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Women get worse sex: a confound in the explanation of gender differences in sexuality

Women get worse sex: a confound in the explanation of gender differences in sexuality
Women get worse sex: a confound in the explanation of gender differences in sexuality

Gender differences in sexuality have gained considerable attention both within and outside of the scientific community. We argue that one of the main unacknowledged reasons for these differences is simply that women experience substantially worse sex than men do. Thus, in examinations of the etiology of gender differences in sexuality, a confound has largely been unacknowledged: Women and men are treated to different experiences of what is called “sexuality” and “having sex.” We discuss four arenas in which women’s experience of sexuality may often be worse than men’s: (a) anatomical differences, (b) sexual violence, (c) stigma, and (d) masculine cultures of sexuality. Then we consider how each disparity might explain well-known gender differences in sexuality.

gender differences, inequality, sexuality, stigma
1745-6916
960-978
Conley, Terri D.
28d12304-167a-4799-9c66-9fac2f9777e0
Klein, Verena
ae0b3b07-e55d-4793-bdc0-ceea23f00b9e
Conley, Terri D.
28d12304-167a-4799-9c66-9fac2f9777e0
Klein, Verena
ae0b3b07-e55d-4793-bdc0-ceea23f00b9e

Conley, Terri D. and Klein, Verena (2022) Women get worse sex: a confound in the explanation of gender differences in sexuality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17 (4), 960-978. (doi:10.1177/17456916211041598).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Gender differences in sexuality have gained considerable attention both within and outside of the scientific community. We argue that one of the main unacknowledged reasons for these differences is simply that women experience substantially worse sex than men do. Thus, in examinations of the etiology of gender differences in sexuality, a confound has largely been unacknowledged: Women and men are treated to different experiences of what is called “sexuality” and “having sex.” We discuss four arenas in which women’s experience of sexuality may often be worse than men’s: (a) anatomical differences, (b) sexual violence, (c) stigma, and (d) masculine cultures of sexuality. Then we consider how each disparity might explain well-known gender differences in sexuality.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 16 February 2022
Published date: July 2022
Keywords: gender differences, inequality, sexuality, stigma

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 474042
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/474042
ISSN: 1745-6916
PURE UUID: 069d9bf5-e7da-46bd-a09b-883c02a0c13f
ORCID for Verena Klein: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5830-7991

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Date deposited: 09 Feb 2023 17:51
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:16

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Contributors

Author: Terri D. Conley
Author: Verena Klein ORCID iD

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