Female Orgasms: An Evolutionary Analysis

The Mystery of the Female Orgasm

Review of Puts et al. (2012), Why Women Have Orgasms: An Evolutionary Analysis.

Introduction

One of the greatest mysteries in human biology is that of the female orgasm; and like any mystery, humans want to solve it. However, what happens if there is nothing to solve? Some scientists believe that the female orgasm has a purpose, that is, it evolved for some adaptive function. Other scientists stress that there does not need to be a purpose to the female orgasm; it is simply a byproduct, or a spandrel, resulting as an indirect consequence of selection on something else (in this case, the male orgasm). This paper will incorporate the anti‐adaptationist ideas from Gould & Lewontin’s article, “The spandrels
(2012) argue against the byproduct hypothesis, claiming a lack of empirical support. They cite Gould and Lewontin 's (1979) influential anti‐adaptationist “Spandrels” paper to explain what is meant by the term byproduct, or spandrel. The female orgasm is a spandrel that arose as an indirect product of selection operating on another aspect of the phenotype; strong selection for a trait in one sex (the male orgasm) can maintain a vestigial form in the opposite sex. Gould himself was a supporter of the byproduct hypothesis, as he believed that the clitoris (the origin of female orgasm) is simply an underdeveloped penis resulting from an undifferentiated organ during embryonic development (Gould, 1992). Puts et al. on the other hand, assume an adaptationist stance to explain the female orgasm as a trait that has been shaped by natural selection for a particular function: increased fitness due to the female orgasm selecting for mates with good
As George C. Williams explains, “parsimony demands that we recognize adaptation at the level necessitated by the facts and no higher” (Williams, 1996). Puts et al. 's sire choice hypothesis requires many assumptions. First, they assume that sex (therefore orgasm) is linked to reproduction exclusively. They fail to recognize other explanations for sexual behavior (pleasure, power, and love, to name a few). Secondly, they assume that orgasm is unanimous among females: “Given that 90‐95% of Western women report having experienced orgasm, and some of the remainder are likely capable of doing so under more favorable circumstances… data do not refute the possibility that orgasm is a species wide capacity in normal women” (Puts et al., 2012). If female orgasm was indeed shaped by natural selection, there should be variability within the experience of the trait, and not unanimous, as the authors suggest. Third, in order for female orgasm to support the sire choice hypothesis, seven criteria must be met, including but not limited to: 1) orgasm promotes conception, 2) orgasm depends on male genetic quality of the mate, and 3) orgasm is more frequent near ovulation. Puts et al. demand too many assumptions of the female orgasm for the sire choice hypothesis to be parsimonious. Thus, the most parsimonious explanation for the female