Originally Posted by Yoda
That's interesting; are you sure it's a complete role-reversal, though?
Well, I wasn't around for it, but that's what the rabbai said.
I'd love to research it further, but finding anything written about the time period before christian history is tough: a. it's scarce and b. it's been written by people with an agenda. I take what can be found with a grain of salt. This was the first time I'd heard the "women used to be the sexual aggressors" notion, and it did make sense given what appears to be mysogeny in the Bible. Despite my own agnosticism, I appreciate anything that makes the Bible appear more sensible.
Clearly, we already live in a world where women are, if not as sexually adventurous as men, at least approaching that point. I would expect the shift to be: men behave like dogs, women catch up, men back off a bit, rinse and repeat. It's hard to imagine a complete 180 from both genders.
Well, again there's a range of behaviours in both genders, but I can imagine the trends reversing.
Sex In The City found a huge audience, not by accident.
I can definitely buy a more moderate shift, though. As much as men might be wired to want sex, I think something kicks in when it becomes too easily accquired. It's a new twist on the old adage about not valuing something that's so easily given away. But beyond that, instincts might play a role: if neither gender is regulating itself, you've got a recipe for chaos.
And yes, the way young men are encouraged to behave these days is ripe for potential disappointment. Sex, by its very nature, only produces short-term benefits. It's not that far removed, logically, from chocolate cake or impulse buys. Almost no one is significantly happier or better off in life because they had sex a few extra times in college 15 years ago, in other words.
I was going to ramble on further, taking the other side of the issue and reaching some kind of equilibrium, but I'm drifting off-topic as it is.
Good point about long-term benefits of sex. I think there are actually long-term benefits from not hurling one's self at every passing opportunity. I just don't think it's a gender-specific thing.