Female Sexual Activity Research Articles

Motivational Factors Affecting fluctuations of Female Sexual Activity at Menstruation

The hypothesis was tested that pre-menstrual and post-menstrual increases in sexual activity are due to anticipation of deprivation and rebound following deprivation (Ford & Beach, 1951). Thirty-five married women completed daily questionnaires about their sexual activity for at least two menstrual cycles. Evidence supported the hypothesis that the post-menstrual peak in intercourse is a rebound phenomenon. There was less evidence to support the hypothesis that a pre-menstrual rise represents anticipation of deprivation. In addition, there was a tendency to increase autosexual activity during periods of sexual abstention, which may represent a compensation phenomenon.

Motivational Factors Affecting Fluctuations of Female Sexual Activity at Menstruation

The hypothesis was tested that pre-menstrual and post-menstrua I increases in sexual activity are due to anticipation of deprivation and rebound following deprivation (Ford & Beach, 1951). Thirty-five married women completed daily questionnaires about their sexual activity for at least two menstrual cycles. Evidence supported the hypothesis that the post-menstrual peak in intercourse is a rebound phenomenon. There was less evidence to support the hypothesis that a pre-menstrual rise represents anticipation of deprivation. In addition, there was a tendency to increase autosexual activity during periods of sexual abstention, which may represent a compensation phenomenon.

The reproductive biology of a free-ranging troop of Japanese monkeys

Quantitative data on the reproductive biology of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata), especially of females, are reported here. Arashiyama B troop shows stable annual breeding periodicity, and has mating seasons between October and March. In mating seasons, females show estrus with rather consistent cyclicity, and are in estrus for a total of 35 days on an average. The mean length of estrous cycle is 34 days. Although most females show estrus inter-menstrually, some show peri-menstrually; i.e., estrus does not always synchronize strictly with ovulation. Pubescent females between 3.5 and 6.5 years show estrus, but with low sexual activity. Middle-aged females between 7.5 and 16.5 years show high sexual activity with high conception rate. Old-aged females over 17.5 years show low sexual activity. Females with surviving infants have lower sexual activity than those without infants. There is found no significant correlation between female's ranking and sexual activity.

Androcentric rhetoric in sociobiology

Androcentrism abounds in the language of sociobiology and other social sciences. I examine the language used in the book, Sociobiology: The new synthesis . Wilson claims it is a near-universal phenomenon that males are dominant over females among animals. However he does not draw out his hypothesis and defend it; instead he embeds it in the language he uses to describe the data. Thus the claim appears to be a mere summation of the data when in fact it is presupposed by his description of the data. I argue that his use of language, both semantics (e.g. his use of ‘harem’ or his equation of ‘female receptive behavior’ with ‘female submissive behavior’) and syntax (e.g. his use of the passive voice to describe female sexual activity and his use of the active voice to describe male sexual activity), sets up his claims of male dominance and forces readers to agree to stereotypic hypotheses which he never openly defends.

Hormonal steroids, neurotransmitters and sexual differentiation of the brain

Male rats castrated on the first day of life exhibit preference of sexual responsiveness to partners of the same sex following oestrogen or androgen treatment in adulthood. Thus, in genetic males a female differentiated brain is activated postpubertally not only by oestrogens but also by androgens, resulting in female-like behaviour. On the other hand, females injected with androgen during perinatal life showed predominantly male behavior following castration and androgen treatment in adulthood. Furthermore, in males castrated on the first day of fife and later implanted with ovaries, a corpus luteum inducing positive oestrogen feedback on LH-secretion could be observed, whereas perinatally androgenized females lost the capability of cyclic gonadotrophin secretion. From numerous experiments involving androgens, oestrogens and anti-androgens it was concluded that sex hormones may act as “teratogens” if present in nonphysiological concentrations during critical organization periods of the brain, leading to permanent disorders of sexual behaviour or gonadotrophin secretion associated with permanent structural alterations in discrete brain regions. Recent studies demonstrated that neurotransmitters, which may be regarded as local hormones of the brain, can exert similar “teratogenic” effects if present in nonphysiological concentrations and/or turnover rates during brain differentiation. Treatment of newborn male rats with psychotrophic drugs, such as pargyline, reserpine or pyridostigmine, known to affect concentrations and/or turnover rates of neurotransmitters in the brain, induced permanent changes of sexual behaviour associated with permanent structural and/or biochemical changes in the brain. In females, onset of puberty, cyclicity and sexual behaviour were also altered following neonatal neurodrug administration. Recently, Ward reported on diminished male and increased female sexual activity in male offspring of rats having been exposed to stress during pregnancy. Following ACTH administration during pregnancy as well as after prenatal stress we found significantly decreased testosterone levels in the plasma of newborn male rats. There is an increasing number of findings suggesting similar mechanisms of brain differentiation possibly to be operative in the human.

Content analysis: TAT card 12BG--the rowboat as a symbol oor female body image and sexual activity.

The symbolic meaning of stories told by mental patients in response to Card 12BG is deduced by using the guidelines set down by Phillips and Smith (1953) for content analysis.

Reproductive synchronization in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri)

Groups of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri) that are exposed to certain seasonal environmental stimuli experience a yearly reproductive cycle with discrete mating and birth seasons. Seasonal rainfall or some rainfall induced seasonal changes (such as changes in vegetation or insect fauna) appear to be responsible for timing theSaimiri reproductive cycle. Animals of both sexes show significant physiological and behavioral changes during the yearly cycle. Whether the environmental timing factors affect both the males and the females equally, or affect only one sex directly and the other sex indirectly through social communication is not clear. Three mechanisms by which the reproductive activity of both males and females could be synchronized are presented, and data from a laboratory study and a field study relevant to each mechanism are presented. Several social interaction patterns frequently observed in the field study suggest that (1) male sexual activity may excite female sexual activity through male penile display and/or other stereotyped interactions and/or (2) female sexual activity may excite male sexual activity through pheromone and/or other communication channels.

Some Aspects of Sexual Behavior in Domestic Sheep, Ovis Aries

Abstract1. A generalized description of the motor components comprising male courtship is presented. Included among the major acts are a) nosing the perineum; b) nudging, a complex of several subacts including orientation behind the ewe, extension and flexion of one foreleg, tilting and lowering the head accompanied by a low-pitched vocalization and flicking of the tongue ; c) the Flehmen or lip curl, as displayed by the ram is described, but the signal function in this species is problematical; d) mounting accompanied by e) pelvic oscillations, f) intromission, and g) ejaculation, defined behaviorally as an especially deep thrust After-reactions may take the form of remounting the ewe, leaving to court another female, or standing while the just-mounted ewe leaves. 2. The motor components displayed by the ewe vary with its hormonal condition. When anestrus, the female manifests either passive or active avoidance depending upon the persistence of the ram. During the 15 to 28 hours of estrus, female motor activity ranges through a spectrum of low to high to low intensity responses. For the first 3-5 hours, low intensity acts include standing, head lowered and pinnae of ears somewhat flattened, swinging the head back to watch the courting ram, walking off and then standing and looking back at the ram. Persistent nudging by the ram at this time results in acceptance. From about the 5th to the 15th hours of estrus, the ewe is notably more aggressive. Soliciting behavior takes the form of approaching the ram, nuzzling and pushing its head into the flank and scrotal regions. Low intensity responses supervene from the 15th hour to the end of estrus, grading into the avoidance behavior characteristic of the anestrous ewe. 3. Observations of a small, closed flock comprised of 6 ewes and 1 ram in an indoor pen provided information on dominance relationships among the ewes and the influence of rank upon female sexual activity. Additional information obtained from these observations included evidence of memory by the ram of the identity of females with which he had mated. 4. The ontogenesis of male courtship acts was studied in a flock of 8 rams, 4 of which were unaltered, 2 castrated (one at 118 days, the other at 139 days of age), and 2 deprived of heterosexual contact until well past the age of physiological maturity. All unaltered rams achieved copulation, but only after from 10 to 20 ten-minute exposures to a stimulus ewe. One of the castrate rams succeeded in mating after 12 exposures, the other displayed no courtship behavior at the 20th exposure at which time he was 540 days old. Of the 2 female-deprived rams, one achieved a mating at the first exposure to an estrous ewe; he was 419 days old at the time. The other deprived ram evidenced successful courtship on the 12th exposure when he was 676 days of age. General observations of the ram flock revealed that all components of the male pattern, except for the consummatory acts of intromission and ejaculation were manifested during social interactions in the flock. Such behavior was displayed during the play activities of all except one of the castrate rams. 5. Three of these rams were further examined with the view of establishing the effect of injections of male hormone. Included in this study were the two castrates and one unaltered ram from the original flock of eight. The latter was castrated after having developed consistent, adult sexual behavior. Treatment began after all three rams displayed a decline to little or no sexual behavior in a test situation. In all three instances, treatment with exogenous androgen evoked the complete male courtship pattern, although one of the original castrates appeared to be almost refractory to the treatment. 6. A discussion of these findings is included in each of the various sections of this report.

Hypothalmic lesions and sexual behavior in the female rat.

This study reports selective effects on the mating pattern of the female rat of partial destruction of the hypothalamus. Independent neural control of the ovarian cycle and of the mating response are demonstrated. Both depressed and augmented female sexual activity are reported.