After listening to Dr Sharon Moalem on Life Matters on Radio National (How Sex Works - Tue 21 July 2009), I am inspired to share my experience of my own sexual awareness.
Dr Moalem touches on the subject of ovulation and how that prompts women to have thoughts of infidelity. I must say, it is refreshing (and long overdue!) to hear that women too have biological urges that we can "excuse" as part of our genetic makeup. Actually, this I have always known.
As a single woman in my mid-30s, I am all too aware of the carnal urge to procreate. Those urges, however, only seem to occur for those few days a month during ovulation, at which time I have been known to flirt outrageously with the opposite sex, and respond almost involuntarily to the sexual advances of attractive males. It is true that we women fall victim to our biology at that time of month!
I can remember lying next to a male friend of mine (not a boyfriend) who I ended up in bed with one night and I was almost pleading that he put me out of my misery the urge was so strong!
Despite these occasional overwhelming urges, I have to say, sex for me (as for many other women, I imagine) is not something high on my daily agenda. As a single woman, I would say that those few days a month during ovulation are about the only time I think about sex. The rest of the time, I can pretty much take it or leave it. And thank God I say! I'm not sure how the world would function if women's sexual urges were strong all through the month! Personally, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything serious! I'd be constantly plotting my next sexual encounter. If men are driven by such strong sexual urges, I do indeed take pity on them. Maybe someone can invent a pill that men can take to temporarily relieve themselves of these carnal urges so we can all get some real work done.
My 80-year-old uncle tells me he only reached complete contentedness when he lost his libido - it was then that he felt he was no longer at the mercy of women.
On the subject of pheromones, I was 22 when I became keenly aware of the part they play in our attraction to one another. I used to tell my friends how irresistible I found my boyfriend's armpit to be - his sweat was an obvious aphrodisiac to me. All my friends thought I was strange but I knew that I was just a little wiser than they were about the workings of physical attraction. A sniff test is a routine part of courtship for me. Some men are hugely flattered by the idea that their sweat could leave a women gagging for it, others are intimidated by the idea that a woman's nose could get them the boot.
With kissing too, there is definitely a sweeter taste (pheromones) in certain people's mouths. I have no doubt these bodily smells and tastes are all just part of the design to help us find an appropriate mate.
