Comments on: This Just In: Women Like Sex

By: Julian Morrison

Julian Morrison — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:51:11 +0000

Leah, evolution is a subtle thing, it doesn’t build attributes purposefully towards a goal, it just slaps together attributes that have the effect of getting the job done, often enough. So a system of sexuality that has the effect of working to produce a sufficient number of babies can have a ton of quirks – evolution doesn’t care, if they aren’t disadvantageous.

And I totally agree it’s nuts to ask “why” about liking sex.it’s harking back to the crazy days pre feminism when women were seen as seducers but non-sexual. (Which makes me wonder how crazily repressed a society has to get to not even _know_ women like it).

By: Véronique

Véronique — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:32:41 +0000

BTW, your spam filter is truly annoying! It doesn’t tell you what it objects to, of course, so you’re left to experiment. The difference here between the comment getting posted and not getting posted was that I eliminated a word before “intercourse.” Maybe there’s a maximum number of times you can use the word “sex” or a variant. :\

By: Véronique

Véronique — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:30:07 +0000

I don’t share your opinion of evolutionary psychology, since we are nothing if not the products of our long evolutionary history. But I agree that wanting more sex does not have to do with wanting babies. Babies are a byproduct of intercourse. Both men and women evolved to want sex for its own sake — because it feels good, because it creates social bonds, all the things you were saying. The trait was selected because it often results in reproduction and thus the passing on of the gene(s) for liking sex. Liking sex is evolutionary successful behaviour.

By: Leah B

Leah B — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:58:52 +0000

Of course it has to do with making babies. Seems pretty obvious to me how enjoying sex is a selective trait.

Women like it for the same reasons men do. And we’ve evolved it for the same reasons too.