Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!seismo!uunet!mcsun!ukc!educ-isis!teexmmo
From: teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Evolution & female orgasm
Message-ID: <1991Feb26.154310.21676@ioe.lon.ac.uk>
Date: 26 Feb 91 15:43:10 GMT
References: <144759@pyramid.pyramid.com> <1991Feb21.194210.1665@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au>
Reply-To: teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore)
Organization: Institute of Education University of London
Lines: 41

In article <1991Feb21.194210.1665@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> u1365281@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au writes:
>I came in late on this, so I don't exactly know where it came from:
>
>>>>    But it seems really odd to think that women would have evolved a
>>>>physiological capacity for orgasm, but have evolved it in such a way
>>>>that it couldn't be triggered (except rarely) by practices that didn't
>>>>arise until the advent of civilization.
>>>   [ More stuff deleted ]
>>>
>>>>     Could most prehistoric women come to orgasm from penetration alone?
>>>>If so, why can so few modern women?  If not, did prehistoric people
>>>>augment penetration in a manner similar to our modern practices?  And if
>>>>prehistoric women mostly didn't have orgasm when mating, why did the
>>>>capacity for female orgasm evolve?
>>>>
>>      I beg your pardon, but why would you think that the advent
>>      of civilization is a pre-requisite for techniques, male or
>>      female applied, which can stimulate orgasm?   I rather
>>      doubt that the prehistoric females were any more tolerant
>>      of "me Tarzan, you Jane" male techniques than modern ones
>>      are.
>

I too am joining this discussion late, so apologies for any ground
retrodden...

Elaine Morgan considers the question of the female orgasm in 'Descent
of Woman' and in her later works on evolution.

She takes the view that easy 'natural' orgasm was lost when face to
face mating postures were adopted in preference to rear entry type
postions, because the parts stimulated during rear entry mating are
not stimulated during face to face mating. 
Then why not revert to rear entry mating then? Well unfortunately the
slope of the vagina has changed, and as a result, the pubic bone now
prevents effective stimulation of the appropriate area (the ventral
wall of the vagina).

Even if you dont agree with Morgan (the views presented here form part
of hte 'aquatic theory'), she writes well, and addresses the important
question 'why is sex so difficult' early on.