In a recent article by Fisher and Alexander, the researchers posit that the differences between the sexes (in terms of sexual beliefs and practices) are really differences in perception rather than in actuality. The differences exist primarily in terms of “ gender norms” that society has created rather than in actual differences. The authors state that the differences appear to exist in research studies because men and women report different practices. These are in accordance with what they feel the gender norms dictate, such as men typically reporting more sexual partners, decreased age at first intercourse and more masturbation, and women reporting fewer partners, later first date of intercourse and less masturbation.
However, when the studies were created to report answers to these questions and those surveyed felt they were going to be penalized for not telling the truth, both sexes reported much more similar answers. Since number of partners and age of first intercourse require both sexes, the fact that the answers were mismatched is fairly illogical.
All in all, it appears that men and women think about sex a similar amount, have sex a similar amount and masturbate a similar amount. Possibly the truth about our sexual practices will become more widely known. I hope it’s soon.
