# How much more horny are men in general than women in general (if at all?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903 "2011-11-04T23:12:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/1 "2011-11-04T23:12:34Z")
Looking for actual research here… “Horny” is not a scientific term, but I imagine there’s plenty of research out there that, once its findings are translated into non-jargon English, could easily include the word “horny” in its description. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/2 "2011-11-04T23:41:30Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Looking for actual research here… > > “Horny” is not a scientific term, but I imagine there’s plenty of research out there that, once its findings are translated into non-jargon English, could easily include the word “horny” in its description. According to [this article](http://psr.sagepub.com/content/5/3/242.short), much more. The abstract sums up an article that is cited by numerous others on the subject. The full text is available by subscription only but many of the articles cited below it might be available online for more details about the specific research used. > [@](#): > > The sex drive refers to the strength of sexual motivation. Across many different studies and measures, men have been shown to have more frequent and more intense sexual desires than women, as reflected in spontaneous thoughts about sex, frequency and variety of sexual fantasies, desired frequency of intercourse, desired number of partners, masturbation, liking for various sexual practices, willingness to forego sex, initiating versus refusing sex, making sacrifices for sex, and other measures. No contrary findings (indicating stronger sexual motivation among women) were found. Hence we conclude that the male sex drive is stronger than the female sex drive. The gender difference in sex drive should not be generalized to other constructs such as sexual or orgasmic capacity, enjoyment of sex, or extrinsically motivated sex. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/3 "2011-11-04T23:57:25Z")
The idea that men are more sexually driven than females is a cultural expectation; in Ancient Greece, the opposite was true (viz. _Lysistrata_). ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/4 "2011-11-05T00:17:48Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > The idea that men are more sexually driven than females is a cultural expectation; in Ancient Greece, the opposite was true (viz. _Lysistrata_). So a comedy written by a male Greek playwright where all the women withhold sex from the men as a means of forcing them to end a war is a reflection of the cultural expectations that women had stronger sex drives than men in Ancient Greece? ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/5 "2011-11-05T00:26:51Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > So a comedy written by a male Greek playwright where all the women withhold sex from the men as a means of forcing them to end a war is a reflection of the cultural expectations that women had stronger sex drives than men in Ancient Greece? I think **Derleth** is just screwing around, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/6 "2011-11-05T00:33:48Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > I think **Derleth** is just screwing around, so to speak. Hey this is serious business. We aren’t that good at too many things but this is one area we can claim a decisive victory in the battle of the sexes: \*We \*are the horny ones around here. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/7 "2011-11-05T00:38:40Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > \*We \*are the horny ones around here. _You ain’t nothin’ but a horndog Tryin’ to bury your bone! You ain’t nothin’ but a horndog Tryin’ to bury your bone! Bend over, baby Daddy’s gonna drive you home!_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/8 "2011-11-05T00:50:39Z")
One must be careful in how one quantifies such things. As the saying goes, a woman wants one man to fulfill her every need, while a man wants every woman to fulfill his one need. An exaggeration, of course, but there’s some truth to it: Reproduction costs females a lot more than it does males, so there’s a strong evolutionary incentive for women to hold higher standards with respect to sex. When a woman has sex, she might end up pregnant for the better part of a year, and then have to spend decades more raising the resulting child, so she’d best make sure that it was Mr. Right who got her pregnant. When a man has sex, though, he can skip town the next morning and successfully reproduce without lifting a finger beyond the metaphorical one between his legs, so it’s to his selfish advantage to have sex with every woman he can. So of course men will want to have more partners than women will, in general, but it doesn’t mean that men’s sex drives are stronger, just that they’re different. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/9 "2011-11-05T02:15:14Z")
I think a corollary for Chronos’ observation is also that a woman need only have sex a few times to fulfill her “mission” for a year, whereas men can do the deed, skip town, and keep going day and night (with appropriate recuperation). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/10 "2011-11-05T02:15:50Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > So a comedy written by a male Greek playwright where all the women withhold sex from the men as a means of forcing them to end a war is a reflection of the cultural expectations that women had stronger sex drives than men in Ancient Greece? Well, yes. That’s why it was so funny: The women would never be able to hold out, right? It’s utterly absurd! ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/11 "2011-11-05T02:18:00Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Looking for actual research here… > > “Horny” is not a scientific term, but I imagine there’s plenty of research out there that, once its findings are translated into non-jargon English, could easily include the word “horny” in its description. 75% men to 25% women. It may be higher for men. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/12 "2011-11-05T02:31:38Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Hey this is serious business. We aren’t that good at too many things but this is one area we can claim a decisive victory in the battle of the sexes: \*We \*are the horny ones around here. “I am the one who knocks!” -Walter White 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/13 "2011-11-05T09:15:18Z")
It’s fairly well demonstrated by the relative frequency of sex by the three types of couples - gay male couples have sex much more often than straight couples, who have sex much more often then lesbian ones. The last has been described as “Lesbian Bed Death” and the first by Dan Savage as “Memo to straight boys - Ha-ha-HA!” ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/14 "2011-11-05T19:24:36Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > It’s fairly well demonstrated by the relative frequency of sex by the three types of couples - gay male couples have sex much more often than straight couples, who have sex much more often then lesbian ones. The last has been described as “Lesbian Bed Death” and the first by Dan Savage as “Memo to straight boys - Ha-ha-HA!” I don’t think this is as obvious of evidence as it may seem. There are two complicating factors. One is that women in general are more likely to be raised with sexual hangups (discouraged from masturbating, encouraged to feel shame about their body, has no idea what her genitals even look like, etc.) A coupling of two women has a MUCH higher chance that at least one party will have some kind of major sexual hangup, whereas a pairing of two men has a much smaller chance that one party will have sexual hangups. Somewhat more controversially, lesbianism just has different dynamics than being gay. “gay”, “straight” and “bisexual” are cultural constructs just like everything else, and lesbianism covers slightly different ground than being gay. Asexual women may identify as lesbian as a way to get away from male attention and to validate what may be strong non-sexual romantic relationships with other women, whereas asexual men are not as likely to identify as gay. Some percentage of women identifying as lesbian are bisexual, but choose to identify as lesbian as a political statement or as a result of trauma. [Lesbian feminism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_feminism) has some examples of this. There are not a lot of bisexual men who get turned off to women after being raped or abused, but there are women who decide they are done with men after experiences like that. This isn’t to say that being lesbian is a choice- it’s more that the term “lesbian” and people’s desire to identify as such is slightly different than the term “gay” is for men. ---
**Author:** ![taffygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@taffygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taffygirl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/15 "2011-11-05T22:26:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One must be careful in how one quantifies such things. As the saying goes, a woman wants one man to fulfill her every need, while a man wants every woman to fulfill his one need. An exaggeration, of course, but there’s some truth to it: Reproduction costs females a lot more than it does males, so there’s a strong evolutionary incentive for women to hold higher standards with respect to sex. When a woman has sex, she might end up pregnant for the better part of a year, and then have to spend decades more raising the resulting child, so she’d best make sure that it was Mr. Right who got her pregnant. When a man has sex, though, he can skip town the next morning and successfully reproduce without lifting a finger beyond the metaphorical one between his legs, so it’s to his selfish advantage to have sex with every woman he can. So of course men will want to have more partners than women will, in general, but it doesn’t mean that men’s sex drives are stronger, just that they’re different. Just to clarify: you’re defining “Mr. Right” as the guy with the best genetics (as evidenced by physical attributes), right? I mean, if he’s skipping town the next day to find partner #367, she’s not going to be holding out for someone who’s loyal, faithful, and good at Parchesi. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/16 "2011-11-05T22:33:21Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Well, yes. That’s why it was so funny: The women would never be able to hold out, right? It’s utterly absurd! That’s a joke, right? If I had a reason to I could easily go years without sex. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/17 "2011-11-05T22:37:54Z")
I think Larry Miller said, “It’s the difference between shooting a bullet, and throwing it.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/18 "2011-11-05T22:41:11Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I don’t think this is as obvious of evidence as it may seem. There are two complicating factors. Three; in humans it’s normally the males who initiate sex, and naturally a lesbian couple doesn’t have any male to do so. So you can have two women who want sex, but neither feels like breaking the ice. > [@OpalCat](#): > > That’s a joke, right? If I had a reason to I could easily go years without sex. It’s a reference to the ancient Greek idea that women were supposedly mad for sex. Which I’m told was the original joke of _Lysistrata_, the play being referred to. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/19 "2011-11-05T23:07:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Just to clarify: you’re defining “Mr. Right” as the guy with the best genetics (as evidenced by physical attributes), right? I mean, if he’s skipping town the next day to find partner #367, she’s not going to be holding out for someone who’s loyal, faithful, and good at Parchesi. I’m not defining Mr. Right at all, since I’m a guy. It’s up to each individual woman to define for herself which man or men are worthy enough to justify her significant potential investment. The criteria may well include loyalty or faithfulness, that the guy will stick around to help with the raising of any children. If that weren’t a criterion for a significant number of women, I expect that loyalty and faithfulness would have been bred out of men ages ago. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903/20 "2011-11-06T00:01:21Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Three; in humans it’s normally the males who initiate sex, and … I think this is inextricably tied to the OP. IOW: If it is actually true that the males usually initiate, I strongly suspect that it’s because they have a higher sex drive. If women were the initiators, the common perception would be that they have the higher sex drive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-more-horny-are-men-in-general-than-women-in-general-if-at-all/601903.md?page=2)