Why Do Women Have Orgasms?

I read (and for the life of me I can't remember the publishing) that the female orgasm helped facilitate conception. The article, like this one, spoke on the seeming absent contribution of an orgasm to the biological act of reproduction. It went on to state that the quick and repetitious muscle contractions were thought to help move the sperm towards the egg. I can't speak on the validity of this article (since I can't remember the source), but it seemed a plausible physiological explanation.

I am a very lucky female. I have orgasms very easily. Tipically 10 or more during intercourse. Also, after ejaculation; ejaculatory contractions make me orgasm...
I think the point of female orgasm is that if a female has great pleasure in intercourse, she will want to have sex more, right? It is obvious. Women who can´t have orgasms are not likely to be as interested in sex as me.I bet most only do it to please their mates.

I've often pondered the idea that orgasm helps women secure a more apt mate through several mechanisms.

For one, the greater difficulty women have reaching orgasm is beneficial in the sense that it does not reward promiscuity, which in the ancestral environment would have been very dangerous for women. Ending up pregnant with an uninvested male who can easily abandon you is NOT GOOD in a major way. Let alone the actual danger of childbirth.

Once she is convinced to have sex, a woman will notice that a man who is not heavily emotionally invested in her has a more difficult time helping her achieve an orgasm, and is therefore a less enjoyable and desirable lover. He's also a less desirable mate, since he'd probably be less inclined toward sharing his resources with her. He'd also be a less desirable father, if his main focus is himself.

I am a true believer in Evolutionary Psychology, but I find that most scientists get too bogged down in the male view of reproduction to see the whole picture. Reproducing is worthless when your babies die in childhood. The mother has to find a father willing to commit, provide and protect, or it is all for naught.

Why assume that female orgasm serves the same evolutionary purpose for every species? Camels spit and humans spit. Do they both spit for the same reason? Birds regurgitate, as do cows, as do humans. Does regurgitation serve the same function for all three species? Clearly not. Human females are cryptic ovulators; chimpanzee females are not. Perhaps, for chimpanzees, female orgasm promotes sperm competition; whereas, for humans, female orgasm(along with cryptic ovulation)promotes pair-bonding.

I think its the nature of evolution-minded theorists to be confounded by evolution period without even the need to mention female orgasm. Maybe this is because they choose to stand outside evolution as if it has nothing to do with them. As long as there is the view that we (humans) "come INTO this world" when what is closer to reality is that we "come OUT OF this world" then this will suggest the consciousness of an evolution-minded theorists, and the rest of us, is alien.

is irrelevant. Tantric practice elevates orgasm/pleasure to the level of the highest prayer and connection with the divine.

We might better ask why more women don't have orgasms and why when I gave a talk on human sexuality to a women's studies class a few years ago, over half the young women didn't know what the clitoris was - or the book Our Bodies, Our Selves.

This post offers much to weave with. I'll address women's pleasure in one of my next posts on She Bets Her Life. I've often suspected that there is a connection between a pleasure-barren life and addiction.

Mary, the why is important and interesting to other folks. I'm annoyed that your comment serves only to plug a post you haven't even written yet, and that is not actually on the same topic. You've overstepped.

as you will see, SacredNature, I responded almost immediately to Christopher. I wasn't plugging my post. A few of the other bloggers and I are consciously weaving communication with each other an the readers. was honoring Chris Ryan's post. Be glad to communicate with you about this. My email is shegetsherlife@gmail.com.

It raises the possibility of a post on the deep ethics of posting. Thank you.

Research into female sexual behavior runs quickly into a wall of fallacy, lies, some reflecting basal academic misogeny, others, the intentional patriarchal and religious censorship enforcing terror for the purposes of social engineering and population control.

Orgasms have been selected for and function beyond their presumed purpose. Presumbably a purpose of pleasure to reward sexual engagement and encourage copulation, the prerequite to reproduction, as a positive experience,
and to affirm mate choice.

Of course the nerve mass granting heightened sensitivity of the genital area, serves or might serve as a sensor that cues the brain in decision making, and eases birth, menstrual discomfort...

You mentioned the fact that men typically orgasm with more frequency than women and perhaps this too serves as a mechanism to increase sexual interest. Since intermittent reinforcement is the hardest to extinguish, maybe the fact that women are usually unable to always reach orgasm actually increases the frequency they engage in sex.

I suppose this wouldn't explain why males almost always experience orgasm, but just a thought! Interesting article, well done!

There's a huge variability in women's orgasm patterns, which in itself may indicate different evolutionary strategies evolving in parallel. Of course, orgasm is a reward for doing reproductive work, which is why it won't go away even if the more orgasmic women might (statistically) be more promiscuous too, and therefore might have somewhat lesser protection of their children.

Or maybe sex is (also) part of group bonding mechanisms (bonobos?) so that orgasmic and non-monogamous actually might lead to a more safe position. At least in some cultural settings - had this been an important genral selection criterion, I think we should have had an higher incidence of "naturally" multi-orgasmic women. The female orgasm is a reward for the male, too.

That so many women have problems getting orgasm from penetration, could indicate that female sexuality has evolved in part independently from coital sex? Maybe development of human sexuality has been more dominated by women's choices and preferences than we realize? Our species-wise large penises for example - not selected for the joy of men, I think.

The female orgasm is as much or more a matching phenomenon as a mating one. Women have always had flings or longer relationships with sexually and/or emotionally more adept males, more or less regardless of their spouses/daily partners - as have men. Orgasm can much more be regarded as a reward for such pleasure-seeking, extra-marital activity than for monogamy: There are risks involved, and if there is no immediate reward, it's safer to stick with the spouse.

There is a long-term reward, however: Reproducing in several combinations gives the woman's genes better chances of spreading, as long as the offspring is cared for. In particular if the extra contributor is more attractive and sex-positive than the daily provider.

But this larger degree of "sex-positivity" will also - on the average - benefit the primary relationship. It's just not mandatory for that relationship to work. Which, I think, is why so many women are able to become or stay alienated to their own sexuality. But there maybe another important evolutionary factor here, too: Women who are not so easily "turned on", may apply harder quality criteria to their relationships, with much less inclination to build on sand.

All this ambiguity prepares the scene for the second act: The human as a partly self-invented social construction with sexuality an important, and highly deveoped, part.

Let me boil the answer down to simple words.

If a female human was not capable of having an orgasm, she would NEVER engage in intercourse... EVER.

End of story.

Female promiscuity (distinct from above average sexual activity with a single mate) is a stupid reproductive strategy, though its other advantages are also stupid.

That picherr of the monkey is so fucking gross. Just sayinn.

First of all, to the person who said that women would never have sex if they didn't have orgasms... seriously? Women across the world have sex everyday without reaching orgasm. Ever heard of faking it? That expression exists for a reason.

Second, Why would someone thing we developed orgasms as a way to partner bond? Seriously? Why then would women be so much more able to have multiple orgasms than men? Wouldn't that instead suggest that we were instead meant to have multiple partners by such things. You could go on with many male partners, and achieve such sensations over and over again... makes more sense than getting it once with one partner, and wasting the ability for multiple orgasms. Scientifically speaking of course.

When the shoe fits... wear it.

Orgasm is something like coffee... there's no bad one.

So, when the orgasm fits... have it.

Don't blame a woman for not having an orgasm every time; don't blame men for not helping their woman to orgasm every time; don't blame men for often having an orgasm, when the woman has not been able to have one. And, don't blame women who need a man to assist them to have an orgasm.

And, cheer the women who have them "at will".

I grew up in a strict christian home where sex was not discussed 1973-1991. My curiousity of sex led me to expirement one encounter each year for 5 years until I decided that sex was a pleasure similar to that of a warm bath or a warm brownie. I was in a hurry to move away from my parents so married a man who fit my check list. He had slept with 30 women and I had been with 5 so I wanted to catch up and see what I was missing out on. I believed that a orgasm should be breathtakingly wonderful and at 23 I had yet to achieve such pleasure. Similar to the previous story entitled, "She didn't get the kind of sex she wanted." I had a longing to experience ultimate pleasure. Over a course of 5 years I searched for a orgasm with 120 men and I found 6 that satisfied me. It required finding someone that placed the same high priority on sex as I did. My husband said, "Well if you don't like the way I do it why should I bother trying. At least one of us can orgasm." I believe he was too easily discouraged to learn how to improve and his rush to have his orgasm led to my unfaithfulness and our divorce.

I am very discriminating with penis size, taste and body smell in my decision to form a relationship or not.

I would love to write a book called the encylopedia of penis'.

I lost my sex drive after my 2nd child. Nutrition gave me my sex drive back. I am not plugging a brand. I am simply stating that there is something in these ingredients that made me want to have sex. This pill felt as if someone grabed my numb crotch and said WAKE UP! The pill restored my body to its natural state. I just needed a jump start. My hypothesis is NUTRITION can AID ORGASM.

Salvia officinalis (Sage leaf), Rubus idaeus (Red raspberry leaf), Isoflavones from Pueraria montana (kudzu root extract) and Trifolium pratense (red clover extract), Capsicum annuum (Capsicum pepper) , Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice root), Morella cerifera (Bayberry fruit), Turnera diffusa (Damiana leaf), Valeriana officinalis (Valeriana root), Zingiber officinale (Ginger root), Actaea racemosa (Black cohosh root).

mymelissa121@gmail.com

Ever thought about geological time? Obviously you don't even do logic, since by your own unscientific logic, orgasms would be achieved solo.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember learning that all organisms start out female; it is the introduction of hormones during fetal development (driven by genes, obviously) that differentiates us into male/female. This is the reasoning behind all the parallels in our physiology: men have nipples, the female clitoris is the same group of cells found in the male penis(?), etc.

So... if we all start out female and some of us become male, then shouldn't the line: "some women have orgasms sometimes because all men do every time" be reworded as "men have orgasms because women can"? ;-)

That said, it is absolutely important to relax with the process and not try so hard to achieve climax. The brain has been described by some as our largest sexual organ; the mind-body connection should not be ignored. Some people of both sexes can orgasm simply by vividly imagining a sexual encounter (in fact, I would venture to say that we can all learn to do this). And, similarly, from everything I've heard over the years (not a scientific survey, granted), the best (most orgasmic?) sex comes from pairings in which the partners are focused on each other, relaxed, and simply enjoying themselves. Worrying too much about body image, what your partner thinks of you, whether you're going to conceive - all that can interfere. And not just for women - some impotent men improve by learning to relax.

As noted in the article, there are cultural differences, which to my mind backs up the psychological aspect; women in the more repressed societies (i.e. America) don't orgasm as frequently because they've been conditioned to believe they shouldn't be enjoying it (or whatever).

Just some thoughts. :-)

The grand tradition of misogyny in the sciences continues.

It seems relatively simple to me. Just as levels of beauty seem superfluous on the surface, thought reveals that beauty is an attractive force developed to stimulate the reproductive process. In the same way, the orgasm is essentially an incentive for women to have sex and, subsequently, reproduce.

Thinking of a penis as an overgrown clitoris puts it all together. Women, how would you feel if your clit were massaged as fully as a penis is during intercourse? Women might come as often as men! And as quick.

Dear Dr. Ryan,

In a couple places you suggest that it is now understood that non-human females do experience orgasm and even indicate that it is possible to distinguish female orgasm frequency among promiscuous and non-promiscuous species.

Could you pass along the references to empirical data which support this 'fact'? This topic was that of my doctoral dissertation in 1977. I may have missed publications of empirical evidence and would love to see it. Behavioral manifestations of non-human female orgasm are interesting but not conclusive and are most difficult to establish operationally.

Also, I have a some unpublished data I gathered at the Laboratory of Comparative Ethology (NICHD - Lab Chief is Steve Suomi) which clearly show extreme intra-uterine pressure changes in the rhesus female during copulation and which are most salient around ejaculation. A document with a graphic is on my web page "My Research" http://academic.uprm.edu/~ephoebus/id28.htm.

Eric Phoebus