Yes, sex is for the continuation of the species in ALL mammals.
Yet, for most (all ?) other mammals it is simply an act for that purpose - in some cases it even appears to be a painful process !
So why have humans evolved so that sex is an enjoyable function and - I'd better be careful here given others' religious beliefs etc ! - is often done solely for the pleasure it brings ??
2007-01-27 22:27:51 · 20 answers · asked by Snert 1 in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
That's a good question--but keep in mind, dolphins are also mammals that have sex for pleasure.
2007-01-27 22:32:43 · answer #1 · answered by flygirl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Clearly none of these answers have any basis in science. Human survival has depended on multi-seasonal reproduction, meaning humans have evolved to reproduce at any time of the year. However, like most higher mammals, our reproductive mechanism is hit-or-miss and often unsuccessful for the volume of births over a lifetime (translation- it takes a lot of trying in ours and other species to get pregnant, and just to produce 1 offspring) This means that there must be a mechanism to force continuous sexual interaction. This is more or less the reason why humans have sex for pleasure. Its roots are a lot deeper than just a good time.
2007-01-28 11:05:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My rats have sex for fun. They have no testes, but they're still at it. all the time. the girls even perform oral sex on eachother. I think your statement that sex is merely function in animals is a little sweeping. I certainly don't believe it, as I'm sure others agree.
"It is a common urban myth that animals do not (as a rule) have sex for pleasure, or alternatively that humans (and perhaps dolphins and one or two species of primate) are the only species which do. This is sometimes formulated "animals mate only for reproduction". - Wikepedia
You say humans have evolved into having sex for pleasure, but perhaps we always did. It's just humans have the cognitive faculties to comprehend the fact that they ARE having sex for mere pleasure. It's more that we haven't evolved in sex, we have evolved in our idea of what sex is MEANT to be about.
anyway, good question.
2007-01-28 05:51:20 · answer #3 · answered by mexican_seafooduk 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The reason sex is pleasurable is because we are suppose to have a desire to do it and reproduce. That is the sole purpose of sex in nature. If sex hurt we would not do it and out species would die out. I cannot speak for any other creature, but there drive to survive at some level must and a pleasure component. We have evolved as people to a point where we can enjoy the act without reproducing. It is that simple.
2007-01-27 22:37:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
How do we really know that animals don't enjoy it the same way we do. I believe they do.
When I was a child I use to take a lot of interest in what the 'birds and the bees' were doing. I grew up in a place where nature was happening all the time around me.
There is no doubt that they were enjoying themselves. I have seen the passion in the eyes of two lizards.
2007-01-27 22:50:37 · answer #5 · answered by Afi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is not entirely true. Some animals really enjoy it and don't always do it because of the survival instinct. We should wonder why some people still do it only for the continuation of the human race.!Is there a serious reason for which our race should survive more years?
2007-01-29 03:42:29 · answer #6 · answered by Erina♣Liszt's Girl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the best explanation that i have for it would be based on judeo-christian values, but anyway, here goes. god doesnt want usto waste sex, but instead intends for it to be special among two people who love each other. in that right, almost nothing you do with your wife is dirty, provided you dont add farm animals or midgets, etc. with that being said, animals, unconsciously feel the need to reproduce, according to biologists, soley to pass on their dna. humans basically have animal bodies but were created by god also as spiritual beings, and therefore should be a step higher than the animals as we know right from wrong and have souls etc. animals mate solely for reproducing, and we do it to sahre soemthing special,.
modern anthropologists have suggested that perhaps sexis enjoyable for human females to create a tighter bond with their "mates" but in this day and age of one night stand casula sex, i fail to see how that function is served with out a moral obligation.
this doesnt confirm or deny my point but oddly enough a recent study indicated that women who waited later in life to actually bear children had higher longevity in life than women who gave birth at a young age. the same was aslo found to be true of fruit flies who were genetically altered to delay reproduction, and lifespans of said flies went form 2 days to several months
2007-01-29 19:21:59 · answer #7 · answered by elvis332 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is no proof that sex is not pleasurable for animals as well. The point however is that sex in the animal world is an instinct and they do not have our complex society structure.
2007-01-29 08:51:05 · answer #8 · answered by selfish 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It seems you think pleasure is some magical or high function. I don't get this, so your question doesn't make sense. I guess maybe you wonder why humans (and dolphins) have sex recreationally? Good question.
2007-01-29 02:59:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably because for animals it is merely for procreation whereas in humans there is an emotional element.
2007-01-28 06:36:16 · answer #10 · answered by monkeyface 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋