What happens when over a thousand women are asked to rate their priorities with regards to health and well-being? The results may or may not be surprising to readers.
Cooking Light, a magazine focused on better eating and living, randomly surveyed 1,020 women over 25 and found that they prioritized certain activities over others when it came to personal health. Number one on the list was getting enough sleep, following by keeping stress down, finding relaxation time, healthy eating, and drinking the proper amount of water. Sixth on the list was was finding time to exercise.
Seventh on the list was having enough sex.
I don't know about you but I wasn't too surprised by the seemingly low ranking that sex had on the list of healthy living. I don't know a single woman who isn't struggling to balance her life and the roles that she plays day to day. Medical associations and PSA's constantly evaluate just how much sleep or exercise or fruits and vegetable servings we're supposed to have each day, but there isn't the same kind of recommendation for having sex. What is enough? If there's no guideline being circulated, perhaps it's harder to list it as a priority. Still, as Melissa Healy elaborates on this point at the LA Times, there are "no specific consensus guidelines for maintaining a healthy stress level, or recommendations concerning time spent relaxing, women's priorities two and three."
I wonder if women aren't socialized to prioritize sex and sexual fulfillment in their lives in the same way as men. Often, we run into stories and narratives that place men's sexual satisfaction over women's: just look at the strides that have been made for treating and analyzing male sexual dysfunction. Scientists are still unsure about what female dysfunction would even look like let alone how to treat the issue. Given this context, perhaps women are bound to prioritize factors like sleep and eating well over having sex.
The Cooking Light survey is by no means a scientific assessment of how women prioritize their lives. But it is an important reminder of the many things that go into a balanced and healthy life, and how difficult it can be to focus on all the issues at once. Taking care of one's body and doing the things that make one feel joy and contentment - be it sex or ceramics class - should always be at the top of our lists.