials and boomers don’t agree on a whole lot. But when it comes to the bedroom, the generational gap surprisingly tends to narrow. Yep, apparently if millennials and boomers can agree one dang thing these days, it’s their favorite sex position: doggy style.

In order to find an answer to the question we’re all dying to know—how does America like it?—Bespoke Surgical surveyed 1,000 Americans across demographics and all 50 states to uncover Americans’ ultimate preferred sex positions. And the results broke down like so:

#1 Doggy-style (24.18% of respondents) 
#2 Missionary (20.08%) 
#3 Cowboy/Cowgirl (17.48%) 
#4 Reverse cowboy/Reverse cowgirl (5.89%)
#5 Lotus (5.29%)

Why so popular? According to the survey, “[it’s] most likely for its deeper penetration, which can be ideal for greater stimulation of the prostate or g-spot. This iconic position is also perfect for dominant tops and bottoms that are both experienced and submissive.”

But what about Gen Z and Gen X? They’re also into doggy style, since it’s the number-one spot on the list, but every generation is apparently going at it at different rates: 

Gen Z: 10.64 times/month
Millennials: 10.42/month
Gen X: 9.09 times/month
Boomers: 6.65 times/month

Shocking that a bunch of 18-to-24-year-olds are outdoing their parents? No. But when it comes to type of sex, Gen Z is outdoing every other generation with anal sex: 37 percent of respondents, overall, report having anal sex once per week or more, whereas over half of Gen Z respondents (55 percent) report having anal sex once per week or more. In fact, according to the survey 52 percent of baby boomers have never had anal sex whereas only 19 percent of Gen X respondents and 20 percent of millennials have never had anal sex. 

So yeah, to each generation its own. But remember the whole “sex recession” thing? In her 2018 The Atlantic piece on America’s dwindling sexcapades, Kate Julian writes that even as younger generations embrace the age of Tinder hookups and sexual wellness, “…American teenagers and young adults are having less sex.” And they’re not alone: “Gen Xers and Baby Boomers may also be having less sex today than previous generations did at the same age. From the late 1990s to 2014, [Jean M. Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University] found, drawing on data from the General Social Survey, the average adult went from having sex 62 times a year to 54 times.”

Not exactly dinner table conversation, but now when Aunt Sheryl is going off on “kids these days” at Thanksgiving, you know deep down, you probably have something in common—you’re all having less sex than ever before and when you are doing it, you prefer doggy style. Pass the potatoes.