As much as we would love to tell ourselves that the women’s liberation movement freed women everywhere, the sad fact remains that a majority of all women prioritize looking good rather feeling good. This often means that they are constantly fussing over their weight, how many calories they consume and what foods they can and can’t eat. Studies have also found that this obsession with food has caused women to pay more attention to food than to their relationships. What’s even scarier is that women actually confess that they would feel guiltier if they cheated on a diet than if they cheated on a partner!
So how does this finding apply to women?
Well, for starters, experts have found that women are predisposed to be preoccupied with food. From a social point of view, the average married woman in India is entrusted with keeping her entire family well fed through the day. Most festival and occasions center on a bunch of food specialties that require women to have their existence spin around the preparation and serving of food. In such a social setup, women are often forced to prioritize food in favor or intimacy with their partners, let alone sex.
Even though most married women aren’t expected to be too skinny, it is seen that the constant pressure to find a good match has young girls going on diets to maintain a slim figure. However, as soon as they get married, the pressure is lifted and in their role as homemakers and preparers of food for the family, they end up warping their food consumption patterns and gaining a lot of weight. This additional weight then warps their self-image and they begin to withdraw from sex even more.
Additionally, most sub-cultures require pregnant women to consume a high calorie and high fat diet before and after the baby is born which shows up in hard to lose weight gain. It further declines women’s sex drive. Another interesting point to note here is the fact that sex is still considered a taboo subject in the most parts of the world and even the most liberated of women find it hard to talk about their sexual needs. As a result, the fixation on food preparation and consumption takes priority and sex is sidelined even more.
How can women balance this skewed relationship between food and sex?
Even though it would be preposterous to suggest that women give up making and consuming food and begin talking about sex a lot more, experts do see a new pattern emerging in modern societies. As health consciousness grows, an increasing number of women are making an effort to keep them fit through a clean diet and exercising. How much this actually affects their sex drives can never be gauged too accurately, though the preference that modern women are showing proclivity to have a single child, establishing their own careers and asking for more one on one time with their husbands is a promising start for sure.
