A lot of women spent their teenage years hearing all about how men are sexual predators. Health teachers, parents and about a million teen movies present males as these insatiable, sex-hungry creatures, ready to pounce on any piece of nubile, young flesh that steps in their path. Watch out, ladies! Men need sex in order to function, and they need it way more than you do.

Maybe all men do constantly think about sex, but the myth of “every 7 seconds” has been debunked (amended to about once every hour), and women supposedly have those thoughts just as frequently. Though it’s hard to put a scientific label on any of these “findings,” as a woman, I can personally attest to the truth of that statement.

Ever since the age of nine, when I inadvertently learned about masturbation (I’ll leave it up to the readers to guess what that entailed, but picturing pool jets wouldn’t put you too far off), I could not stop craving that feeling. Without even knowing exactly what it was, I knew that it was something I wanted to repeat again and again until the day I expired.

So men have to take care of their urges a certain number of times a day in order to maintain sanity — I know plenty of women who have to do the same. They just tend to be less willing to talk about it. Unfortunately, there’s been a long-held taboo concerning women who enjoy and want sex frequently. Women who are open about their desire for a plenty of bedroom action get labeled “sluts” and “whores.” Men call them “easy.”

Meanwhile, men receive praise for the number of notches on their bedposts, earning the desirable titles of “player,” “stud,” etc. So what we observe in terms of who wants sex more comes out to a reputation game instead of the genuine truth about people’s desires. Horny women exist! There was probably one sitting right next to you on the subway on your way home from work today!

However, a simple difference can come between male and female sexual appetites: The orgasm. For men (who are not inflicted with impotency problems), ejaculation is almost a given. Yes, those drunken moments do come up when even after getting hard, finishing the act seems impossible. But I rarely hear guys complaining about failure to reach the peak of the sexual act.

On the other hand, a fair number of my female friends have trouble reaching orgasm. I know a couple who never have. This is always sad to hear, and can be due to a variety of factors, including personal anatomy and even anxiety issues. This problem may account for the women you meet who seem far less intrigued by sex than their male counterparts. It’s difficult to crave sex when the act leaves you frustrated half of the time.

Regardless of how difficult it is for them to finish, many of my female friends who aren’t nearly guaranteed an orgasm still love sex and want as much of it as can fit into their busy schedules. One friend of mine had trouble achieving an orgasm with her boyfriend, so she went out and bought a small vibrator. They bring that into the bedroom and sexual satisfaction is guaranteed. I’ve never seen a girl change her tune so quickly when it comes to getting off.

Going back to the initial question (do women want it as much as men?), I would have to answer diplomatically and say it obviously depends on the person in question, regardless of their gender identity. However, as long as the lady is not an asexual (and asexual people do exist), chances are she wants to get it on almost as much as, if not more than, you do.