Female orgasm, reproduction and couple relationships
Authors:
Z. Pastor
Authors‘ workplace:
Gynekologicko-porodnická klinika 2. LF UK a FN Motol, Praha
Published in:
Ceska Gynekol 2024; 89(1): 52-55
Category:
doi:
https://doi.org/10.48095/cccg202452
Overview
A deficit or problematic achievement of female orgasm is often classified as a sexual disorder that creates complications in the sex life of couples. This assumption is generally accepted, even though vaginal anorgasmia is an accepted statistical norm and non-coital methods of generating female orgasm are not as easy as they are for men. Female orgasms manifest themselves in different ways; they are variable and can be dependent on a number of variable factors. Some theories suggest a high degree of correlation between the capacity for orgasmic experience, sexual attitudes and behaviour, but also with reproductive potential or the stability of the given couple’s relationship. Female orgasm is often seen as a discriminatory mechanism influencing attitudes towards sexuality or even as a kind of fertility catalyst. There is no consensus on the importance of female orgasm. The results of some relevant studies refute theories about the female orgasm’s positive influence on adaptive functions of the couple’s relationship, as well as its influence on fertility. The orgasm in women is most likely an evolutionary by-product of its male variant, since the clitoris and penis have an identical embryonic basis of development. Female anorgasmia should not be considered an unquestioned diagnosis, let alone a psychiatric construct leading to a paradigm in which anorgasmia is categorically the cause of frustration or other problems.
Keywords:
reproduction – Sexual dysfunction – orgasmic disorder – orgasm – clitoris
Sources
1. Zietsch BP, Miller GF, Michael Bailey J et al. Female orgasm rates are largely independent of other traits: implications for “female orgasmic disorder” and evolutionary theories of orgasm. J Sex Med 2011; 8 (8): 2305–2316. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02300.x.
2. Lloyd EA. The case of the female orgasm: Bias in the science of evolution. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press 2005.
3. Pastor Z. Ženské sexuální dysfunkce. Ceska Gynekol 2002; 67 (6): 384–390.
4. Pastor Z, Jonášová M. Co přinesla nová klasifikace MKN-11 v kategorizaci ženských sexuálních dysfunkcí? Ceska Gynekol 2022; 87 (6): 432–439. doi: 10.48095/cccg2022432.
5. World Health Organisation. ICD-11 for Mortality and morbidity statistics (ICD-11 MMS). World Health Organisation: Geneva. 2018 [online]. Available from: https: //icd.who.int/browse 11/l- m/en.
6. American Psychiatric Association. DSM-5: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Press 2013.
7. Graham CA. The DSM diagnostic criteria for female orgasmic disorder. Arch Sex Behav 2010; 39 (2): 256–270. doi: 10.1007/s10508-009-95 42-2.
8. Dawood K, Kirk KM, Bailey JM et al. Genetic and environmental influences on the frequency of orgasm in women. Twin Res Hum Genet 2005; 8 (1): 27–33. doi: 10.1375/1832427053435 427.
9. Burri AV, Cherkas LM, Spector TD. The genetics and epidemiology of female sexual dysfunction: a review. J Sex Med 2009; 6 (3): 646–657. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.011 44.x.
10. McCool ME, Zuelke A, Theurich MA et al. Prevalence of female sexual dysfunction among premenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Sex Med Rev 2016; 4 (3): 197–212. doi: 10.1016/ j.sxmr.2016.03.002.
11. Ishak WW, Bokarius A, Jeffrey JK et al. Disorders of orgasm in women: a literature review of etiology and current treatments. J Sex Med 2010; 7 (10): 3254–3268. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-61 09.2010.01928.x.
12. Levin RJ, Both S, Georgiadis J et al. The physiology of female sexual function and the pathophysiology of female sexual dysfunction (Committee 13A). J Sex Med 2016; 13 (5): 733–759. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2016.02.172.
13. Judson OP. The case of the female orgasm: bias in the science of evolution. Nature 2005; 436: 916–917.
14. Levin RJ. The human female orgasm: a critical evaluation of its proposed reproductive functions. Sex Relatsh Ther 2011; 26 (4): 301–314. doi: 10.1080/14681994.2011.649692.
15. Basanta S, de la Rosa LN. The female orgasm and the homology concept in evolutionary biology. J Morphol 2023; 284 (1): e21544. doi: 10.1002/jmor.21544.
16. Meston CM, Hull E, Levin RJ et al. Disorders of orgasms in women. J Sex Med 2004; 1 (1): 66–68. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2004.10110.x.
17. Buisson O, Jannini EA. Pilot echographic study of the differences in clitoral involvement following clitoral or vaginal sexual stimulation. J Sex Med 2013; 10 (11): 2734–2740. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12279.
18. O’Connel HE, Sanjeevan KV, Hutson JM. Anatomy of the clitoris. J Urol 2005; 174 (4): 1189–1195. doi: 10.1097/01.ju.0000173639.388 98.cd.
19. Briken P, Matthiesen S, Pietras L et al. Estimating the prevalence of sexual dysfunction using the new ICD-11 guidelines – results of the first representative, population-based German Health and Sexuality Survey (GeSiD). Dtsch Arztebl Int 2020; 117 (39): 653–658. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2020.0653.
20. Parish SJ, Meston CM, Althof SE et al. Toward a more evidence-based nosology and nomenclature for female sexual dysfunctions – part III. J Sex Med 2019; 16 (3): 452–462. doi: 10.1016/ j.jsxm.2019.01.010.
21. McCabe MP, Sharlip ID, Atalla E et al. Definitions of sexual dysfunctions in women and men: a consensus statement from the fourth international consultation on sexual medicine 2015. J Sex Med 2016; 13 (2): 135–143. doi: 10.1016/ j.jsxm.2015.12.019.
22. Basson R, Althof S, Davis S et al. Summary of the recommendations on sexual dysfunctions in women. J Sex Med 2004; 1 (1): 24–34. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2004.10105.x.
23. Levin RJ. Can the controversy about the putative role of the human female orgasm in sperm transport be settled with our current physiological knowledge of coitus? J Sex Med 2011; 8 (6): 1566–1578. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-61 09.2010.02162.x.
24. Puts DA, Welling LL, Burriss RP et al. Men‘s masculinity and attractiveness predict their female partner‘s reported orgasm frequency and timing. Evol Hum Behav 2011; 33 (1): 1–9. doi: 10.1016/jevolhumbehav.201103 003.
25. Lloyd EA. Response to Puts and Dawood’s “the evolution of female orgasm: adaptation or byproduct?” – Been there. Twin Res Hum Genet 2006; 9 (4): 603–608. doi: 10.1375/183242 706778025044.
26. Levin RJ. The mechanisms of human female sexual arousal. Annu Rev Sex Res 1992; 3: 1–48. doi: 10.1080/10532528.1992.10559874.
27. Levin RJ. Sexual arousal – its physiological roles in human reproduction. Annu Rev Sex Res 2005; 16: 154–189.
28. Baker RR, Bellis MA. Human sperm competition: copulation, masturbation and infidelity. London: Chapman & Hall 1995.
29. Bullough V. Science in the bedroom – a history of sex research. New York: Basic Books 1994.
30. Brody S. The relative health benefits of different sexual activities. J Sex Med 2010; 7 (4 Pt 1): 1336– –1361. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.20 09.01677.x.
31. Zietsch BP, Miller GF, Bailey JM et al. Female orgasm rates are largely independent of other traits: implications for “female orgasmic disorder” and evolutionary theories of orgasm. J Sex Med 2011; 8 (8): 2305–2316. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02300.x.
32. Freud S. Three essays on the theory of sexuality. London: Hogarth Press 1905.
33. Masters WH, Johnson VE. Human sexual response. Boston: Little, Brown and Company 1966.
34. Trávník P. Klinická fyziologie lidské reprodukce. Praha: Grada Publishing 2022.
Labels
Paediatric gynaecology Gynaecology and obstetrics Reproduction medicineArticle was published in
Czech Gynaecology
2024 Issue 1
Most read in this issue
- Ultrasound finding of endometrial polyp and factors increasing risk of malignancy
- Diagnostika a léčba endometriózy
- Importance of vaginal packing after laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy – retrospective study
- Birth plan – legal and medical aspects