S=EX[superscript 2] : the science of sex

373 Pages·2016·7.312 MB·English

by  Estupiny a, Pere, Lethem, Mara Faye

Pere Estupinyà
2
S=EX
THE SCIENCE
OF SEX
S=EX2
Pere Estupinyà
S=EX2
The Science of Sex
Pere Estupinyà
Tortosa, Spain
Translated by
Mara Faye Lethem
The original version of this book was revised. An erratum to this book can be found at
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31726-7_19
ISBN 978-3-319-31725-0 ISBN 978-3-319-31726-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31726-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949746
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the
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not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective
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give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions
that may have been made.
S=ex2. La Ciencia del Sexo by Pere Estupinyà Copyright © Debate 2013
S=ex2. La Ciència del Sexe by Pere Estupinyà Copyright © Rosa dels vents 2013
Copyright © Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London 2016
Springer International Publishing AG is part of Springer Science+Business Media
All Rights Reserved.
Cover illustration: Txema Sanz + Mikel Urmeneta copyright Kukuxumusu
Printed on acid-free paper
This Copernicus imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
To Fazia, who sends every single one of my hormonal levels
off the charts, even those yet to be discovered.
Contents
1 Sex in Our Cells 1
Searching for the Hormones of Desire 5
Few Differences Between the Male and the Female 8
The Chemistry of Our Sexual Behavior 15
2 Sex in Our Genitals 21
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nerves in Sexual Arousal 23
The Erection of the Penis and the Clitoris 24
Erection Problems and Premature Ejaculation Due to Stress 29
Desire and Arousal Are Not the Same 33
Orgasm Based on the Distance Between the Clitoris
and the Vagina 36
3 Sex in Our Brains 41
Science Is More Interesting than Sex 41
My Orgasm as Revealed by fMRI 46
Want-Like-Learn, and the Empire of the Senses 52
4 Sex in Our Minds 59
Sex Is an Irrational Act 59
Measuring Sexual Arousal at the Kinsey Institute 62
The Lack of Agreement Between the Female Mind
and the Female Genitals 65
Surveys and Statistics on Sexuality 69
A Brief History of Scientific Research on Sex 73
vii
viii Contents
5 Sex in Our Beds 81
Even Scientists Have Trouble Finding the G-Spot 82
The Two Types of Female Ejaculation 86
The Genetic Component to Female
Multi- orgasmic Capability 89
I Was Multi-orgasmic and Didn’t Know It 93
The “Coolidge Effect” and My Envy of Men Without
a Refractory Period 95
Masturbation and Its Disadvantages As Compared to Intercourse 100
Vibrators, Lubricants and Aphrodisiacs to Increase
Sexual Pleasure 105
The Treacherous Effects of Alcohol in Arousal and Orgasm 109
Motivations for Anal Sex 112
Penis Size Does Matter, but Clitoral Size Doesn’t 115
6 Sex in the Doctor’s Office 123
Expectations and Other Male Sexual Dysfunctions 125
Female Concerns. The Key Is Satisfaction, Not Desire 129
The Microorganisms That Cohabitate in or Invade Our Genitals 137
Sexually Transmitted Diseases 141
7 Sex in Nature 145
Why Do Ducks Have Penises and Roosters Don’t? 147
The Origin of Sex in Bacteria, Amoebas and Sea Sponges 148
Hermaphroditic Potatoes and Animal Sex Changes 150
Sexual Dimorphism: You’ve Only Ever Eaten Female Monkfish 152
8 Sex in Evolution 155
The Trap of Hidden Ovulation in Women 156
Monogamy Is Natural, Faithfulness Isn’t 158
“Bonobos’ Way of Life,” Are You More of a Bonobo
or a Chimpanzee? 160
9 Sex in Bars 165
Others’ Beauty Depends on Ours 166
The Power of the Unconscious in Physical Attraction 168
The Internet Has Only Revolutionized the First Few Steps
in the Dating Process 173
Contents ix
Non-verbal Signs of Seduction 175
The Magic of Kissing 179
Sex Without Commitment and “Hookup Culture” 182
10 Having an Orgasm with the Power of the Mind 189
Hyperventilation to Activate the Sympathetic Nervous System 192
Meditation and Yoga Increase Sexual Pleasure 194
11 Pornography: From Distortion to Education 199
Women Prefer Lesbian Porn Over Gay 201
Porn Can Exacerbate Some Problems, but Doesn’t Cause Them 203
12 Let’s Do It Tonight, Dear, I Have a Headache 207
Sexus Sanus in Corpore Sano 209
Corpus Sanum in Sexu Sano 212
Sex in Old Age 213
13 Sex in a Wheelchair, for Love and Pleasure 219
Neurosurgery to Regain Genital Sensitivity 223
14 Science in Sexual Orientation 227
Homosexual Fluidity: Behavior Is Not the Same as Orientation 231
Yes, You Can Be Born Gay 235
What’s Damaging Is Homophobia, Not Homosexuality 243
Does Male Bisexuality Exist? 244
Learning from Asexuals 246
15 Learning from S&M Clubs 251
When Pain Produces Pleasure and Takes Away Another Pain 257
Fetishists from Head to Toe 262
Sexual Fantasies: Inhibiting Sins in Our Thoughts Leads
to More Sins of Word and Deed 267
16 Disorders of Obsession, Impulsivity, and Lack of Control 275
Hypersexuality Is Not an Addiction 276
Paraphilias: When Science Articles Are Stranger than Fiction 282
Involuntary Orgasms During Rape 287
x Contents
17 Sexual Identities Beyond XX and XY 291
Intersexuality: When Chromosomes and Genitals
Don’t Match Up 294
Transsexuality: The Mind Is in Control 297
Sex Change Operations, and the Phantom Penis 303
18 Marrying Social and Sexual Monogamy in Swingers’ Clubs 313
Polyamory with Emotional Monogamy 317
Partner Issues When Desire Wanes 319
Genes Don’t Justify Infidelity 324
Love Addicts 326
Erratum E1
Epilogue: Sex and Science Don’t End at Orgasm 329
Acknowledgments 339
About the Author 341
Bibliography 343
Introduction
When neuroscientist Barry Komisaruk asked me to participate in one of his
studies on the physiology of sexual response, I immediately accepted. It was
January of 2012 and I was doing research for this book on the science of
sex. Volunteering in an experiment at Rutgers University seemed like a great
opportunity to get to know this sort of research from the inside. I was ready to
leap in without the slightest hesitation. Later, when Barry explained that my
task would be to stimulate myself manually while an MRI scanner measured
activity in different parts of my brain as I got myself aroused and reached
orgasm, I told him I needed to think about it. Oh man! The image that came
into my mind was pretty terrifying. A few days later, I sent Barry an email
apologizing and saying: “Barry, I’m sorry, but it’s too embarrassing. And, hon-
estly, I don’t know if I would be able to complete the objective in those condi-
tions.” He insisted that the experiment would take place in complete privacy,
that the only thing that the team would see would be my brain on the com-
puter screen, and that I shouldn’t worry about being nervous, and that even
without climax, part of the data would still be just as useful. He added that
I would be paid two hundred dollars, but I wasn’t sure whether, under those
conditions, that was an incentive or a setback.
In Chapter 3, I’ll tell you if I ended up becoming the first man in history
to have an orgasm under a magnetic resonance scanner. But first I want to
take a moment here to reflect on the sudden reaction I had after declining:
“Embarrassed? What was I really embarrassed about?” After all, while research-
ing my last book, The Brain Snatcher, I was happy to participate in a Harvard
study to see if a brain scanner—identical to the one Komisaruk would use—
could detect my lies. I also let them electrically stimulate a part of my frontal
lobe at the National Institutes of Health to find out whether I would learn a
xi