Orgasm is the conclusion of the plateau phase of the
sexual response cycle, shared by males and females alike.
During orgasm, both males and females experience quick
cycles of muscle contraction in the lower pelvic muscles,
which surround both the anus and the primary sexual
organs.
Orgasms in both men and women are
often associated with other involuntary actions, including
vocalisations and muscular spasms in other areas of
the body. Also, a generally euphoric sensation is associated
with orgasm.
Afterwards, orgasm generally causes
perceived tiredness, and both males and females often
feel a need to rest. This is recently attributed to
the release of prolactin. Prolactin is a typical neuroendocrine
response in depressed mood and irritation.
Evolutionary biologists put forward
several hypothesis for explaining the role of the female
orgasm in terms of the reproductive process. In 1967,
Desmond Morris first suggested in his pop-science book
The Naked Ape that female orgasm evolved to encourage
physical intimacy with a male partner and help reinforce
the pair bond. He additionally proposed that orgasm
might facilitate conception by exhausting the female
and keeping her horizontal, thus preventing the sperm
from leaking out. This possibility, sometimes dubbed
the "Poleax hypothesis" or the "Knockout
hypothesis", is now considered as highly doubtful.
A 1997 Learning Channel documentary
on sex had fibre optic cameras inside the vagina of
a woman while she was having sexual intercourse and
experiencing an orgasm. During her orgasm, her pelvic
muscles contracted, and her cervix dipped into a pool
of semen in the vagina making conception more likely.
The fact that women tend to orgasm
easier when they are ovulating suggests that it is tied
to increasing fertility. Other biologists, such as Stephen
Jay Gould, suggest the female orgasm is analogous to
the male nipple—an evolutionary holdover which,
though associated with pleasure in the context of sexual
behaviour, has no distinct biological function.
Still others surmise that the orgasm
simply serves to motivate sex, thus increasing the rate
of reproduction and helping ensure the species' survival.
Although many experiences have common ground there are
differences too between the male and female orgasm.
The female orgasm has the effect of sucking sperm towards
female's egg,(the ovum) in the fallopian tube.
Women can often experience an orgasm
for a longer period of time than a man.
Women are, in general, more capable of rapidly returning
to orgasm immediately after an orgasmic experience
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