London: Men are from sex-crazed Mars while women are from soft and romantic Venus, it is often said. But a new study in France has debunked the myth.
Researchers have found that French women are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual habits and they've more than twice as many partners now as they did in the 1970s while one in five younger men "manifests no interest in sex".
"Are women just like men?" asked the French Aids research agency, Le Nouvel Observateur, which has carried out the Study on Sexuality in France.
In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after carrying out in-depth interviews with over 12,000 people of all ages during 2005-06, leading British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday.
According to the study, one of the biggest changes in recent years was that male and female sexual behaviour had become increasingly similar.
The proportion of French women who had only one partner has dropped from 68 per cent in 1970 to 43 per cent in 1992 and 34 per cent in 2006 — while a woman's average number of partners has risen from under two in the 1970s to over five today, a man's has remained the same for 40 years, almost 13.
The researchers have also found that French women's first experience of sex is now almost as early as that of the opposite sex — in 1950 there was a two-year difference, but the gap has narrowed to four months, to around 17-and-a-half.
Meanwhile, more women are found to remain sexually active for longer than earlier — nine out of ten women over 50 are sexually active today, compared to just 50 per cent of that age group in the 1970s.
According to the study, young women are still educated to consider their entrance into sexuality as a sentimental relationship experience.
However, one of the more surprising findings was that one-in-five French men aged between 18 and 24 "has no interest in sex", while abstinence rates for men under 35 was twice as high as for women.
"The good old dichotomy (male predators, females patiently awaiting the warrior's return in front of the cave entrance) is in big trouble," said Le Nouvel Observateur.
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