If the existing model is sexual dimorphism, with high sexual desire a male trait, you could simply suppose that it’s a “leaky” dimorphism, in which the sex-linked traits nonetheless show up in the other sex with some frequency. In humans this should especially be possible with male traits which depend not on the Y chromosome, but rather on having one X chromosome rather than two. That means that there is only one copy, rather than two, of the relevant gene, which means trait variance can be greater—in a woman, an unusual allele on one X chromosome may be diluted by a normal allele on the other X, whereas a man with an unusual X allele has no such counterbalance. But it would still be easy enough for a woman to end up with an unusual allele on both her Xs.
Also, regardless of the specific genetic mechanism, human dimorphism is just not very extreme or absolute (compared to many other species), and forms intermediate between stereotypical male and female extremes are quite common.
I thought it was pretty clear. Sexual Dimorphism doesn’t operate the way you think it does. Women with high sex drives aren’t rare at all.
I have heard that, for most men and most women, the time of highest sex drive happens at very different times (much younger for men than women). This might account for the entire difference, especially if your’e getting most of your information from the culture at large. As TVTropes will tell you, Most Writers Are Male.
This question reads to me like it’s out of the middle of some discussion I didn’t hear the beginning of. Why were “nymphomaniacs” on your mind in the first place? What do you mean by the word? I don’t think I’ve heard it in many years, and I associate it with the sexual superstitions of a former age.
What does the word “nymphomaniacs” mean? How do you judge someone to be sufficiently obsessed with sex to be a nymphomaniac? I think a lot of your confusion might be coming from you tendency to label people with this word with such negative connotations.
Does the question “what is with women who want to have sex [five times a week*] and will undertake to get it?” resolve any of your confusion? You should expect that those women who have more sex to be more salient wrt people talking about them, so they would seem more prominent, even if only 2% of the population.
*not sure about this number, just picked one that seemed alright.
I think that’s kinda my point. I was attempting to point out that he’s probably confusing the term “nymphomaniac” with its negative connotations, with “likes to have [vaguely defined ‘a lot’] of sex.”
“Nymphomaniac” hasn’t been a clinical diagnosis for a long time. In my experience, the word is now most commonly used colloquially to mean “a woman who likes to have a lot of sex”. Whether this has negative connotations depends on your attitude to sex, I suppose.
Picking a number for this seems like a really bad idea. For most modern clinical definitions of disorders what matters is whether it interferes with normal daily behavior. Even that is questionable since what constitutes interference is very hard to tell.
Societies have had very different notions of what is acceptable sexuality for both males and females. Until fairly recent homosexuality was considered a mental disorder in the US. And in the Victorian era, women were routinely diagnosed as nymphomaniacs for showing pretty minimal signs of sexuality.
What’s the deal with female nymphomaniacs? Their existence seems a priori unlikely.
Then your priors are wrong. Adjust accordingly.
“What’s the deal with” means “What model would have generated a higher prior probability for”. Noticing your confusion isn’t the entire solution.
If the existing model is sexual dimorphism, with high sexual desire a male trait, you could simply suppose that it’s a “leaky” dimorphism, in which the sex-linked traits nonetheless show up in the other sex with some frequency. In humans this should especially be possible with male traits which depend not on the Y chromosome, but rather on having one X chromosome rather than two. That means that there is only one copy, rather than two, of the relevant gene, which means trait variance can be greater—in a woman, an unusual allele on one X chromosome may be diluted by a normal allele on the other X, whereas a man with an unusual X allele has no such counterbalance. But it would still be easy enough for a woman to end up with an unusual allele on both her Xs.
Also, regardless of the specific genetic mechanism, human dimorphism is just not very extreme or absolute (compared to many other species), and forms intermediate between stereotypical male and female extremes are quite common.
I thought it was pretty clear. Sexual Dimorphism doesn’t operate the way you think it does. Women with high sex drives aren’t rare at all.
I have heard that, for most men and most women, the time of highest sex drive happens at very different times (much younger for men than women). This might account for the entire difference, especially if your’e getting most of your information from the culture at large. As TVTropes will tell you, Most Writers Are Male.
Why?
And they are accordingly rare, are they not?
No, women with a high sex drive are not rare.
Maybe. I don’t know.
This question reads to me like it’s out of the middle of some discussion I didn’t hear the beginning of. Why were “nymphomaniacs” on your mind in the first place? What do you mean by the word? I don’t think I’ve heard it in many years, and I associate it with the sexual superstitions of a former age.
What does the word “nymphomaniacs” mean? How do you judge someone to be sufficiently obsessed with sex to be a nymphomaniac? I think a lot of your confusion might be coming from you tendency to label people with this word with such negative connotations.
Does the question “what is with women who want to have sex [five times a week*] and will undertake to get it?” resolve any of your confusion? You should expect that those women who have more sex to be more salient wrt people talking about them, so they would seem more prominent, even if only 2% of the population.
*not sure about this number, just picked one that seemed alright.
Five times a week wouldn’t be remotely enough to diagnose. It has to be problematic and clinically significant.
I think that’s kinda my point. I was attempting to point out that he’s probably confusing the term “nymphomaniac” with its negative connotations, with “likes to have [vaguely defined ‘a lot’] of sex.”
“Nymphomaniac” hasn’t been a clinical diagnosis for a long time. In my experience, the word is now most commonly used colloquially to mean “a woman who likes to have a lot of sex”. Whether this has negative connotations depends on your attitude to sex, I suppose.
Picking a number for this seems like a really bad idea. For most modern clinical definitions of disorders what matters is whether it interferes with normal daily behavior. Even that is questionable since what constitutes interference is very hard to tell.
Societies have had very different notions of what is acceptable sexuality for both males and females. Until fairly recent homosexuality was considered a mental disorder in the US. And in the Victorian era, women were routinely diagnosed as nymphomaniacs for showing pretty minimal signs of sexuality.
This is one of the more bizarre things I’ve read recently.