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How one looks does not determine sexual function or satisfaction.

How one feels about how they look influences their sexual experience.

Social media use can undermine body image and sexual self-esteem.

Every week, I speak with clients who tell me that their looks interfere with their sex life.

They wish they weighed less, had more hair on their head and less everywhere else, or had a bigger this or smaller that. During sex, some of them keep their T-shirts on and the lights off.

The literature says that people's objective beauty has little connection to how much they enjoy sex. Lots of nice-looking people don't enjoy sex, and lots of plain-looking people do.

What does apparently matter is how people feel about their bodies. Regardless of what they actually look like, people who feel attractive want sex more, have sex more, and typically enjoy it more. Studies show that this is true for both men and women. (1)

On the other hand, people who judge their bodies harshly (regardless of what they actually look like) are less likely to desire sex, and less likely to believe that they are sexually desired.

Although unfortunate, this is........

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