We’ve all heard the old idea that men peak sexually in their late teens, but women don’t peak until their mid-30s. It’s one of the main factors that lead to the idea of Cougars and Cubs. “Why not match people of equal sexual desire?” seemed to be the thought.

Lisa Wade, a professor of sociology, believes that this “common knowledge” might actually just be an unscientific assumption based on our archaic views of sexuality and gender. Over at Salon, she shared the reasons she believes this to be true, and they sound pretty legit.

1. She says that our “obsession with penises” has initiated the belief that men peak at 18. Yes, at that age they’re pretty much ready to go at any moment, are rock hard, and will put it basically anywhere soft, but that doesn’t mean they’ve sexually peaked. It just means they are horny, like, all the time. This “obsession” ignores the many other important factors of sexuality – like skill, endurance, and ability to please a woman.

2. Similarly, this obsession ignores the fact that many older men, ones who may not be able to achieve an erection at any time day or night, at church or in an ice bath, are just plain better at sex. Foreplay and skill often get better with maturity, but many men become “enemies” with their manhood if it doesn’t perform the same way it does when they’re in high school.

3. Sex ed for teens often ignores teaching about female sexuality, other than the science-y, medical stuff. This is likely because many young women have never achieved an orgasm, while young boys can probably give themselves 40 a day. Discussing female sexuality at a young age would probably cause conservative folks to have an aneurysm, so it’s just ignored in favor of “be careful, you’re get pregnant or AIDS so you might as well just not have it at all.”

4. “Women are encouraged to be sexy, but not sexual.” If this wasn’t made apparent by the Miley Cyrus VMAs Scandal or the #SlaneGirl incident, then I don’t know how to make it more obvious. Women are expected to be beautiful, thin, and sexy, but at the same time chaste and innocent-looking. It’s a Catch-22 that makes women afraid to express their real sexuality in the sack until they are older and have nothing to lose.

5. Sex is basically defined as “when a dude finishes.” Because women’s orgasms are often far more difficult to achieve and require FAR MORE SKILL than a man’s, it’s almost assumed that sex can just be over once a guy has had his. So of course men will “peak” in their teens – that’s when all they care about is jizzing all over a chick’s back. Women, on the other hand, are likely still nervous to ask for what they want or what they NEED to have an enjoyable sexual experience in their teens and twenties. Not until later are they like “screw this, I’M GETTIN’ MINE!”

We’d never really given much thought to the sexual peak theories, but Professor Wade definitely provided many points that make us think we can change our sexual peaks… or even extend them to a pleasant, life-long plateau ;).

What do you think of Lisa’s sexual peak theories? Let us know in the comments!