[lbo-talk] evolution & the female orgasm: capitalism and men still suspect

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Wed Jun 8 14:58:48 PDT 2005



><http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7481>
>New Scientist - June 8, 2005
>Genes blamed for fickle female orgasm
>Rowan Hooper
<snip>
>[Tim] Spector's team asked more than 6000 female twins to fill out a
>confidential questionnaire about how often they achieved orgasm
>during intercourse and masturbation. They received 4037 complete
>replies, which included answers from 683 pairs of non-identical
>twins and 714 pairs of identical twins. The women's ages ranged from
>19 to 83, and about 3% were lesbian or bisexual.
>
>Only 14% of the women reported always experiencing orgasm during
>intercourse. Another 32% of the women reported that they were unable
>to achieve orgasm more than a quarter of the time, while 16% never
>achieved it at all. Comparing the results from identical and
>non-identical twins suggests that 34% of this variation in ability
>to orgasm during intercourse is genetic.
<snip>
>Unsurprisingly, more women were able to achieve orgasm through
>masturbation, with 34% saying they could always do so. However, the
>figure for those who could never achieve it was only slightly lower,
>at 14%. The analysis suggests that 45% of this variation is genetic.

I predict that Tim Spector's results will not be replicated, as they are so at odds with past research, especially concerning women's ability to reach orgasm through masturbation: e.g., "Of the 82 percent of women who said they masturbated, 95 percent could orgasm easily and regularly, whenever they wanted" (Shere Hite, "Why Is Female Masturbation Important to Understand?" <http://www.hite-research.com/artmasturbation.html>).

One of the problems of Spector's research is that his sample is rather old: "the average age of respondents was 50 years" (Kate M. Dunn, Lynn F. Cherkas, and Tim D. Spector, "Genetic Influences on Variation in Female Orgasmic Function: A Twin Study," Biology Letters, <http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/app/home/content.asp?wasp=ad773c0b588b47f982f98887fa83d4bc&referrer=contribution&format=3&page=1&pagecount=4> and <http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/media/F016UNXGXQ72MY13XXB0/Contributions/Y/8/D/X/Y8DX3869CB0CTXBX.pdf>, p. 2).

Here's a more useful study, though it would never garner as much media attention as the above twin study:

<blockquote>TABLE 2

Sexual Dysfunction by Race and Gender

Type of Sexual Dysfunction

No Interest in Sex Unable to Orgasm Sex Unpleasurable

% n % n % n Black female 42.8 142 26.6 84 28.9 91 Black male 20.0 41 11.4 23 13.9 28 White female 31.4 411 23.5 299 20.0 249 White male 14.5 160 7.4 80 6.9 74

Data presented in Table 2 . . . suggest that social position in a stratified society may shape sexual experience on a wider variety of levels. These data show that Black women report having had more negative sexual experiences during the past year than White women, Black men, or White men. Black women are more likely to report a lack of interest in sex, having unpleasurable sex, as well as inability to orgasm in the past year. White women and Black men also report more negative sexual experiences than White men. Clearly, White men do not appear to be characterized by such negative sexual experiences. In its entirety, the overall findings of this study lend support to the notion that sexual behavior and attitudes in the United States reflect patterns of dominance and inequality and that these dispositions are in turn structured by locations in the stratification order. (Alicia M. Gonzales and Gary Rolison, "Social Oppression and Attitudes toward Sexual Practices," Journal of Black Studies 35.6, <http://jbs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/35/6/715.pdf>, July 2005, p. 725)</blockquote> -- Yoshie

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