Research has indicated that females require more sleep than males because they sleep deeper and fall asleep more quickly. You’ve probably heard that eight hours of sleep each night is ideal.
But TikTokers are calling it into question, saying the advice is rooted in research on men. “Us girlies need nine to 10 — minimum,” Alexa Simpson, who uses the TikTok handle @alexasimpson34 (218.6K followers), said in a video she posted. “Who has time for that?”
The video brought in nearly 945,000 likes and 8,742 comments, mostly from women who felt validated. “No wonder I’m still tired even tho I try to sleep 7-8hrs every night,” one follower posted.
It’s true that, historically, medical research has largely excluded women, and your sex can influence things like your likelihood of getting an accurate sleep disorder diagnosis and your ability to get high-quality sleep over the course of your life.[1]
But sleep experts say that when it comes to sleep duration needs, the difference between men and women from night to night is minimal.
Indeed, according to Shelby Harris, PsyD, a clinical psychologist in White Plains, New York, who is certified in behavioral sleep medicine, the notion that women require hours more sleep than men is “totally and completely untrue.”
Some research has, however, suggested that women fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply than men, which could mean they need more sleep or are more tired overall, the Sleep Foundation says.[3]
Research has also found that women tend to spend more time in bed. One paper looked at Census Bureau data from more than 70,000 people who kept a 24-hour diary (for just one day) and were also interviewed about how many hours and minutes they spent on various activities — sleeping, eating, working, driving, talking on the phone.[4] The survey also captured people’s household arrangements, such as whether they lived with a partner or children, and asked whether the person’s diary day was typical.
The data (collected between 2003 and 2007) showed that women reported sleeping, on average, about eight hours and 27 minutes a night while men got closer to eight hours and 16 minutes — a statistically significant, but small, difference of about 11 minutes.
