All kinds of other possibilities occur to me, other than the “repressive hypothesis”. In no particular order:
Women actually were the hornier sex in antiquity, but something in the Western diet changed our hormone balance.
Women actually were the hornier sex in antiquity, but some disease (the Black Plague? syphilis?) selectively killed or rendered infertile the horniest women and/or the least-horny men.
The claim that women were the hornier sex acted as a justification for rape: “that slut wanted it!” writ large. Since women didn’t write the histories, we have no idea what they thought of this claim. As the status of women rose from near-slaves to near-equals over historical time, this claim has been increasingly untenable.
The claim that women were the hornier sex was reported by the tiny fraction of men who were literate, who also tended to be the highest-status, best providers, most well-spoken, most artistic, having the most leisure time, best-fed. In other words, among the ancients, the literate men (who wrote the histories, the plays, etc.) were by far the most attractive to women. We don’t have any records of whether illiterate ancient men, who were the majority of the population and who were less attractive, also believed that women were sexually insatiable.
All kinds of other possibilities occur to me, other than the “repressive hypothesis”. In no particular order:
Women actually were the hornier sex in antiquity, but something in the Western diet changed our hormone balance.
Women actually were the hornier sex in antiquity, but some disease (the Black Plague? syphilis?) selectively killed or rendered infertile the horniest women and/or the least-horny men.
The claim that women were the hornier sex acted as a justification for rape: “that slut wanted it!” writ large. Since women didn’t write the histories, we have no idea what they thought of this claim. As the status of women rose from near-slaves to near-equals over historical time, this claim has been increasingly untenable.
The claim that women were the hornier sex was reported by the tiny fraction of men who were literate, who also tended to be the highest-status, best providers, most well-spoken, most artistic, having the most leisure time, best-fed. In other words, among the ancients, the literate men (who wrote the histories, the plays, etc.) were by far the most attractive to women. We don’t have any records of whether illiterate ancient men, who were the majority of the population and who were less attractive, also believed that women were sexually insatiable.