# Is penis in vagina sex instinctive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 19, 2012, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491 "2012-11-19T10:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/1 "2012-11-19T10:51:46Z")
I’m pretty sure that a group of human infants raised in isolation by an android would masturbate and get up to other sex acts. But penis in vagina sex? Assuming no exposure to adults or porn or info that it is possible, would it just happen? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/2 "2012-11-19T11:17:46Z")
Well, it happened before a really long long long time ago. Also, other mamals seem to figure it out. I don’t think they learn that from their parents. Hunting yes, but not sex. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/3 "2012-11-19T11:44:35Z")
Yes. Maybe. We don’t really have a way of knowing without conducting some forbidden experiments. But in order not to do it instinctively we would have had to lose an instinct that once existed somewhere in our origins. That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that happens to successful species in the case of this particular instinct. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/4 "2012-11-19T12:17:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes. Maybe. We don’t really have a way of knowing without conducting some forbidden experiments. But in order not to do it instinctively we would have had to lose an instinct that once existed somewhere in our origins. That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that happens to successful species in the case of this particular instinct. It is possible that the instinct has been lost (replaced by external instruction). I know of a male dog that stood at stud. He had no instinct and plenty of years to learn the ropes. The only way he sired off spring was through intervention. It would be interesting to see if any of his off spring also ‘had no clue’… but I’m not close enough friends with the owner to ask such questions. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/5 "2012-11-19T12:20:08Z")
Good question. Some acts are instinctive in one species, taught in another. When you consider complicated actions, its often a mixture. Dogs for instance, must be taught to hunt, but they instinctively know to shake their prey to kill it. Cats on the other hand hunt instinctively, but must learn the head shake from their mothers. So intercourse in humans is likely the same way, with only parts of it being instinctual. Stimulation of the genitals seems pretty instinctive. Coupled with our ability for expression, our need to share and our endless desire to try new things, it seems likely that intercourse would be rediscovered each generation. After all, blow jobs probably are not instinctive, but they are not going extinct. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/6 "2012-11-19T12:34:22Z")
Well, I have had it happen sort of unintentionally. I was in bed with my girlfriend. We had had sex on previous occasions, but this time I was out of condoms and it was a risky time of the month for her, so we agreed not to do it. Rather foolishly, however, we still got into bed together, naked, and were cuddling, and somehow in the process it just slipped into her. I gave it a couple strokes, exerted great willpower and pulled out again. I can’t speak for her, but I swear I did not intend for it to go in. Little Peter just seemed to know the way on his own. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/7 "2012-11-19T14:09:16Z")
A possibly related issue: many animals seem to have a hard time reproducing in zoos. Is this due to biological problems with fertility, or due to the animals just not knowing how to -ahem- do it? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/8 "2012-11-19T14:22:05Z")
I would say that naked holding and ‘rubbing’ would happen, with a sticky-out part in very close proximity to a puttie-in part, so yes sex would happen. ---
**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 19, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/9 "2012-11-19T14:26:09Z")
Well, if it doesn’t occur, it certainly is extinctive. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/10 "2012-11-19T14:34:10Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > A possibly related issue: many animals seem to have a hard time reproducing in zoos. > Is this due to biological problems with fertility, or due to the animals just not knowing how to -ahem- do it? I have always assumed performance anxiety (What! With all those humans watching?), or just the wrong, unnatural conditions. I saw lions doing it in the L.A. Zoo once, though. They did not mind having an audience. ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/11 "2012-11-19T14:35:37Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Well, I have had it happen sort of unintentionally. I was in bed with my girlfriend. We had had sex on previous occasions, but this time I was out of condoms and it was a risky time of the month for her, so we agreed not to do it. Rather foolishly, however, we still got into bed together, naked, and were cuddling, and somehow in the process it just slipped into her. I gave it a couple strokes, exerted great willpower and pulled out again. I can’t speak for her, but I swear I did not intend for it to go in. Little Peter just seemed to know the way on his own. Would the “serious” way of saying this be to say that it’s mechanically favored? I’ve noticed the same thing. Perhaps that’s part of why kissing and cuddling are instinctual; they help correctly position the bodies. (Are kissing and cuddling instinct?) I’m also thinking that sex activities which don’t mechanically encourage penetration (oral sex, fetishes) are learned and not instinct. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/12 "2012-11-19T15:03:30Z")
How about couples who can’t conceive, then find out they’ve been doing it wrong? I’ve heard of one who was putting it in the urethra by mistake. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/13 "2012-11-19T15:17:24Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > How about couples who can’t conceive, then find out they’ve been doing it wrong? I’ve heard of one who was putting it in the urethra by mistake. :eek: What the hell was she doing to her urethra that it was big enough for a penis? (Or, alternately, how tiny was his penis?) The tube I use to drain a bladder is less than 1cm in diameter! I smell an urban legend. My first consensual partner and I couldn’t figure out how to get Tab A into Slot B. I’m no stranger to sex ed, but somehow I’d missed the part about pulling your legs up if you’re on bottom. I’m fleshy of thigh enough that it doesn’t work if my legs are straight, but that’s all I’d seen from Rated R movies. He didn’t seem to know that either. We enjoyed 2 years of outercourse instead. Probably for the best; the next boyfriend I had (not a virgin) got me pregnant our first time. :smack: So, uh…not instinctual for this specimen of the species. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/14 "2012-11-19T15:21:39Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > How about couples who can’t conceive, then find out they’ve been doing it wrong? I’ve heard of one who was putting it in the urethra by mistake. Oh my god. Have you ever looked at a woman’s urethra? Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/15 "2012-11-19T15:25:10Z")
I believe doggy style is instinctual. Long before I knew what sex was I found myself humping on a girl I was wrestling with, I was maybe 7 years old and we somehow got into the doggy position. It really stuck in my mind and stayed with me for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/16 "2012-11-19T15:46:52Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > How about couples who can’t conceive, then find out they’ve been doing it wrong? I’ve heard of one who was putting it in the urethra by mistake. What? I don’t believe it. That would be extraordinarily difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/17 "2012-11-19T15:54:33Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > … > Dogs for instance, must be taught to hunt, but they instinctively know to shake their prey to kill it. Cats on the other hand hunt instinctively, but must learn the head shake from their mothers… Cool fact. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Well, if it doesn’t occur, it certainly is extinctive. Pithy and nicely put. The syllogism is incorrect in general (can’t prove a negative). But I wonder in what limited cases in evolution it is correct. Evolution always seems to have a greater luxury–or mistaken assumption–of what I call the Ecce Homo defense, or better put (I think) the Ecce Vitus or, simply, the Ecce Factus defense, which scientific method tries to avoid as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/18 "2012-11-19T16:07:09Z")
Dogs do not have to be taught to hunt, a bird dog will automaticaly hunt birds from almost the time he is weened, a coon dog will hunt coon like animals. Sometimes you have to teach the dog what you want him to hunt but he hunts the way he hunts because it has been bred into him. Some dogs hunt by way of smell with their heads held high, while others put their noses to the ground and trail, others will hunt by sight. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/19 "2012-11-19T16:16:54Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > :eek: What the hell was she doing to her urethra that it was big enough for a penis? (Or, alternately, how tiny was his penis?) The tube I use to drain a bladder is less than 1cm in diameter! I smell an urban legend. > > My first consensual partner and I couldn’t figure out how to get Tab A into Slot B. I’m no stranger to sex ed, but somehow I’d missed the part about pulling your legs up if you’re on bottom. I’m fleshy of thigh enough that it doesn’t work if my legs are straight, but that’s all I’d seen from Rated R movies. He didn’t seem to know that either. We enjoyed 2 years of outercourse instead. Probably for the best; the next boyfriend I had (not a virgin) got me pregnant our first time. :smack: > > So, uh…not instinctual for this specimen of the species. [Not an urban legend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urethral_intercourse) (note second paragraph). I also remember reading about an occurrence in some book or magazine article many years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t remember enough to find a cite. A newly married woman complained to her doctor of extremely painful intercourse, and he discovered an intact hymen, and greatly distended urethra. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491/20 "2012-11-19T16:19:43Z")
Woman’s pussy gets wet by itself when she sees a hot guy, man’s dick gets hard by itself when he sees a hot babe. It does send a message to the brain that X organ is correlated with Y person, a pattern that would be impossible not to notice for even the most clueless. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-penis-in-vagina-sex-instinctive/641491.md?page=2)