Once Again Scientists Try, And Fail, To Explain The Female Orgasm
September 7, 2011 10 Comments
Scientists have been trying to explain the evolution of the female orgasm for a very long time. While the male orgasm is sort of a no-brainer (it makes men want to have sex so we all won’t go extinct), scientists can’t seem to figure out why women have orgasms. Apparently the idea that women should enjoy sex is not necessary for the survival our species. A recent survey has yet again failed to explain the mystery, but it did shed doubt on a rather sexist theory.
One widely held theory is that female orgasms are just a coincidental byproduct of male natural selection. I don’t really do science, but I think that means that men have more sex with women who orgasm, so over millions of years they are all that’s left. To test this theory, thousands of twins were surveyed to see how often and how easily they orgasmed. The study results did not match up with the theory’s expected results. The orgasm patterns suggested that different genetics affect male and female orgasms, so the male natural selection thing is BS.
Okay, enough science-talk. Female orgasms remain an evolutionary mystery. I think it’s pretty cool that our lady parts continue to dumbfound scientists. I’m of the mind that not everything has to be explained. Who cares why women orgasm? Can’t we all just celebrate the fact that we do?
Scientists, stop thinking so hard. Don’t try to explain our vaginas (or your own vaginas, in the case of female doctors). Instead, get out of that lab coat, go home and enjoy them!
Contact the author here: jennY@morningquickie.com
Why do we need an explanation?
I thought I read somewhere that when women orgasm it helps (for lack of scientific terms) pull the sperm inside??
‘Just for the crack’ nah seriously I read as the above commenter that the contractions help move sperm along into the uterus there by assisting conception chances….?
That only works if the couple orgasms at the same time but this is not the most common way for women to reach orgasm. In fact, it’s fairly rare.
Erm… Not as rare as you’d think..
You don’t have to orgasm at the same time for that to work, you can do it manually, but it has to be right after!
Considering that only 20 percent of women can orgasm from intercourse alone and if they can, they still have to get the timing right, I think it’s pretty rare for it to happen every time.
Orgasms sucking up the sperm was a common theory floating around, which was proposed by male gynecologists (of course). But when it was tested by Masters and Johnson it was found that orgasm did not produce the “up suck” that was expected.
thanks for the info
The origin of the female orgasm may very well lie in the fact that women who enjoyed sex, would seek out and have more sex and thus on average more offspring.
The female orgasm would thus be selected for.
But women with less frequent or no orgasm, would still be capable of having sex and producing offspring, so the trait for less orgasm would also still be around. But having an orgasm relies on so many more things than just having the capacity to experience it, so a twin study doesn’t sound like it’s very useful in this situation.
The fact female orgasm is called a by-product, is not because it’s not important to women, but it’s because it doesn’t have a direct purpose to our survival as a species. Male orgasm is directly linked to the excretion of sperm, and thus needed to reproduce.
To say ‘stop trying to explain our vaginas’ is ridiculous. Do you not want scientists to find out exactly how it all works so that when something goes wrong someone can explain to you what’s going on and how they can help? Expressing the desire to leave our reproductive organs to be the ‘great unknown’ doesn’t sound like a very feminist approach to me.
I don’t think it’s jennY’s feminist side that wants orgasms left unexplained, but her literary one. As Keats wrote:
Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?…
Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine -
Unweave a rainbow…
The idea that the female orgasm is left as a mystery has a lovely romantic ring to it, but, as with most romantic ideas, it is wholly impractical.
Thank God that for every woman with a pen there is another in a lab coat, dutifully unraveling the mysteries of the world to show us they are even more awesome than we could imagine.