The function of the female orgasm
This is something I wrote while I was at college about a year ago and it details some new research that has been published about the possible purpose of the female orgasm, which I think is pretty interesting... It's pretty dry and academic in tone and contains some fairly specialist language, but most of it should be pretty clear to most people. If anyone has a question or wants some more information on this kind of thing, mail me: mwall@netcomuk.co.uk Does the female orgasm have a function and, if so, what is it? The female orgasm, and indeed female sexuality in general, has been one of the most consistently debated areas in human behavioural ecology. For many years the field was characterised by a paucity of any real experimental evidence; largely because of the ethical and practical difficulties encountered in researching this area. However in recent years a number of studies have been published which go some way towards shedding some light on the possible adaptive significance of the female orgasm. In the history of the field there have generally been two diametrically opposed positions taken up by researchers. The first position holds that orgasm in females is of little or no adaptive
This argument contends that female orgasm actively facilitates conception by the sucking of the contents of the vagina into the uterus. Female orgasms occurring more than one minute before the male's ejaculation had no significant effect on sperm retention by the female. The ongoing debate concerning the conditions under which it may have evolved can be partially resolved by realising that it may have originally evolved as an adaptation for males, but the physiological potential has been exploited by females for a different purpose. They also examined the hypothesis that "female orgasm promotes preferential bonding with males who are capable or willing to invest" but found no indication that female orgasm is dependent upon male love or investment in the relationship. This point is also made by Hrdy (1981) who comments: "a physiological mechanism. It was found that orgasms occurring between copulations had a significant effect on the sperm retention of the next copulation, effectively reducing it. This is probably because the EPC's were conducted with males of lower FA (i. This suggests that "the upsuck mechanism continues to function for at least 1 min after the female subjectively first experiences the climax.
Common topics in this essay:
Baker Bellis,
Subsequently Hrdy,
University Mexico,
,
Baker Bellis's,
Masters Johnson's,
Naked Ape',
Margaret Mead,
Donald Symons,
female orgasm,
Randy Thornhill,
thornhill et,
sperm retention,
baker bellis,
et al,
female orgasms,
thornhill et al's,
et al's,
function female orgasm,
animal behaviour,
function female,
thornhill et al,
female orgasm indeed,
selective sperm retention,
fluctuating asymmetry,
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Acceptance Essays
