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In our previous article we gave you five out of ten incredible sex and orgasm facts, as presented by the “Bonk” author, Mary Roach in her witty TED Talk. You found out that a fetus can masturbate in the uterus even though a human being doesn’t need genitals or a functioning brain to have an orgasm, which in turn can either cause bad breath or cure hiccups. You’re welcome!
Now it is time for even more incredible sex facts and all the things you did not know about orgasm.
Sex fact no. 6: Doctors once prescribed orgasms for fertility.
In the early 1900s, a lot of gynecologists trusted the so-called “upsuck” theory. It stated that when a woman has an orgasm, the contractions serve to suck the semen up through the cervix and deliver it directly to the egg, thereby upping the odds of conception.
In ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, doctors such as Hippocrates believed that female orgasm was not just helpful for conception, but actually necessary. Physicians back then were routinely instructing men on the importance of pleasuring their wives. Kind of “no fun no baby” sort of thing.
Marriage-manual author and semen-sniffer Theodoor van De Velde has a line in his book. It supposedly comes from the Habsburg Monarchy, from the time of the empress Maria Theresa, who was having trouble conceiving. Apparently the royal court physician said to her, “I am of the opinion that the vulva of your most sacred majesty be titillated for some time prior to intercourse.”
We can only assume that the royal husband, Franz Stephan von Lothringen, followed this advice, because empress Maria Theresa ended up giving birth to 16 children, while simultaneously ruling the country. Her vulva must have been in amazing condition.
Two scientists in the 1950s tried to disprove the ‘upsuck theory’. Masters and Johnson were upsuck skeptics – they didn’t buy it. So they decided to get to the bottom (or better to say to the uterus) of it. Both scientists brought a few women into the lab and outfitted them with cervical caps containing artificial semen.
You may be wondering, “How do you make artificial semen?” Fairly easily! You can use flour and water, or cornstarch and water. Mary Roach reported finding three separate recipes in the literature, her favorite being the one that says something similar to “Yield: two dozen cupcakes.” – except that this one said, “Yield: one ejaculate.”
Anyway, the artificial semen used by Masters and Johnson was a radio-opaque substance, such that it would show up on an X-ray. Well, in the 1950s such scientific experiments were allowed. Female participants sat and masturbated in front of an X-ray device. Masters and Johnson looked to see if the semen was being sucked up. Did not find any evidence of upsuck. None.
There is, however, another way that orgasm might boost fertility, but this one involves men. Sperm that sit around unused for a week or more start to develop abnormalities that make them less effective at a race for the egg. British sexologist Roy Levin has speculated that this is perhaps why men evolved to be such enthusiastic and frequent masturbators. He said, “If I keep tossing myself off I get fresh sperm being made.” Which definitely is an interesting theory as well as an evolutionary excuse for men to jack off in the name of sperm quality. Gentlemen, you are welcome!
Sex fact no. 7: Pig farmers believe orgasms lead to more piglets being born.
There is considerable evidence for upsuck during orgasm in the animal kingdom. Pigs seem to be great at “upsucking” sperm. The Danish National Committee for Pig Production found out that if you sexually stimulate a sow while you artificially inseminate her, you will see a six-percent increase in the farrowing rate. So the Committee for Pig Production came up with the five-point stimulation plan for the sows, providing both posters and DVDs for farmers eager to increase the number of piglets.
Such farmers must do things with their hands that the boar would do using his snout, lacking hands. And mind you, a boar has a very odd courtship repertoire. First it jumps on a sow, and so must the farmer, to mimic the weight of the boar and then continue with titillating her vagina.
Shy but ambitious pig farmers can purchase a sow vibrator, that hangs on the sperm feeder tube. You should know – the clitoris of a pig is inside the vagina, not next to it.
Interestingly, the sow doesn’t look to be in the throes of ecstasy, but one can’t make that conclusion, because animals don’t register pain or pleasure on their faces in the same way that humans do. Pigs, for example, are more like dogs. They use the upper half of the face; the ears are very expressive. So the farmers are not really sure what’s going on with the pig. They just stimulate the vulvas and hope the pig gets happy enough to produce more piglets.
Sex fact no. 8: Animals orgasm more than we think they do.
Ah, the age-old question. When animals are going at it like, uh, animals, how does it end? Is there an animal version of the Big O?
Unlike humans, animals cannot tell us they’re having orgasms. They do not use words or mimic, so we can’t truly know what their experience is like. For the most part, we assume that male animals orgasm because there’s an ejaculation. Though one can happen without experiencing pleasure, they usually go hand-in-hand (or something in hand). The question of female orgasm is, as usual, more hotly contested.
All female mammals have a clitoris, the sole purpose of which is to react to sexual stimulation, and presumably this stimulation has evolved to be pleasurable for most species.
Scientists can infer that animals – mostly primates – orgasm through recording physiological or behavioral aspects, like muscle contractions or changes in vocalization. Female pigs, cows, chimps and macaque monkeys have all been stimulated in the lab to the point of experiencing vaginal and uterine contractions, which does suggest that other female animals are at least capable of orgasm.
Macaques, a subset of monkeys, are especially popular with scientists, when it comes to studying sex, because they’re genetically similar to humans and have similar reproductive systems. According to Alfonso Troisi, a clinical psychiatrist in Rome who has studied female orgasm in Japanese macaques, they’re easier to study in the lab than gorillas or chimps. Macaques tend to have longer copulations than other primate species like gorillas, which is a bonus if you’re trying to observe their mating behavior.
During her TED Talk, Mary Roach showed the viewers a photo of ‘the ejaculation face of the stump-tailed macaque’. And, interestingly, this has been observed in female macaques, but only when mounting another female. Female-lesbian orgasms it is, ladies and gentlemen!
Sex fact no. 9: A camera to study female orgasm on the inside.
In the 1950s, Masters and Johnson decided to figure out the entire human sexual response cycle, from arousal, checking the upsuck theory, all the way through orgasm in men and women.
Female orgasm is a little complicated to observe on the inside, but they found a way. Those two sex science genuses developed an instrument in their lab studies — a camera attached to a phallus — to study what happens inside a woman’s vagina when she climaxes. It was basically an artificial coition machine or in other words: a penis camera, consisting of a clear acrylic phallus, with a camera and a light source, attached to a motor. Female participants in their lab would have sex with it.
Sadly, this scientific device has been dismantled. And as Mary Roach put it ‘This just kills me, not because I wanted to use it, but because I wanted to see it!’
We feel your pain, Mary Roach!
Sex fact no. 10: There was scientific research into how far semen can shoot.
One fine day, Alfred Kinsey decided to calculate the average distance traveled by ejaculated semen. His was not idle curiosity. Doctor Kinsey believed – and there was a theory going around at the time, in the 1940s — that the force with which semen is thrown against the cervix was a factor in fertility.
He got 300 grown men in his lab, a measuring tape, and a movie camera. Kinsey conducted, for lack of a better term, a jerk-off in which he lined those men up next to each other and had them ejaculate on command.
Results? 75 percent of the men had their stuff just kind of slopping out. It wasn’t spurted or thrown or ejected under great force. However, the record holder landed just shy of the eight-foot mark, which was super impressive. Sadly, he remained anonymous, but we applaud him nevertheless.
In his write-up of this experiment in his book, Kinsey mentioned that “Two sheets were laid down to protect the oriental carpets.” How thoughtful of him!
Conclusion
That’s it Folks! We hope you have enjoyed reading about the Incredible Sex Facts and have now learnt 10 new things about orgasm.
However, reading can hardly compare with actually watching Mary Roach’s talk. So take a moment out of your day to get some – terribly fascinating and somewhat gross – scientific facts about orgasms. https://www.ted.com/talks/mary_roach_10_things_you_didn_t_know_about_orgasm
Fair warning (in case it isn’t obvious already): the video contains information that some may consider “adult content”, so do not watch it around your work colleagues or kids. Enjoy!
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