Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study

Allison B Macbeth, Azita Goshtasebi, G William Mercer, Jerilynn C Prior

doi:10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519

Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study

Allison B Macbeth et al., 2021

Women's Reproductive Health, 8(2), 79-91

DOI 10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519

Abstract

Women's interest in sex is asserted to increase at the mid-cycle pre-ovulatory estradiol peak. We explored this belief in healthy, spontaneously normally menstruating/ovulating women. Women recorded "interest in sex" in a daily diary; validated Quantitative Basal Temperature analysis documented ovulation. Interest in sex showed no mid-cycle peak in 61 normal-weight, nonsmoking women, ages 33.7 ± 5.6 years, over a mean of 311 consecutive days. The cycle-plotted diary "self-worth" factor (including feelings of energy, interest in sex) also showed no mid-cycle peak. Thus, interest in sex is related more strongly to women's feelings/experiences than to hormones, challenging deterministic or sex-hormone-dependent cultural and sociobiological understandings.

Topics

Menstrual Cycle > Ovulation > Hormonal Effects on Behavior Reproductive Endocrinology > Estradiol > Mid-Cycle Hormonal Effects Fertility Awareness > Cycle Charting > Basal Body Temperature Analysis

mid-cycle interest in sex ovulatory menstrual cycle women, Prior JC estradiol peak sexual desire mid-cycle ovulation, basal body temperature ovulation sexual interest daily diary, women sexual desire menstrual cycle hormonal determinism, quantitative basal temperature analysis ovulation verification sexual interest, Macbeth Prior mid-cycle libido estradiol peak healthy women, sexual interest self-worth energy menstrual cycle daily diary, sociobiological theory female sexuality hormonal influence challenge, prospective observational study sexual desire ovulatory cycle community women, sex hormone dependent sexual desire women menstrual cycle myth, estradiol progesterone sexual interest healthy ovulating women longitudinal

DOI 10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519 10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519

Cite this article

Allison B Macbeth, Azita Goshtasebi, G William Mercer, & Jerilynn C Prior (2021). Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study. *Women's Reproductive Health*, *8*(2), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2021.1901519

Does Interest in Sex Peak at Mid-Cycle in Ovulatory Menstrual Cycles of Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women? An 11-month Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Topics

Cite this article

Related articles

Adolescents’ use of combined hormonal contraceptives for menstrual cycle–related problem treatment and contraception: evidence of potential lifelong negative reproductive and bone effects

Apply the Precautionary Principle Concerning Combined Hormonal Contraception Use in Adolescents