Women settle for 'mediocre sex', study finds

Women have high expectations for nearly every area of their lives, but when it comes to sex, they settle for less. And most women keep their dissatisfaction with sex a secret, leaving their partners (let alone their doctors) in the dark, said Anita Clayton, a psychiatrist who focuses on women’s sexuality at the University of Virginia Health System.

“Whereas men, if they have trouble with sex, it’s a crisis. They run to the doctor and say ‘I need something for this.’ Women don’t do that. They just sort of stuff it down and push it further down on the list,” Clayton said.

With surveys and years of clinical experience, Clayton has compiled a vast collection of data on women’s sex lives. Often, she said, a female patient would visit her with issues like marital problems or depression, and only when directly asked about sex, the patient would divulge dissatisfaction.

“Women are so obsessed with our physical appearance, and we really are trying to achieve some idealized woman’s body that we see in the media. We always feel like we’re lacking,” Clayton told LiveScience.

Clayton attributes several factors to a woman’s lack of sexual satisfaction, including:

* Sex gets shoved to the bottom of the “to do” list for women. And when they do have sex it becomes just another task.
* Women are not getting their emotional needs met during sex. An orgasm might not be the point.
* Many women strive for unrealistic physical perfection seen in the media and are unhappy with some aspect of their physical bodies.
* Women don’t ask for what they want in bed, fearing their partner will be hurt or leave them.
* Medications such as antidepressants can reduce a woman’s libido and ability to reach orgasm. Source.