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Dr Beejal Vyas-Price

Consultant in Medical Communications & Postgraduate Research Fellow at Woolcock Institute of Medical Research

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Low sexual desire is a common sexual complaint in women. The reality is that more than half of Australian women aged 16-59 years of age experience a lack of interest in sex for at least one month in a year. With so many affected, could it be that this simply reflects a ‘normal’ sexual trajectory for women in long-term relationships? Unfortunately, society, media, and the likes of the Fifty-shades of Grey trilogy, would have us think otherwise. Having carved the ideology of what constitutes a ‘normal’ sex life, many women and/or their partners are all too ready to label their sexual inabilities as ‘abnormal’. Courting memories of first falling in love and the spontaneous, passionate, carefree sex that was abound in the early stages of the relationship (i.e. ‘honeymoon’ period), further fuel feelings of failure and the woman may seek medical help with the hope of being prescribed some ‘magic pill’.

Low sexual desire is a common sexual complaint in women. The reality is that more than half of Australian women aged 16-59 years of age experience a lack of interest in sex for at least one month in a year. With so many affected, could it be that this simply reflects a ‘normal’ sexual trajectory for women in long-term relationships? Unfortunately, society, media, and the likes of the Fifty-shades of Grey trilogy, would have us think otherwise. Having carved the ideology of what constitutes a ‘normal’ sex life, many women and/or their partners are all too ready to label their sexual inabilities as ‘abnormal’. Courting memories of first falling in love and the spontaneous, passionate, carefree sex that was abound in the early stages of the relationship (i.e. ‘honeymoon’ period), further fuel feelings of failure and the woman may seek medical help with the hope of being prescribed some ‘magic pill’.

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