# Biological significance of female orgasm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664 "2003-11-28T03:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brandy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Brandy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/1 "2003-11-28T03:37:08Z")
Hi all! Does any academic (biologist, antropologist, medic…?) out there know the biologic purpose, from an evolutionary perspective, of the female orgasm in humans? If its purpose is to make sexual activities pleasurable to the females, to presumably make them cooperate in the reproductive process, then why isn’t it designed so that it is more easily achieved during intercourse? Or has that gotten lost in our evolution, for example when we started walking upright? Is there any evolution-based reason why it generally is more complex for women to achieve orgasm than for men? Do any females among animals also achieve orgasm, or is sex a pleasure activity, not necessarily for reproduction, mainly among humans? Much thanks in advance for your help to (attempt to 🙂 ) solve this mystery! ---
**Author:** ![myles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@myles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myles)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/2 "2003-11-28T04:10:09Z")
There was a fairly interesting essay written on this subject by the late lamented Stephen Jay Gould, I can’t remember which of his books this was however, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Brandy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Brandy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/3 "2003-11-28T04:18:39Z")
Thank you so much, Myles! I searched on Gould on the web, and found both his hypothesis (that the female clitoris, and orgasm, is just there as a mirror organ of the mail penis and orgasm, just as men have nipples although they are just useful for women), as well as opponents to this theory (who claim that among other things, the female orgasm draws sperms into her body, thereby increasing the chance for fertilization). Now I have a thread to start following. Thank you!! ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/4 "2003-11-28T04:27:38Z")
Hmm… It was my understanding (I’m male) that sex without a clitoris wouldn’t be very much fun for her. Therefore it’s an organ of extreme evolutionary necessity. I’ve heard the theory that orgams causes contractions that basically cause the cervix to dip into any semen already in the vagina (I’ve seen video), thus helping conception along. However, this means that he has to come first, or that this is the second go 'round, **and** that she has to have an orgasm, **and** said orgasm leads to pregnancy. Does this combination happen often enough to make orgams a selected-for trait? Probably not by itself, I’d guess, but it’s also good enough to make her come back for more, which evolution always smiles upon. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/5 "2003-11-28T06:33:05Z")
Exactly. The orgasm has a very valuable survival trait - it feels damned good. Animals that have orgasms will have more sex and create more offspring to carry on their genes and crowd out others. I think the higher order animals have them as a replacement for the strictly instinctive mating urges of lower orders of animals. And once we started having them, they eventually evolved some extra functionality, such as the sperm dunk mentioned above. ---
**Author:** ![bb2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@bb2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb2000)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/6 "2003-11-28T13:07:35Z")
Anybody got any good ideas about why some women find it so hard to orgasm? Would that be considered an evolutionary ‘minus’ so to speak? Of course my curiosity is purely because I’ve never slept with a lady that hasn’t orgasmed. Or is that orgasmmed? \ Well thats what they told me … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/7 "2003-11-28T13:49:40Z")
My guess would be that, excluding women with actual physiological problems that cause a lack of orgasmitude, most women who find orgasm difficult to achieve are either victims of poor psychological programming (i.e. they were taught that sexual activity of any kind is wrong, dirty, etc. and thus believe on some level that enjoying it would be wrong), or just haven’t had the necessary type and/or amount of clitoral stimulation. But, never having been a non-orgasm-having woman, I can’t say for sure. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/8 "2003-11-28T17:39:38Z")
The idea behind the hard to please women is that it makes the man work harder. The idea is that it reduces the risk that the male will run off with lots of ladies and perhaps is a marker that the male has good genes (e.g. caring thoughtful) if he can induce orgasm. Female birds often require their mates to make nests before mating, this makes it more likely the male will stick around to look after the kid as it is too much bother to make another nest just for an another shag. As for non orgasmic women, it is just evolutionary variation or psychological problems ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/9 "2003-11-28T17:53:18Z")
It probably has to do with the same mechanism that allows some men to last longer than others. It’s interesting how what can be considered “dysfunctional” in one sex is preferred in the other. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/10 "2003-11-28T18:21:22Z")
Steven J. Gould argued (Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples) that female orgasm has not in itself been selected for, rather that females have a clitoris because males have a penis – much the same way that males have nipples because females do. This has a name which I can’t remember right now. E.g. male orgasm has been selected for, female orgasm is a simply a by-product of common ancestry at the embryo stage. Who said nature gives no free lunch clearly hadn’t heard about that theory. Also I don’t think I agree, but I’m not such a big hotshot as Gould so whadd’ya gonna do? - Rune [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212723](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212723) ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/11 "2003-11-28T20:38:42Z")
If the vast majority of women can’t have an orgasm by intercourse how did women 200,000 years ago have them? Were “cavemen” consulting “Dr. Ruth 70000 BC” on how to give their mates an orgasm? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/12 "2003-11-28T20:42:43Z")
Their orgasms aren’t network compatible, so they can’t have them. A quick search on Google should turn it up. Maybe if they returned the orgasm to the store they bought it from, they could get a refund. Winston, the word is “homologous.” ---
**Author:** ![DreadLead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@DreadLead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadLead)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/13 "2003-11-28T20:55:04Z")
Getting Off isn’t a significant enuff reason??? Woman aren’t so hard to pleeeze, just don’t be to hasty and be liberal with the tongue:D ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/14 "2003-11-28T21:10:56Z")
[ > [@](#): > > ]([http://my.webmd.com/content/article/4/1680\_51511.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}](http://my.webmd.com/content/article/4/1680_51511.htm?lastselectedguid=%7B5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348%7D))New research indicates that when a woman reaches orgasm at the time of ejaculation (but not before), **her orgasmic contractions also help to propel the sperm upward, toward the uterus**. However, if a woman reaches orgasm prior to ejaculation (during foreplay, for example), the contractions may help to keep the sperm away. Through the wonders of a tiny camera (and a hospital study), I have seen the glory of the female orgasm and its effects on the cervix. During orgasmic contraction, the cervix actually looks a lot like an undulating pseudopod. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/15 "2003-11-29T01:21:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. B \* > \*\*[url=http://my.webmd.com/content/article/4/1680\_51511.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}]Through the wonders of a tiny camera (and a hospital study), I have seen the glory of the female orgasm and its effects on the cervix. During orgasmic contraction, the cervix actually looks a lot like an undulating pseudopod. \*\* ooooo…undulating pseudopod…mmmm and I can just picture a room full of nerdy professors getting flushed faces and breathless when that’s brought up.😃 ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/16 "2003-11-29T01:52:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Icerigger \* > \*\*If the vast majority of women can’t have an orgasm by intercourse how did women 200,000 years ago have them? Were “cavemen” consulting “Dr. Ruth 70000 BC” > on how to give their mates an orgasm? \*\* Well, maybe 200,000 years ago, there wasn’t such a cultural taboo about women (or girls) touching themselves “down there.” The woman would know for herself that touching the clitoris felt good, so she probably told her mate to touch her there. ---
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/17 "2003-11-29T08:37:23Z")
I thought that males were just females that have been poisoned by testosterone in the womb. The penis and testicles are just a distended uterus and ovaries, meaning that the male orgasm is a function of a pre-existing female orgasm. We shouldn’t blame non-orgasm among females on the female but on her partner’s and her society’s inability to help her to this event. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/18 "2003-11-29T14:53:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by boofy\_bloke \* > \*\*We shouldn’t blame non-orgasm among females on the female but on her partner’s and her society’s inability to help her to this event. \*\* I disagree about the partner part. Everyone is responsible for their own sexuality. Or do you subscribe to the theory that “there are no impotent men, only clumsy women”? But I am prepared to blame society a bit. Even so, it still devolves down to individual responsibility. Say it with me: “I am responsible for my OWN orgasms!” 🆒 OK, granted not all the time you shouldn’t be. But for the fundamentals of one’s own sexuality, each person should bear primary responsibility. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/19 "2003-11-29T16:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chorpler \* > \*\*My guess would be that, excluding women with actual physiological problems that cause a lack of orgasmitude, \*\* Anyone else hear Prof. Frink’s voice and punctuations of, “Lavin!” ??? ---
**Author:** ![YourOldBuddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bc79bd/32.png) [@YourOldBuddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourOldBuddy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664/20 "2003-11-29T18:54:44Z")
I have been with two women who cant reach orgasm. One was pretty young at the time and she had never had one. Her family is very religious and she didnt masturbate, which according to female friends can help teach how to reach orgasm with a partner. She told me years later that she reached orgasm after having the same boyfriend for 1,5 years (having sex the whole time). The other one just didnt feel a thing with the clitoris. Then there is my Algerian female aquantance (sp?) who doesnt have a clitoris. Apparently nothing short of heavy machinery is required. I personally have a “hard time” reaching orgasm with girls I dont know very well. My genes are most definetly defective. My viking ancestors probably didnt leave many descendants wherever they raped and pillaged at the time. OT: My friend is married to a girl who is allergic to **every** type of birth control. She is also very fertile. She has 5 kids with 4 fathers. Good thing she is filthy rich. Talk about evolutionary significance of specific allergies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biological-significance-of-female-orgasm/215664.md?page=2)