 "Photo: Kerry Lentz")
Today's women have less time for sex than women did 50 years ago.
With more time spent on their careers, many women now are tired and stressed out by the time they get home each day and are therefore less inclined to have sex.
"Women today have less time and less energy," said Charlotte Dunham, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Tech. "More women are working double shifts. They work a shift at the office, and then they work a shift at home. They have less time for intimacy."
Sarah Talamantez, a junior microbiology major from Del Rio, said she believes this trend results from the differences between the women of today and those 50 years ago.
"They really had no career except raising the family," Talamantez said. "Most women work now, have the 9 (a.m.) to 5 (p.m.) hours busy, and some jobs require a lot of time outside the workplace. But in general, I think women are more career-driven. Women are now expected to have a career, kids, be a mom and do everything. You're required to have the homemaker position and also go get a career."
Delia Tibbs, a senior technical communications major from Paris, said she agrees women's emphases on their careers may put sex on the back burner.
"There's so much more going on now that I don't think sex is a top priority anymore," Tibbs said. "I don't think (times are) more stressful, I just think the stress is in different areas. It used to be more about the family and kids. Now women focus on their careers; they have different lifestyles, and more women are single."
If it is true that more women are single now than in the past, this could explain some of the decrease in sexual activity.
"In different times in your life cycle, you have sex less than other times," Dunham said. "In general, married people have more sex than single people. Younger people have more sex than older people."
Although Dunham said it is normal for sex rates to fluctuate during a person's lifetime, Tibbs said people should slow down if they can't find the time for sex.
"Sex is great, but when you have to schedule it in, you need to take a closer look at your relationship," Tibbs said. "In a relationship, I want somebody who knows more about me, who knows there's more to me, and I want more than just having sex. Yeah, there has to be the chemistry, that physical attraction, but there also has to be the conversations. You have to get to know someone on a deeper level. Sex with someone you don't love is just not worth it to you."
Dunham said college students have different stressors on them now than in the past, which could contribute to the problem.
"It's a different world for college students now than when the baby boomers were in college," Dunham said. "I don't think it's much more stressful, but there are different stressors. College students have to work more to pay for college. The tuition back then was lower than it is now. Another stressor is the idea of making it when you get out of college. The college students back then were facing a strong economy, so there was less pressure to pick the right career to be able to provide for a family."
Although factors such as fluctuating weight and moods can have an effect on a woman's sexual desires, Dunham said she believes the overall problem is larger.
"As a sociologist, I think it's probably the bigger factors having an impact," Dunham said. "I think there's more emphasis on changing gender roles and changing expectations."
Tibbs agreed with this, saying women today have more freedom to reject sexual advances than women did 50 years ago.
"We have different goals now," Tibbs said. "Maybe women are more empowered to say 'peace out, I have other things to do,' or 'I'm stressed out, I'll call you when I'm ready.'"
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