Recent research suggests that both men and women lie about their sexual behaviour in order to meet cultural expectations, even though they wouldn’t be dishonest about other gender-related behaviours. In a study concerning sexual behaviour, it was discovered that men are more willing to admit when they’ve engaged in behaviours seen by college students, such as writing poetry, which are generally associated with women. Likewise, women were open about their love of obscene jokes or other ‘male-oriented’ activities. But with regards to sex, men wanted to appear more masculine and be seen to have had many sexual experiences. Women, in accordance with this theory, wanted to be seen to have had less experience, to be in keeping with the expectations of women. Sexuality seems to be unique in that people are more willing to adhere to stereotypes.
Sexuality seems to be the one area where people feel concerned if they don’t meet what people expect of them in accordance for their gender. In this most recent study, women reported to have had more sexual partners than men when they were connected to a lie-detector test and believed they needed to be truthful. The study shows that people feel an obligation to meet stereotypes when it comes to sexual activity. The study involved 293 students aged between 18 and 25. Researchers found that in an earlier study back in 2003, the female participants rose from having fewer sexual partners (when not connected to a lie detector machine) to being even with men, when hooked up to a lie detector. Cultural expectations are still prominent even with something as taboo as discussing sex, showing what an influence the media has on our conventions and attitudes. Where women normally take pride in being equal to men, it seems that where sex is concerned, women still feel the need to conform to a stereotype.
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