Individuals with a poor view of their body image may be sexually less comfortable and abstain from sexual activity all together. On the other hand it can also be the case that those who are dissatisfied with their body and it’s appearance, and by extension, feel that others are displeased with it, are more likely to engage in risky sexual acts. Any sexual opportunity, regardless of the health risks it may involve may be means of achieving positive feedback about the body. Such individuals may not refuse a sexual advance made by a potential partner or fail to demand use of protection.

This is especially true for women. We know that cultures place taboos, restrictions and associate women’s body with negative connotations such as ‘dangerous’, ‘polluted’, ‘weak’, ‘sinful’ etc. Women literally grow to dislike and regard their bodies with shame and guilt. The importance given to beauty and physical perfection as integral to femininity, adds to the burden of discomfort with and rejection of their own body. In fact the beauty industry makes all its money from making women feel they have a long way to go to ‘perfection’.

A positive evaluation of the body would therefore mean greater comfort and appreciation of the body, a higher self-esteem and less indulgence in risky sexual behaviour. In a recent Pennsylvania State Study on "Does Body Image Play a Role in Risky Sexual Behavior and Attitudes?" conducted among 434 first year college students, ages 17 to 19, involved in heterosexual relationship, it was found that sexually active women who had a positive evaluation of their appearance and body image were less likely to engage in ‘risky’ sexual behaviour.
The researchers found that in sexually active young women, the confidence from a positive body image, works to empower them to resist multiple partners and use their negotiating power for ‘safe’ practices like using a condom.

But what is truly interesting about the study is, that the association found between positive body image and sexual behaviour is inverted in men. It was found that males, with a more positive body image, tended to have many more lifetime sex partners and greater unprotected sex.

So unlike women, men’s sexual behaviour seemed to respond to positive body image in the opposite way. The researchers established that positive body evaluation provided an extra dose of confidence in sexual situations, which exemplified the existing stereotypical male gender role of sexual freedom, power and pleasure through multiple sexual partners and unprotected sex, irrespective of the risks involved. ‘Scoring with women’ is obviously high on the male ‘feel-good/well-being’ list.

Perhaps history has the right answers to this peculiar phenomenon. From as early as 6000 years ago, Mesopotamian kings at Sumer, and later at Assyria and Babylon, Egyptian pharaohs, Chinese rulers of the 8th century BC, Indian rulers beginning from the 5th century BC, Aztec rulers of Mexico, kings in Peru and the Arab rulers all kept thousands of concubines along with their married wives. Physical elegance, winning wars, wealth, power over the land and it’s people were markers of strength and masculinity but all this was not enough to ‘prove’ ‘manhood’. The strength of the numbers in the harems (doubtful that it involved actual sex with each and every woman in them) was what gave the kings/rulers the true branding of ‘masculinity’ and it rested squarely on sexual prowess.

Strange isn’t it that masculinity has hardly evolved much since then. Look around at the reigning cult today. Even now traditional monarchies, Sheikhs, feudal Lords etc have wives and mistresses galore. A John Abraham or an Arjun Rampal is not envied for his brain but the fact that his brawn draws women to him like flies. Power in the male world even today carries the trump card of how many women can the man entice. A power, which weighs heavy against money, fame and brilliance.

Young boys and men strive to build muscular bodies, imitate the body language and dressing style of popular heroes and models to get the ‘macho’, ‘cool’ or ‘rough and tough’ look. More and more boys and young men are becoming conscious about their body. Cosmetic, beauty and fashion industry have started catering to grooming men. All the grooming and (re) moulding of the body to attain different forms of masculinity however seems to be incomplete if it does not involve sexual ‘conquest’ and ‘risks’.

Lets look at some more specific instances. John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, charismatic men, former Presidents of the most powerful and wealthy nation United States of America, married to bright, smart and attractive women. Unlike most of the other US presidents both these men were ‘known’ for their good looks and both also carried the distinction of high profile sex scandals and affairs ‘in office’. The ‘risk’ behaviour (near suicidal in this case) displayed by Clinton with Monica Lewinsky, is a matter which has earned him quite a distinction in historical legacies.

Whereas if you look at beautiful and confident women like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Priety Zinta who are also very open about their relationship with men but ultimately perceive it within the context of intimacy, and durability rather than the number game of ‘scoring’.

This brings us to the question of what is positive body image? Is it merely satisfaction with physical appearance? Or does it inevitably translate into our sexuality?

No doubt media marketing has created a fetish around good looks, wealth and power and associated it with being sexy and wanted. Yet when it comes to women it does not seem to translate into sexual ‘scoring’ and one-night stands. For men it seems, masculinity still hangs on numbers and variety of sexual contacts. Virility still seems not only to be a central marker for masculinity but equally central to male ‘power’. Sexual safety, intimacy, emotional engagement and depth are obviously still areas where the male gender is trailing on the evolution scale.