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13 Reasons A Married Woman Might Not Be Interested In Sex

Kelly Gonsalves
Author:
September 29, 2020
Kelly Gonsalves
Contributing Sex & Relationships Editor
By Kelly Gonsalves
Contributing Sex & Relationships Editor
Kelly Gonsalves is a sex educator, relationship coach, and journalist. She received her journalism degree from Northwestern University, and her writings on sex, relationships, identity, and wellness have appeared at The Cut, Vice, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and elsewhere.
September 29, 2020

Maybe your wife isn't initiating sex, or she seems to be actively avoiding it. Maybe she rejects your sexual advances whenever you make them, and it's been a long while since you've had sex with each other. Below are a few potential reasons that might explain why your wife is not interested in you sexually.

Important note: The only way to find out exactly why your wife is not interested in sex is to ask her yourself. Research, psychologists, and Google can offer ideas, but only your wife herself can tell you why she doesn't want to have sex with you:

1.

She's too busy.

Working a full-time job in addition to running household errands and caring for kids can be exhausting and stressful, so some women may simply feel too busy and overworked to have any energy for sex. Particularly in marriages between men and women, women still do the vast majority of household labor and childcare, even when both partners are spending an equal number of hours at work. If that's true for your marriage, your wife may be holding onto some resentment over the imbalance.

What to do about it: Make sure your wife has some time to herself to relax and feel restored. Also, make sure you share the housework equally, including the mental load. If your wife feels less overburdened with household responsibilities—and sees you making an active effort to take on your share of the load—you might find she has more time, energy, and interest in sex.

This isn't a tit-for-tat sort of thing, though. You should make an effort to equally share the responsibilities because you care about her and your relationship, not because you hope it'll win you sex.

2.

You're not on the same page about how important sex is.

It's possible that you and your wife simply have different needs when it comes to sex. One of you simply wants sex more often than the other does. There's nothing wrong with the lower-libido partner—they simply just don't want sex as often as the other person. Four in five couples dealt with a desire discrepancy1 in the past month, according to one 2015 study. Your wife may simply just not want sex as regularly as you do, and she may not even know how important sex is to you.

What to about it: Have an earnest, exploratory conversation with each other about what sex means to you both as individuals, and then talk about how you can create a mutually satisfying sex life that works for both of you. It can be helpful to have this conversation with the help of a sexuality professional, such as a sex therapist or coach. It may also help to learn about different forms of desire discrepancy.

3.

She feels pressured.

Perhaps there's a desire discrepancy between you, whether in general or just at this particular time in your lives, and you're both very aware of it. Feeling this discrepancy—or feeling like your partner is always asking for sex when you don't want it—can make the lower-libido person feel pressured into having sex. And pressure is a total libido killer that can set off a cycle of sexual avoidance, according to AASECT-certified sex therapist Jessa Zimmerman, M.A.

"Some of the pressure comes from the idea that you 'should' be having sex. Some of it comes from knowing that your partner is unhappy," she writes at mbg. "There is also much more pressure on any sex you do have since it's happening less frequently; it feels like there is much more at stake each time the two of you are intimate. Of course, all this pressure makes it harder for sex to seem to go well."

In other words, pressure makes for bad sex even when you actually end up having it, and all that pressure and bad sex might make your wife just lose interest in sex completely.

What to do about it: "You need to take the stress out of sex in three steps: Challenge your expectations, communicate effectively with your partner, and take the pressure off by using new physical experiences," Zimmerman advises. Here's her full guide to overcoming the sexual avoidance cycle, plus how to support a lower-libido partner.

4.

The kind of sex you're having isn't good for her.

A woman may lose interest in sex, even in a happy marriage, if the sex does not bring her sexual pleasure. In particular, most women cannot reach orgasm from penis-in-vagina intercourse alone. If a couple's sex life continues to follow a routine that doesn't tend to feel good for the woman, she may lose interest in having sex entirely.

"The typical, goal-oriented 'round-the-bases' approach to sex doesn't inspire, arouse, or satisfy women," relationship coach Bez Stone writes at mbg. "Feeling expected to have sex a certain way, or feeling like you need to have intercourse if you explore desire with your partner, can actually strangle a woman's libido over time."

What to about it: Learn how to make a woman have an orgasm and how to make sex better for women. Also, expand your definition of sex. Have sexual experiences together that don't revolve around intercourse. Ask your wife what she likes and what would be sexy and pleasurable for her. Here are some foreplay ideas for inspo.

5.

She's not feeling emotionally connected to you.

"Not everyone needs emotional connection for sex to be great, but in long-term relationships, the lack of connection can be a huge factor in a person's desire to have sex with their partner," psychologist Margaret Paul, Ph.D., writes at mbg. "Sexuality will often emerge naturally from their authentic emotional intimacy."

When's the last time you two had a long, heartfelt conversation? Or a genuine, romantic, butterflies-in-the-stomach exchange? There are many types of intimacy, and they tend to dovetail. If you two feel more like roommates than romantic partners, sex may just feel awkward or unappealing.

What to do about it: Make time to emotionally connect with each other and rekindle your soul connection. Bring back date night (without the pressure to have sex), or simply spend more time talking to each other about your inner worlds: your feelings, your fears, your frustrations, your hopes and dreams. Really connect.

6.

There are other problems in the relationship.

If you're dealing with other problems in the relationship—an ongoing argument, an affair, disagreements about decisions related to the kids or work or money, literally anything—then those tensions may seep into your sex life. As sex therapist Vanessa Marin, LMFT, once told mbg, "There's a two-way relationship between relationship satisfaction and sexual desire."

What to do about it: Address the ongoing conflicts in your relationship. Ask your wife about how she's feeling about the relationship, about you, and about your life together, and see how you can get your relationship back to a good place.

7.

Motherhood is conflicting with her sexual self.

Sometimes when a woman becomes a mother, it can affect the way she sees herself—and the way her partner sees her. She may begin to stop seeing herself as a sexual being as she assumes the role of mother, a role that society often strongly desexualizes.

"The identity of a young parent can become entirely entwined with that of the children. We lose ourselves. We often have no relationship with our partner outside of that shared with the children," OB/GYN Susan Hardwick-Smith, M.D., writes in her book Sexually Woke. "Having small children is a frequent and legitimate excuse for not having sex."

Maybe you've started treating your wife differently, too—more likely a mom figure even to you, and less like a wife and lover and sexual being.

What to do about it: Make sure your wife knows you see her as a sexy being—compliment her often, give her simmering kisses and affectionate touch, and do these things without tying the gestures to requests for sex. Just do it to make her feel good. Zimmerman also recommends getting some time away from the kids regularly so that you can re-immerse yourselves in your identities as individuals and as a couple outside of your roles as parents. Here's her full guide to prioritizing sex as parents.

8.

She feels insecure about her body.

One of the top sexual concerns women have is feeling self-conscious about their own bodies during sex. This is relevant for anyone with anxiety about their body (which, unfortunately, is true for the vast majority of women), but it may be particularly relevant for women as they age, go through childbirth, or simply experience changes to their body over time. If your wife has recently lost interest in sex, it might be tied to her feelings about her body these days.

What to do about it: Learning to love your own body is a personal journey, so this isn't really something you can fix for her just by giving her compliments (though that can certainly help!). If you have a hunch your wife is dealing with body image issues, gently bring it up with her, and see if there are ways you can support her—without making it seem like you're critiquing her body or suggesting she needs to change the way she looks.

9.

Menopause may be affecting her libido.

Menopause can affect a woman's sexual functioning2 and overall interest in sex. "Anatomically and physiologically, decreasing estrogen and just plain aging cause potential problems for our libido," Hardwick-Smith writes in her book. "As we age, the vaginal lining becomes thinner, less elastic, and produces less moisture. Blood flow to the clitoris and vagina decreases, and the clitoris shrinks. Nerves responsible for pleasure become less prominent and less sensitive. Reaching orgasm can become difficult or seem impossible."

If sex is becoming harder, less pleasurable, or more painful to have, it makes sense that a woman may lose interest in having it at all.

What to do about it: Using lube can help immensely with vaginal dryness and pain, and including more clitoral stimulation and sex toys can help make sure sexual experiences continue to be pleasurable for your wife. It may also be helpful for her to speak with her doctor to see if there are other treatment options that might help.

10.

She may have health issues affecting her libido.

Many health issues can affect a woman's sexual desire, from diabetes to chronic pain conditions to cancer. Hormonal changes, which can start as early as your 20s, can also be root causes of low sex drive. And lots of different health issues and life circumstances can affect your hormones, as can taking hormonal birth control (i.e., the pill).

All that said, unless your wife has a known health condition that she's currently managing—or she's had a very sudden and significant change in her sex drive—don't assume that her lack of interest in having sex with you means something is medically wrong with her. Start by considering and working through any and all interpersonal, emotional, and relationship issues. Addressing these issues will likely buoy your sex life naturally.

What to do about it: If you've talked about all the other reasons on this list and mutually feel great about your relationship (talk to her about this—don't assume!), then it's worth her talking to her doctor. Or if your wife does have a known medical issue, talk to each other about how your sex life might be being affected and ways you can work together to keep your sex life healthy. She can also talk to her doctor to see what options are available to support her libido.

Just be sensitive to what she's going through: If she's dealing with a significant illness or painful condition, for example, it may not be appropriate to push for more sex at this time. You can bring up your feelings about the importance of sex in your relationship so that she knows and can let you know what she has the capacity for. You can be honest while also being flexible and compassionate. 

11.

She's struggling with her mental health.

Depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues are all linked to lower libido, as are some antidepressants. If your wife is struggling with any mental health issues, she may be less interested in sex at the moment.

What to do about it: Similar to any other health issue, it's important to be compassionate and supportive of a partner struggling with mental health. You can gently bring up that you want to keep prioritizing your sex life together so your wife understands how you feel and so you can mutually find ways to work on this part of your lives while still being sensitive to her struggles. It may be helpful for her to speak with her doctor about her struggles with libido, if relevant, to see if an adjustment in her treatment plan may help.

12.

She's losing interest in you or the relationship.

Sometimes losing interest in sex with your spouse is a symptom of losing interest in the relationship overall. It's possible that your wife is no longer attracted to you or perhaps no longer interested in being married to you—though just note, a lowered libido alone is not necessarily indicative of a larger problem with the relationship.

What to do about it: Don't jump to conclusions. Open a conversation with your wife about how she's feeling about you and the marriage, big picture, and go from there. Maybe there are areas of your marriage to be worked on, maybe a little couples' therapy will make a big difference, or maybe it's time to consider whether this marriage is really worth holding on to.

13.

She's just not in the mood for sex.

Sometimes a married woman isn't interested in having sex with her spouse because she's simply not in the mood right now. And that's perfectly fine! It may not really mean anything bigger at all.

What to do about it: Remember that it's OK to not want sex with your partner sometimes. Accept her no lovingly, masturbate, and initiate again another day. If the lack of interest becomes an ongoing pattern, consider any of the above potential reasons.

Most importantly, talk to her about it! Only your wife herself can tell you the exact reason why she's not interested in having sex with you. 

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