As a follow-up to the last post on female orgasm, another fantastic article from the BBC, this one reviewing the most cutting-edge research on female desire.
The piece challenges some long-held assumptions and stereotypes, citing research that shows:
- females may desire sex as much as males, but there seems to be more variability in their desire (especially over the menstrual cycle)
- testosterone is almost entirely unrelated to sexual desire in females
- sexual desire doesn't always mean a desire for penetrative sex with a partner
- women are increasingly using porn, and there is now much more porn produced by women for women
- low sexual desire doesn't typically reflect physiological changes; it's more often situational
- females are as prone to sexual boredom in their relationships as males, and maybe even more so
From the BBC:
The Enduring Enigma of Female Sexual Desire
Why have scientists been slow to understand women’s sexuality, asks Rachel Nuwer.
What do women want? It’s a question that’s stymied the likes of Sigmund Freud to Mel Gibson. It has been at the centre of numerous books, articles and blog posts, and no doubt the cause of countless agonised ponderings by men and women alike. But despite decades spent trying to crack this riddle, researchers have yet to land on a unified definition of female desire, let alone come close to fully understanding how it works.
Still, we’ve come a long way from past notions on the subject, which ran the gamut of women being insatiable, sex-hungry nymphomaniacs to having no desire at all. Now, scientists are increasingly beginning to realise that female desire cannot be summarised in terms of a single experience: it varies both between women and within individuals, and it spans a highly diverse spectrum of manifestations. As Beverly Whipple, a professor at Rutgers University, says: “Every woman wants something different.”
Read the rest here: link.
