Young Women Get Real About Their Biggest Insecurities In Bed

From UTIs to early periods, stress and hormones, there are many setbacks that can put a dent in your sex life and according to a new study, self-perception and body image is often on that list.

The survey, conducted by Zava, polled over 1,000 men and women about what made them feel uncomfortable in bed and how it hindered their enjoyment of sex. While men were more likely to be insecure about their performance, 79% of women reported body image to be their biggest insecurity.

"These worries can be so powerful that they significantly impact on the ability to enjoy sex," says Dr. Karen Gurney, clinical psychologist, psychosexologist and director of the Havelock Clinic. "Body image worries reduce our sexual arousal by stopping us from focusing on erotic thoughts and sensations, which has an impact on the whole sexual encounter by reducing sensation, pleasure and desire."

Studies have shown that body dissatisfaction can not only make it harder for women to get aroused, but it often means we’ll avoid certain positions or acts we enjoy, purely out of insecurity. "Many women are so self-conscious about the taste, appearance or smell of their genitals that they avoid allowing their partner to get too close to their vulva, or don’t ask for types of sex that they know would give them great pleasure, such as oral sex," Dr. Gurney tells Refinery29.

What's interesting is that the person you are having sex with probably couldn’t care less. In fact, only 19% of men and 8% of women were bothered by their partners' bodies.

We asked women to tell us what made them feel insecure during sex and how they deal with it. Click through to read their honest replies...