The modern woman typically doesn't want sex, according to controversial Australian sex therapist Bettina Arndt.

At a recent women's conference, Arndt dispelled the myth that the 21st Century woman has a higher sex desire. In fact, she said it was quite the contrary, with most women dreading the idea of sex after an initial displaying of strong desire.

Arndt said that most women avoided sex, dreading the moment their partner asked them and that many would prefer to eat chocolate over having sex. Yet even though women may struggle to find the desire to have sex with their partner, she advised that they should "just do it".

"'Just do it' is not about women lying on their back and thinking of England," explained Arndt to her audience at the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network. The reasoning behind her popular phrase is based on a Canadian study which showed that though women lack spontaneous desire, they are likely to ignite some desire once they start making love. If this means setting a weekly date for sex with your partner, then Arndt suggests you should.

Arndt's 2007 publication The Sex Diaries punted her "just do it" philosophy after she chronicled the negotiations between couples around sex. She found that a vast number of women were likely to go off sex after the first few years of a relationship, leaving their partners in a sudden drought of intimacy.

"You can’t leave your partner craving intimacy as he or she will feel rejected, unwanted and unloved," she told her audience.

"Just do it" wasn't reserved for women, but is meant for anyone who is struggling to feel the desire to have sex.