Are Men More Sexually Active Than Women?
It is probably the oldest debate and has been part of the war of the sexes for as long as one can remember. No discussion of human sexuality is ever complete without a reexamination of this ancient question. Who is more sexually active? Which gender is genetically, biologically, culturally more prone to higher levels of sexual activity?
Every once in a while a new study appears, stating sometimes this, sometimes that, and adding further fuel to this raging fire. For example, one survey finds that women are more sexually active, at least in high school, than men are. It says that by the final year of high school, girls are likelier than boys to have been sexually active. Over 60% of girls in their final high school year claimed to have had sex, where only 44% boys of the same year said the same.
On the other hand, another study shows that 67% of older men, between 65 and 74 years of age or older, have been sexually active within the previous year, while over 35% of 75 and 85-year-old men say the same. For the women, however, the numbers are as low as 40% and 17% for the same age groups.
One of the reasons for this disparity might be that most men have a more uncomplicated approach to their sexuality, while for women sexual desire is more connected to emotional and self or body image factors. As women age, physical changes might affect the way they view their own bodies, how they feel about their own attractiveness, and how desirable they feel. Men, on the other hand, often focus more on the achievement of an erection as a precursor of sexual activity, and drugs such as Viagra have made a significant impact on that.
On the other hand, it is a pretty much well established fact by now that men achieve their overall sexual peak much earlier than women. Where a woman hits her sexual peak as late as early 40s, achieving full enjoyment of sex, increased libido, and stronger fantasies, men on the other hand, hit their peaks in their late teens or early 20s, later settling down to a more sedate but consistent level of sexual activity for pretty much the rest of their lives.
One of the reasons for women being more sexually active in their 30s or 40s could be that by then most women have become more comfortable with their own sexual natures, and with sex in general, compared to teenage women and those in their 20s.
There are other differences too. Norwegian researchers have found that the genders behave quite differently in terms of libido and sexual activity, even with the seasons. Women experience more desire and are likelier to be sexually active in the spring while men are likely to experience the same in autumn.
Given all these varying reports, given the fluid nature of human sexual behavior, compounded by emotional, psychological and developmental factors, it is practically impossible to come to any conclusion about which gender, male or female, is more sexually active over the entire course of their lives.
And, maybe the point is….why try? Mars and Venus are different, always have been and always will be. Why not leave it at that? Any difference does not have to mean better or worse; or more or less. Let’s just be happy with “other”.
