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 Table of Contents  
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2022  |  Volume : 35  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 1703-1708

Relationship between sexual myths and sexual function among women


1 Department of Dermatology Andrology and STDs, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt
2 Department of Neuro-Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt

Date of Submission25-Aug-2022
Date of Decision29-Sep-2022
Date of Acceptance02-Oct-2022
Date of Web Publication04-Mar-2023

Correspondence Address:
Asmaa Z Shaban
Shebin Elkom
Egypt
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/mmj.mmj_289_22

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  Abstract 


Objectives
To evaluate the relationship between sexual myths and sexual function among women.
Background
Sexual myths are false beliefs about sexuality that are not related to proven scientific evidence. They are spread through the transmission of false and exaggerated information and are shaped and fueled by the imagination of the community.
Patients and methods
The current study was carried out after approval by the Dermatology and Andrology Department and Medical Ethics Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University.
Results
There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women, such as immoral woman initiates sexual activity, seafood increases desire, fatty meals increase desire, first sexual intercourse is always painful, blood is a sign of virginity, masturbation could rupture hymen, as well as masturbation is harmful (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women such as oral sex is religiously forbidden, oral sex transmits infection, female sexual areas are dirty, genital cutting prevents sexual arousal, pregnancy decreases desire, intercourse is forbidden during pregnancy, as well as women have less sexual desire (P > 0.05).
Conclusion
From the results of the present study, we have found that participants had a high number of wrong beliefs. Despite the presence of these myths among women, there was no effect on sexual function, as majority of cases have fair sexual function.

Keywords: attitudes, beliefs, relationship, sexual function, sexual myths


How to cite this article:
Gaber MA, Shaban AZ, Emara HR. Relationship between sexual myths and sexual function among women. Menoufia Med J 2022;35:1703-8

How to cite this URL:
Gaber MA, Shaban AZ, Emara HR. Relationship between sexual myths and sexual function among women. Menoufia Med J [serial online] 2022 [cited 2024 Mar 29];35:1703-8. Available from: http://www.mmj.eg.net/text.asp?2022/35/4/1703/371020




  Introduction Top


Sex once per day, the coital duration can take more than half an hour, and loss of desire after menopause – have you heard these common sexual assertions tossed around? [1].

Sexual ignorance or misinformation on sexual issues may lead to the formation of erroneous cognitive schemes such as extreme anxiety, feelings of guilt, unrealistic expectations, or fear of failure [2].

Although sexuality plays an important part in most people's lives, it remains a topic that is often difficult to discuss and which is engulfed in misinformation. The majority of behaviors, attitudes, and concepts about sexuality are socially constructed [3].

Common beliefs and attitudes about sexuality vary among cultures. There may even be regional differences within the same culture on sexuality. Even the beliefs and attitudes about sexual issues vary from individual to individual, with age, sex, education, and family structure [4].

A person's sexuality and how it is expressed are influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, cultural, spiritual, economic, political, social, legal, historical, and religious factors [5].

Sexual myths are false beliefs about sexuality that are not related to proven scientific evidence. They are spread through the transmission of false and exaggerated information and are shaped and fueled by the imagination of the community.

In terms of sexual behaviors, the rural and urban populations of this country display significant differences in attitudes toward sexuality and sexuality has not yet been accepted as a natural and integral part of human life in most parts of Turkey [6].

This study was done to evaluate the relationship between sexual myths and the sexual function of women.


  Patients and methods Top


The current study was carried out after the approval of the Dermatology and Andrology Department and Medical Ethics Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University. This was a cross-sectional study that was carried out in the outpatient clinic of Dermatology and Andrology, Menoufia University Hospital, and in the outpatient clinics of Shebien Elkom Teaching Hospital. The sample of this descriptive and cross-sectional study was 586 women. Measurements were collected using a questionnaire form, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and the Sexual Myths Form. Inclusion criteria were as follows: all participants must be women, the women must be married and not pregnant, the age of women should be from puberty up to 60 years old, and they must be able to read and write in Arabic language to be able to answer the questionnaire. Informed consent was obtained from all participants, and all items of the questionnaire were explained to all participants and were asked if there were unclear items. Exclusion criteria were any women with health problems or with psychiatric conditions that interfere with sexual function, pregnant and single women, any person refusing to fill out the questionnaire, and illiterate persons.

The tool used in this study was a self-filling questionnaire written in English and translated into Arabic to ensure it would understand by all participants regardless of their level of education. The aim of the study and the items of the questionnaire were explained to each participant. The questionnaire included the following items: epidemiological data such as age, educational level, residence, and marital status; the FSFI; and sexual myths from the questionnaire.

Statistical methodology

The data collected were tabulated and analyzed by statistical package for the social science software (SPSS, BM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp, USA), version 26 on an IBM compatible computer. Two types of statistics were done: descriptive statistics were expressed as numbers and percentages for qualitative data, and analytic statistics included Pearson χ2 test, which is the test of significance used to study the association between two qualitative variables, and Fisher's exact test, which is often used with small sample sizes. It is the test of significance used to study the association between two qualitative variables when one of the cells has an expected count of less than 5. P value (probability of error) at 0.05 was used to determine significance, where P value more than 0.05 was considered to be statistically insignificant, P value less than or equal to 0.05 to be statistically significant, and P value less than or equal to 0.001 to be highly statistically significant.


  Results Top


This cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of Dermatology and Andrology, Menoufia University Hospital, and in the outpatient clinics of Shebien Elkom Teaching Hospital. This study was conducted on 586 women. Measurements were collected using a questionnaire form, the FSFI, and Sexual Myths Form.

Regarding the sociodemographic characteristics among the studied group, most participants (63.8%) were between 30 and 39 years, 30.5% participants were between 20 and 29 years, 4.9% were between 40 and 49 years, and 0.3% participants were below 20 years and more than 50 years. Regarding residence, 69.6% of participants were living in a city, whereas 30.4% were living in a village. Regarding educational level, almost all of the patients (99%) were educated and had a university degree. Regarding occupation, 87% of cases were employed and 12.8% did not have a job [Table 1].
Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics of the participants

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Regarding sexual myths related to females, our results showed there was a nonsignificant relation between sexual function and all questionnaire items of sexual myths related to females (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant relationship between a sexual function with women thought that immoral woman initiates sexual activity, seafood increase desire, fatty meals increase desire, first sexual intercourse is always painful, blood is the sign of virginity, masturbation could rupture hymen as well as masturbation is harmful (P > 0.05) [Table 2].
Table 2: Relation between sexual myths related to female and sexual function among participants

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There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women, such as oral sex is religiously forbidden, oral sex transmits infection, female sexual areas are dirty, genital cutting prevents sexual arousal, pregnancy decrease desire, intercourse is forbidden during pregnancy as well as participants have less sexual desire (P > 0.05) [Table 2].

There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women, such as menopause decreased desire, aging destroyed desire, and good sex increased with excitement and orgasm (P > 0.05) [Table 2].


  Discussion Top


Sexual myths may affect sexual and consequently general public health. Popular beliefs and attitudes vary between different cultures. There also may be regional differences within the same culture. Moreover, beliefs and attitudes about sexual participants vary between individuals, ages, sexes, education levels, family types, etc., [7],[8].

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between sexual myths and the sexual function among women.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of Dermatology and Andrology, Menoufia University Hospital, and in the outpatient clinics of Shebien Elkom Teaching Hospital. This study was conducted on 586 women. Measurements were collected using a questionnaire form, the FSFI, and Sexual Myths Form.

Regarding the sociodemographic characteristics among the studied group, the results revealed that most participants (63.8%) were between 30 and 39 years, 30.5% participants were between 20 and 29 years, 4.9% were between 40 and 49 years, and 0.3% participants were below 20 years and more than 50 years. Concerning residence, 69.6% of participants were living in a city, whereas 30.4% were living in a village. Regarding educational level, almost all of the patients (99%) were educated and had a university degree. Regarding occupation, 87% of cases were employed and 12.8% did not have a job.

The current study was in line with the study by Nulufer Erbil [2], which aimed to investigate the relationship between sexual myth beliefs and the sexual function among Turkish women. The study enrolled 402 women whose mean age was 31.46 ± 7.52 years (range, 18–52 years), the mean marriage age was 20.70 ± 3.50 years (range, 14–39 age), the mean duration of marriage was 10.65 ± 7.55 (range, 1–38 years), the number of children was 1.91 ± 0.89 (one to seven children), and husband's mean age was 35.59 ± 7.80 years (range, 20–75). It was determined that 52% of women were 30 years and younger, 76.9% of them were housewives, and 51.5% of them graduated from secondary school education, whereas 91.5% of mother of women was in primary school and lower. Overall, 54% of husbands had graduated from high school and higher education, and 12.2% of their husbands were office person. Overall, 96.3% of them perceived themselves as having 'good and middle-level income.'

Moreover, an Egyptian study by Ahmed et al.[9] aimed to evaluate the types of sexual myths and their effect on various aspects of sexuality in a sample of Egyptian women. The study included 822 participants divided into two groups: the medical group included 432 (52.6%) women and the nonmedical group included 390 (47.4%) women. The most common age group in participants was 30–39 years, which contains 440 (53.5%) women. The number of employed participants was 504 (61.3%) women, but there was a difference in the occupation category between the two groups, as in the nonmedical group, the participants who had no jobs were 211 (54.1%) women, whereas in the medical group, the participants who were employed were 370 (85.6%) women.

Furthermore, the study by Gökce and Herkiloğlu [10] aimed to determine the belief rates and levels of sexual myths and the effects of this situation on sexual functions and satisfaction levels in women of sexually active ages. The study enrolled sexually active married women, and the mean age of women included in the study was 29.5 ± 7.6 years (range, 18–50 years). A total of 47 (77.6%) of women were under 35 years old, and 13 (22.4%) were 35 years and older.

Regarding the sexual history of the participants. The results revealed that more than half of the participants (55.6%) were circumcised. Only seven (1.2%) participants were in the menopause period. A total of 477 (81.4%) participants had a regular sexual life. Most participants (94.7%) believed that success is important in sexuality. Overall, 167 (28.5%) participants had intercourse at least once daily. In addition, 183 (31.2%) of participants had a coital duration of half an hour. Regarding sexual function, 360 (61.4%) cases had fair results, 178 (30.4%) cases had good results, and 46 (8.2%) cases had poor results.

The study by Nulufer Erbil [2] reported that regarding marriage type, 61.9% of them were voluntary; 86.3% of them stated that virginity must be protected until the marriage; 13.9% of them had sexual life problems; and 55% of them had information about sexual life.

Previous studies have indicated that sexual myths and inaccurate information about sexuality can lead to sexual dysfunctions in men and women. Such misinformation often creates exaggerated and unrealistic expectations, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy; anxiety; and fear of failure [11],[12]. In the study of Nobre and Pinto-Gouveia [13], women stated that sexual beliefs and attitudes play a role as vulnerability factors for sexual dysfunction. Prevalent factors for sexual dysfunctions in women include a lack of formal sex education, myths about sexuality, lack of sexual experience, growing up in a conservative setting, and an emphasis on the importance of virginity; all of these factors negatively affect women's sexuality and sexual life [11],[14].

Regarding sexual myths related to females, our results showed there was a nonsignificant relation between sexual function and all questionnaire items of sexual myths related to females (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women such as immoral woman initiates sexual activity, seafood increases desire, fatty meals increase desire, first sexual intercourse is always painful, blood is the sign of virginity, masturbation could rupture hymen, and masturbation is harmful (P > 0.05).

There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women such as oral sex is religiously forbidden, oral sex transmits infection, female sexual areas are dirty, genital cutting prevents sexual arousal, pregnancy decreases desire, intercourse is forbidden during pregnancy, and participants have less sexual desire (P > 0.05).

There was no statistically significant relationship between sexual function and sexual myths among women such as menopause decreased desire, aging destroyed desire, and good sex increased with excitement and orgasm (P > 0.05).

The correlation between sexual myths and sexual function (in terms of the FSFI) was reported by Nulufer Erbil [2]. They found that the mean of the total FSFI score of women was 25.01 (SD 7.06). The mean of sexual myths about women was 22.59 (SD 8.73; range, 0– 46). The sexual myths score of women with sexual dysfunction was higher than women with normal sexual function, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). FSFI subscales such as orgasm (r = −0.065, P = 0.192) and satisfaction (r = 0.012, P = 0.809) did not correlate with the sexual myths score, whereas desire (r = −0.136, P = 0.006), arousal (r = −0.115, P = 0.021), lubrication (r = −0.114, P = 0.023), pain (r = −0.135, P = 0.007), and total FSFI score (r = −108, P = 0.030) did negatively correlate with the sexual myths score. It was determined that 53.2% of women had sexual dysfunction, and the FSFI mean score was 19.85 ± 6.60. The mean score of sexual myths among women with sexual dysfunction was 24.42 ± 8.60 and was higher than women with normal sexual function (20.62 ± 8.46), and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.000).

The study by Gökce and Herkiloğlu [10] revealed that there were no significant differences in terms of the mean total FSFI score, the mean total FSFI sexual satisfaction score, the mean total FSFI libido score, and the mean total FSFI discomfort during sexual myths among the response distribution groups (groups of 'no idea,' 'false,' 'partially true,' and 'true'), suggesting no correlation between sexual function and sexual myths.

Moreover, in the study by Nobre and Pinto-Gouveia [13], after controlling the effect of the demographic variables, the multivariate test indicated a statistically significant effect of sexual myths on sexual functioning (P < 0.01).

In addition, the study by Uludağ et al.[15] enrolled 215 Muslim pregnant women and reported that sexual behavior, sexual intercourse; sexual satisfaction-related myths, and perceived spirituality were found to affect sexual dysfunctions in pregnancy. Sexual myths and religious beliefs are effective in experiencing sexual intercourse in pregnancy.

Sexual false beliefs might have adverse effects on the sexual, and consequently, the general health of individuals [16],[17].


  Conclusion Top


The study revealed the correlation between sexual function and sexual myths among women. It is necessary to start education from childhood to eliminate sexual myths from the society. Health care providers should undertake interventional studies in this regard to correct sexual myths. From the results of the present study, we have found that participants had a high number of wrong beliefs. Despite the presence of these myths among women, there was no effect on sexual function, as majority of cases had fair sexual function.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 
  References Top

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Uludağ E, Tosun Güleroğlu F, Kul Uçtu A Effects of sexual behaviour, intercourse, satisfaction-related myths and perceived spirituality on sexual dysfunctions in Muslim pregnant women. J Relig Health 2021; 60:4249–4263.  Back to cited text no. 15
    
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