A recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior suggests that the phrase “feeling sexy” is overwhelmingly used to describe women rather than men in published books. This provides evidence that women’s sexual experiences are frequently tied to the perception of being desired by others. The findings indicate that our everyday language rapidly evolves to reflect our underlying sexual interests and social roles. The authors behind the new research sought to better understand a psychological concept known as “object of desire self-consciousness.” This term describes the experience of perceiving oneself as romantically or sexually desirable in another person’s eyes. According to existing psychological models, this specific perception often acts as a powerful trigger for sexual arousal. The researchers wanted to know if language reflecting this concept tends to be heavily gendered. They focused on how these feelings fit into people’s sexual scripts. A sexual script is essentially a mental outline or set of internal expectations about how romantic or sexual events are supposed to unfold in a given culture. The research team suspected that …