I was in the nail salon, gazing at a turned off television flanked by fake flowers, when the age-old question, “Do you spit or swallow?” eked its way into my brain. “Spit or swallow” is the harshly limited ultimatum posed to teenagers first dabbling in the art of giving and receiving a blowjob, and most of us probably haven’t heard it discussed much since we were in high school ourselves. Back then, I’m pretty sure I knew girls who would have answered both ways, but not being someone ever on the receiving end of fellatio, I took little note of who said what or why about the matter. Yet while one of my hands soaked and the other hand’s nails were filed, I found myself wondering, “Does anyone really spit?” Do women actually take ejaculate into their mouths and then spit it out because they object to swallowing? Is there a reason they object to swallowing other than disliking the taste? RELATED: 5 Tantric Handjob Techniques His Penis Will Never Forget Doesn’t everyone know that taste buds are on the tongue and not in the stomach (i.e., spitting doesn’t actually help anyone not taste it anyway)? As my nail polish was applied, I determined that no, no one spits. At least, not anyone out of high school, and probably not even teenagers these days, given the extent of information and “entertainment” on the topic available to them on the internet. That might have been that (I’m good at deciding things and singularly declaring them to be true) if the subject hadn’t come up later that night when a spit vs. swallow conversation arose out of a discussion related to sex education and the darnedest things kids say. My friend’s pre-teen had recently learned that oral sex is a thing and was wondering why people do it. RELATED: The Weird Reason Guys Care Whether You Spit Or Swallow “So, but … Do kids actually still talk about ‘spitting vs. swallowing’?” I interjected. “Does ANYONE spit? I mean, for reasons other than being stimulated by the visual of spitting and then maybe licking it back up?” The response from the room included a few blank looks and the familiar comment, “You’re on the other far side of the spectrum.” Then someone suggested I conduct a survey… so I did.

Here are four things my seven question, extremely biased “Let’s Talk About Head” survey taught me about how many women spit or swallow and why.

1. Most women and men do enjoy “giving.”

Of those who responded 60 percent of women really enjoy giving head, 30 percent of women dig it when they’re in the mood, and 10 percent will do it to please their partners. Conversely, a whopping 90 percent of men say they love performing oral sex, with only one respondent stating that he doesn’t enjoy it at all.

2. Most women and men prefer to “finish” in their partner’s mouth.

When it comes to climaxing 75 percent of women and 84 percent of men want to do it in their partners’ mouths.

3. Most women and men enjoy “receiving” their partner’s orgasm in their mouth as well.

When I asked how women feel about their partner climaxing in their mouths, 58 percent said it turns them on, 33 percent responded, “It’s nice, I guess,” and 7 percent said they refuse it altogether. In contrast, 88 percent of the male respondents said they are turned on by receiving their partner’s orgasm orally! High fives all around, guys!

4. And now, the biggie. Do women really ever spit? Or do all of us actually swallow? …

My super-scientifically sound survey determined that 79 percent of women swallow. Of those of women who do spit, 7 percent said it’s because they don’t don’t enjoy swallowing, 5 percent say it’s because they find it erotic, and 9 percent said they simply never let ejaculate touch their lips. (Those who find spitting erotic were some of the first to respond, BTW, so I’m pretty sure they’re my employees, but I still stand by the authenticity of my results.) So, okay, a few of you do spit. Color me the teensiest bit wrong and the slightest bit confused. RELATED: We Asked Men What They Really Think About Giving Oral Sex However, I like it when sexual practices surprise me. It means folks are keeping it fresh, which is one of the first rules of good sex. Another one of those rules is being true to yourself. While pushing personal boundaries is often stimulating, no one should feel pressured to participate in what makes them uncomfortable. So you do you, whether that means spitting, swallowing or never allowing the stuff anywhere close enough to your mouth for the question to become an issue. And in the meantime, I’ll leave you with these fun facts about semen:

Semen works as a natural anti-depressant.It contains anxiety-reducing hormones.It encourages better sleep through melatonin.It improves memory and brain function.It contains zinc, which is an antioxidant that slows aging.

Cheers! RELATED: What The Kind Of Blowjob You Give Says About Your Personality Alison Miller is a freelance writer based in Richmond, VA. More smart and sexy content from Sexpert.com:

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This article was originally published at Sexpert.com. Reprinted with permission from the author.