Question on mating and birthing.

The human female, during her first sexual encounter, experiences pain, because her hymen is being torn apart. This is natural in every woman, and is considered the norm. However, the act of sexual intercourse is to reproduce. So i'm curious as to why the female body hasn't evolved to not be in pain during intercourse and/or birthing a child.

reply to post by Schmidt1989




Good question. Maybe it will, with time? Maybe the Hymen is some ancient "securitysign", that nature invented so that the males would know if the female was genetically "intact".

I could say something personal here but I just won't.

Um, well. Think of it this way- a male cat's penis is covered with barbs that, upon withdrawal, scratch the inside of the female cat. This causes extreme pain in the female cat. It also triggers ovulation.

The human female, during her first sexual encounter, experiences pain, because her hymen is being torn apart. This is natural in every woman, and is considered the norm.

The hymen exists in a variety of shapes and sizes, is quite flexible, and is rarely the sheet of tissue covering the entire entry that people so often think of. It is very rarely fully intact at the time of sexual intercourse. Any bleeding is not usually from a hymen "breaking" but rather from localized trauma to the tissue within the vagina, owing to the novelty of intercourse.

Also, many women don't experience anything other than minimal discomfort (a few are fortunate to lack even this) upon the loss of virginity. The sensation varies from woman to woman.

[edit on 15/1/09 by paperplanes]

Pain is a very important sensation, it signifies if something unusual is going on with your body. Eliminating that would not be a good thing.

Interesting observation...

Pain is experienced in the body by a, nociceptor, a sensory receptor that sends signals that cause the perception of pain in response to a potentially damaging stimulus.

It is curious that the first initial sexual encounter and childbirth are still extremely painful. Of course the christians probably attest this to being because of Eve's sins-- but whatever.

In the grand scheme of things- Human beings havent evolved all too quickly. We still have the appendix, which science still hasnt found a reason for its purpose. We still store enormous amounts of fat from our food, unless we exercise, which used to help protect our ancestors against cold and famine. This is why half the nation is obese, as well as the ingredients that the FDA allows food company's to poison our health with.

My take- it will probably happen in another hundreds of thousands of years- but not tomorrow.

Originally posted by xynephadyn
Interesting observation...

Pain is experienced in the body by a, nociceptor, a sensory receptor that sends signals that cause the perception of pain in response to a potentially damaging stimulus.

It is curious that the first initial sexual encounter and childbirth are still extremely painful. Of course the christians probably attest this to being because of Eve's sins-- but whatever.

In the grand scheme of things- Human beings havent evolved all too quickly. We still have the appendix, which science still hasnt found a reason for its purpose. We still store enormous amounts of fat from our food, unless we exercise, which used to help protect our ancestors against cold and famine. This is why half the nation is obese, as well as the ingredients that the FDA allows food company's to poison our health with.

My take- it will probably happen in another hundreds of thousands of years- but not tomorrow.

I guess thats basically what I was looking for. Because the homosapien has been around, what... 120k years? I guess it just needs more time. Still curious as to why it was every in tact in the first place though, because as a non-religious or philosophical type, I believe the purpose of life is to reproduce and evolve, slightly Darwinistic thinking if you will.

I have to disagree; I don't think this is an issue that will be solved through evolution, unless women are also willing to forgo any vaginal sensation. The vagina is packed full of nerve fibers that work in concert with sensory receptors and specific cerebral areas to account for both the pleasurable and painful sensations experienced there. To suggest that evolutionary development will one day eliminate the pain but still maintain the capability for intense pleasure seems preposterous. Nerves and their components would need to undergo a complete revolution in function and form, as they are presently responsible for both aspects of stimulation within the vagina. Evolution would need to weed out the pain receptors, which would then present a whole host of endangerment issues (those are there for a reason, after all); this seems exceptionally unlikely.

[edit on 16/1/09 by paperplanes]

Originally posted by Schmidt1989
The human female, during her first sexual encounter, experiences pain, because her hymen is being torn apart. This is natural in every woman, and is considered the norm.

Complete and utter myth, speaking as a woman and from experience and talking with other women.

Yes, it's painful if the man hasn't read up on women and sexuality (from a woman's standpoint... not from the "get hot babes" guys who are putting out advice.) Sex at ANY age is painful for a woman if the guy is too large, goes too fast, there's a dryness issue, he has no idea where the pleasure points are (actually it's just freakin' boring then), he THINKS he knows what will please a woman because he's read it or seen it on porn films ... but isn't paying attention to his partner.

The hymen often stretches while the woman grows up and it's not uncommon for it to spontaneously tear without sex (women who do a lot of horseback riding often have this spontaneous tearing while still being virgins. Ditto some gymnasts.)

However, the act of sexual intercourse is to reproduce. So i'm curious as to why the female body hasn't evolved to not be in pain during intercourse and/or birthing a child.

The pain varies. I didn't find it that painful while other women experience it as the most extreme pain they've ever felt. Generally, being in good shape and doing a lot of physical exercise reduces the amount of pain. In general it gets less with each birth. There are exceptions.

reply to post by Schmidt1989


I think that the pain of the first time is due more to.. how do I explain this?

Like putting a new tire on a rim. It has be made to fit.

They hyman is delicate and is often times even broken without knowledge before intercourse, such as heavy exercise or using tampons.so that is not the actual reason for the discomfort.

That, and the famale is nervous, and nervousness causes things to tighten up, making it even harder to have intercourse. And if you are nervious and not in the mood, you are not going to create any lubrication either. So the combo of things causes the problems.

Birth is painful because the body has to change drastically to push the child out. IN a short amount of time the cervix, ephases about 3 cm. Dialates 10 cm. Ever look at 10 cm? The mucles start contracting. Imagine the amount of muscle contractions it takes to push 7 lbs of arms and legs through the space of a lemon.

Now nature threw in an extra design here, women have a short memory of pain. This is deliberate. Or else there would never be second children. Many tend to look back at pregnancy and childbirth with happiness as opposed as seeing the pain.

People obviously have children anyway, so there's clearly no reason for people to have evolved like that.

reply to post by Byrd


Absolutely, and this is the best response by far. It really does depend on how on the entire procedure and responsiveness of the partner to some extent.

[edit on 16-1-2009 by mystiq]

Existence is pain, in one form or another. Mating is part of existence.

We're constantly driven by the pain of fear, hunger, thirst, the need for sleep, the need to reproduce, and so on. We can lessen those pains for brief periods, but they're always gnawing at us, driving us forward, keeping us alive so that our DNA will continue. And we often choose to put ourselves in even greater pain, with the idea of attaining another goal. We exercise, which is painful, so that we can be in better health to attract a mate, ostensibly to reproduce.

We can't evolve away our pain, because pain makes us what we are.

[edit on 16-1-2009 by Nohup]