WHY IS SEX FUN?

Because we like it that way! One could also propose that if sex weren't fun, if it didn't feel so damn good, procreation would be in trouble. But humans, like a number of species, are richly sexually active above and beyond the call of making babies. We love to fool around whether or not we are fertile, and in all sorts of situations, some of which land us in social, marital, or legal hot water. So what is it?

A Discovery Channel presentation ~ Why Is Sex Fun? ~ hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaal (see above) explores possible answers. Click here to see video exerpts.

Zoologist and anthropologist Desmond Morris approaches the question from a more academic angle in part 4 of his "The Human Animal" series, titled The Biology of Love. You can watch the entire 49 minute episode, but even the first few minutes are arresting ~ depicting how a quantum leap in social and biological dynamics took place when men and women evolved from movement on all fours to standing and walking upright ~ thus visually exposing our sexual organs for the first time. The implications for "pair-bonding, genetic survival, courtship, the aesthetics of physical beauty, and the anatomical mechanics of sexual arousal and copulation" were revolutionary.

In a different setting entirely, Catherine Hakim has written a book called "Erotic Capital", in which she advocates for women using sex appeal to level the workplace playing field. Jessica Bennett reviews the book, explaining the idea of erotic capital as "more than just sex ~ a combination of beauty, style, social skills, and charm .... men have erotic capital too, but women's sex appeal has always been more prominent." Bennett then takes issue with Hakim's premise by noting that "It's one thing to say that women should use what they've got. But women already navigate a culture that holds them to an unattainable beauty ideal ~ one that eschews aging and advances only those who can afford the lates and greatest artificial products. Buying into the belief that we must keep up with that ever-changing archetype is not only bonkers, it complicates the problem." Check out the entire review, and tell me what you think by clicking on the "comments" prompt at the end of this post.

Finally, my thanks to G+ friend A.V. Flox for her blog post Three Interactive Ways to Spice Things Up In Bed. From creating an abstract painting with your bodies while having sex, to a board game which introduces "activities ranging from the entertaining to the erotic", to a sex toy designed for use by both partners simultanously, it's all good clean fun.