If you ask men why they initiated sex or accepted a partner's initiation when they really felt no desire, the common response is that men are supposed to want sex all the time, and the need to maintain this image (both in the partner's eyes and the man's own self image) makes refusal impossible.

Another aspect of the male sex role that has negative consequences concerns the demand that a man be a skilled, highly experienced, and competent lover. In adolescent male culture, this ethic leads to a good deal of competitive boasting, most of which is usually highly exaggerated. For adult men, this role as the expert has three main negative effects.

First, this role perpetuates sexual ignorance. Since men are supposed to know everything about sex, they cannot bring themselves to buy books, attend classes, or expose themselves to any source of sexual information. After all, if you do so, you are admitting that you could learn something. As an example, in the author's several years of teaching a very large undergraduate course in human sexual behavior, the male female sex ratio of enrollees was about 60 percent female, despite the fact that the overall university sex ratio was the opposite.

A second negative aspect of the expert role is that men are not comfortable discussing sex with their partners. Since the man knows all about sex, he cannot ask the woman what she enjoys and indeed may be threatened by her attempts to communicate to him what it is that she likes. Men supposedly know what women like, and the idea that there are individual differences in preferences between women that require the man to take the role of learner, rather than expert, is unsettling to the traditional male. A third negative aspect of the male role as sex expert is that when a sexual problem occurs, men find it extraordinarily difficult to seek out help. Goodman (1960) has noted that among men, "To boast of actual or invented prowess is acceptable, but to speak soberly of a love affair or sexual problem in order to be understood is strictly taboo". This attitude keeps many men with dysfunctions from coming to therapy, or indeed from talking to anyone about their problem. Unfortunately, men's fears about the consequences of revealing their vulnerability are not totally groundless. A study by Derlega and Chaikin (1976) found that males who do not disclose any problems are rated by both men and women as better adjusted than males who do admit to the normal problems we all experience. The opposite pattern, interestingly enough, was found for disclosure of problems by women.

About The Author
David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Best Male Enhancement Medicine company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2011 David Crawford of Best Male Enhancement Medicine This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.