Human Nature & Sexuality - Essay Example

Philosophy – Human Nature & Sexuality Total Number of Words 446 Q Is Lloyd confusedabout evolutionary explanations? Explain with reference to the evolution of female orgasm. The writing of Elizabeth A. Lloyd focuses on the evolutionary explanation between the female sexuality and reproduction1 does not provide a direct evolutionary explanation that could easily enable the readers to clearly understand her point-of-view. First, the logic behind the author’s lengthy discussion with regards to the sexuality of the female animals2 as compared in the case of female human beings is not clear. It simply sounds irrelevant to make use of the female animal sexuality and reproduction as some of the scientific evidences or examples considering that the author herself acknowledged that the evolution of the human sexuality has a distinct characteristics or qualities that are found only on human beings.3 Even though the author clearly stated the differences between the sexuality and reproduction of female animals and human beings in the sense that the human sexuality is free from hormonal dictation4 which is contrary to the case of female animals, discussing the female sexuality and reproduction of the different animal species such as rhesus monkeys, baboons, rats and chimpanzees among others in the book could cause some of the readers to initially think that the author is trying to stress or point out some similarity between the animals and humans by trying to make a comparison between the case of the female animals and human beings in terms of their physical, biological and social aspects. For instance, the author included in her example that female monkeys are also capable of mounting other monkeys in order for these monkeys to experience orgasm by getting enough stimulation from the other monkeys without the need for copulation.5 Similar to these monkeys, men and women are able to experience sexual orgasm by simply stimulating their genitalia (penis and clitoris) without going through any sexual intercourse.6 Although the author did not directly mention the similar acts of humans with the animals’ sexual behaviour, providing these two examples in her writings is nonverbally suggesting that there is in fact a similarity between the two by nature. The fact that the author discussed some observational explanation on the sexual behaviour of these animals makes the validity of her statement questionable considering the fact that human beings would not accurately know whether or not the female animals are indeed experiencing orgasm such as in the case of some women who tries to fake their orgasm in order to please their husbands or mate. The author did mention that women are supposed to be free from any forms of hormonal dictates.7 This statement means that women are expected to experience the same level of sexual desire regardless of their menstruation or ovulation period. Contrary to her statement, the study conducted by Kinsey (1953), which the author included in her writing, found that as much as 59% of women have experienced a pattern of fluctuation with regards to their sexual desire during the period of their menstruation cycle.8 In line with Kinsey’s findings, around 11% of these women have experienced a peak point in their sexual desire during the mid-cycle wherein they are fertile. Some scientific studies also show that the peak of the women’s sexual desire is right before and after their menstruation period when these women are almost infertile.9 If the authors’ statement is acceptable, the findings of the scientific studies conducted in the past should not have findings claiming that some women experience the peak of their sexual desire close to their menstruation period or cycle. Some of the past evolutionary scientists such as in the case of Donald Symons (1979), believe that male and female equally experience orgasm because of the fact that both male and female have a common embryological form during their pre-developmental stage in their mother’s womb.10 Symons (1979) claims that in the absence of male orgasm, reproduction will never occur because of the fact that men cannot reproduce in the absence of ejaculation. The statement that men should have orgasm in order to get a woman pregnant is not scientifically acceptable since it is possible for men to ejaculate without experiencing sexual orgasm. Once a man becomes aroused, automatically he ejects some pre-ejaculated fluid that contains as much as 300,000 sperm.11 As a result, some men can still get a woman pregnant when they practice ‘pull-it-out’ strategy prior to ejaculation. Since men can get a woman pregnant even without experiencing sexual orgasm, it means the both men and woman are equal in the sense that both can procreate without experiencing sexual orgasm. There is really no scientific evidence that can prove that female orgasm highly correlates with the success of sexual reproduction. In fact, a lot of women can get pregnant even without experiencing female orgasm.12 For this reason, we cannot simply accept the argument of Symons with regards to his statement that “the female orgasm is not an adaptation.”13 Dr. Lloyd is also very much convinced with the theory of Dr. Symons – an anthropologist stating that the female orgasms are nothing but a simple artefact or a by-product of the parallel developmental stages in both the embryo of male and female during the first eight or nine weeks of life.14 Basically, all foetuses are female until such time that the chromosome XX or XY develops and dictates the gender of the baby. How is it possible that the female orgasm is considered as a simple artefact female orgasm is designed to make sexual intercourse and procreation more interesting? The author in this particular article did not mention any specific androcentric bias. Based on my own reflection with regards to the assumptions and strength of my argument, considering the male orgasm as the paradigm that explains the frequency of women orgasm during the sexual intercourse should not be considered as a generally acceptable way of explaining the evolution of the female sexual orgasm because of the biological and physiological differences between a man and a woman. The fact that not all women have the privilege of experiencing sexual orgasm is not enough reason for Dr. Lloyd to conclude that female orgasm is evolutionarily irrelevant or totally has no evolutionary function at all. In line with this matter, the author concludes that evolutionary biologists should try to examine a complex subject matter such as the female orgasm by considering all the different physical, cultural and environmental factors that could affect the evolution of female orgasm aside from the scientific-based explanations.15 With regards to the explanation given by Dr. Symons’ idea on the human physical structures that could enable women to achieve sexual orgasm based on the early developmental states of men and women, the author attempts to develop a significant connection between these developmental stages as well as with Darwin’s idea on the non-adaptive correlation of characters.16 For instance, the author concluded that the explanations behind the developmental views on women’s sexuality are not inconsistent with the clinical tests and explanations that have gone through an adequate scientific research studies.17 As a result, the author concluded that the use of Symons’ developmental explanations should not be considered as an alternative to adaptationist explanations because there is simply no scientific basis that could prove that there is any ‘natural’ restriction with regards to the female sexual activities.18 In line with this matter, the author also criticized the statement made by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy who strongly agree in the adaptative explanation of female sexuality; as well as Mina Caulfield who have accused the works of Symons to deny the ‘significance of female pleasure’ to be incorrect and misguided.19 *** End *** References: Barash, D. P. (2005). Let A Thousand Orgasms Bloom! . Evolutionary Psychology , 3:347 - 354. Kinsey, A., et al. (1953). Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. In Lloyd E.A. (eds) Pre-theoretical Assumptions in Evolutionary Explanations of Female Sexuality. Lloyd, E. A. (1993). Pre-Theoretical Assumptions in Evolutionary Explanations of Female Sexuality. Philosiphical Studies , 69:2/3:139 - 153. Lloyd, E. A. (2005). The Case of the Female Orgasm. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Singer, I., & Singer, J. (1972). Periodicity of Sexual Desire in Relation to Time of Ovulation in Women. In Lloyd E.A. (eds) Pre-theoretical Assumptions in Evolutionary Explanations of Female Sexuality. Stacey, D. (2007, August 10). Myths About Contraception. Retrieved February 13, 2008, from http://contraception.about.com/od/contraceptionmyths/tp/myths.htm Symons, D. (1979). The Evolution of Human Sexuality. In Lloyd E.A. (eds) Pre-theoretical Assumptions in Evolutionary Explanations of Female Sexuality. Thurley, P. (2005, May 19). Evolution and the Female Orgasm. Retrieved February 13, 2008, from http://dinnertabledonts.blogspot.com/2005/05/evolution-and-female-orgasm.html Read More