A LanguageLog post on "The Female Brain", new edition.

[conuly]

What really struck me is the quote from the book...:

"Thoughts about sex enter a woman’s brain perhaps once a day, but in a man every time he sees an attractive woman."

Really?

Let's have a quick, informal poll....

[Poll #961483]

Please... be honest. Remember, this is for posterity.

Comments

[rho]

I honestly have no idea how often I think about sex. I don't tend to keep a record of such things. Plus, what counts as thinking about sex? Does thinking about it in an academic sort of way count, or does it have to be an "I want to have sex" sort of thought? How about sexual arousal without particularly fantasising or thinking about sex? What if I think about sex for 2 seconds and then stop? Is that the same as thinking about it none stop for an hour? How about for 2 seconds every ten minutes for an hour? I honestly haven't a clue how to answer this sort of question.

[conuly]

I... I... I...

I have no idea what the original statement meant now. And I thought I *did* know, too! I'm sorry, but thank you.

[darkpoole.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was puzzled by the "how many times" question myself. Actually take time to focus on a sexual fantasy? Or have fleeting thoughts about sex, or just sweep my eyes across an attractive woman, notice her, wonder for a second what she might be like? Because if it's the latter stuff, I do that a lot. In the former case, maybe a few times a day, maybe not at all for a couple of days if I'm really wrapped up in other stuff.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Well, when *I* took the above poll (I'm 36, in a moderately ldr and female, btw), I used your latter definition. My reasoning was that if the author of the poll had meant "fantasize", that would have been the word chosen rather than the less-specific, blander "think about sex".

I think the reference that spurred this poll-and-post just reeks of the old double standard.