What do women want? The verdict is in - more sex, freedom, and not necessarily children

An oft-repeated stereotype – the offensively rhetorical question, “What do women want after all?” – finally looks like it's going to be obsolete, for women have always known what they wanted, and now, they aren’t afraid to voice it. A recent nationwide survey has ascertained that women aren’t chasing attractiveness or money (if this surprised you, you have a problem), but simply want sex and sexual liberation, liberation in general, and they don’t necessarily want to be mothers or start a family.

The survey, conducted as part of an ongoing research venture ‘The Compatibility Project’ by GreenThumbs’ research team in collaboration with Psyft.com, actually aimed at studying couples’ compatibility but threw up some interesting insights about women’s personalities and evolving needs, and what they want out of their partners. The 3097 male and female respondents ranked 33 parameters on a scale of 0 to 10.

Their research established a growing assertiveness, expressiveness and vocality among women about their desires. The survey confirmed that a majority of women – and more women than men – need their partners to have a substantial sex drive and desire for intimacy. And this pattern only becomes more pronounced as age increases. The desire for raising family seems to be falling out of favour, with both men and women, across age groups, ranking it low.

“We found some really interesting revelations around two important factors – finances and communication. People do not seem to be bothered much by how rich or poor someone is at the time of getting together, but once they are in a relationship, it becomes vital that both partners have similar financial choices vis a vis saving, spending habits, etc.This is true for both genders. Even when it comes to communication, people don’t attach much value to how skilled a communicator their partner is, as long their partner’s communication style matches or suits their own,” says Dr Neha Manchanda, Director, GreenThumbs.

Open-mindedness also became among the top five qualities women value in a partner, while for men, it is less of a concern. On the contrary, for men, their’s partner’s ability to function well in a family unit is paramount. For women, positivity and a caring attitude are of prime importance.

“Attitude towards sharing responsibility” emerged as the top couple compatibility factor with 50% of the participants scoring it ‘9’ or above. Conflict Resolution Style (48%) and Financial Choices (36.5 percent) rank second and third respectively, across gender & age groups.

Surprisingly, in a country where products like “fair & lovely” are still alive and kicking, physical attractiveness was the lowest priority for both men and women in their partners.