JANE: Why do we think it is a man’s role to stimulate a woman sexually? Mara H.: Historically, there has been a greater focus on male pleasure in many societies worldwide. However, modern views of sexuality emphasize the importance of female pleasure. This shift represents a move away from the male gaze, Mara H. (cont): where women were seen as mere objects for heterosexual men’s pleasure, toward the female gaze, where women have agency and the right to experience real pleasure without feeling the need to fake it to satisfy men. JANE: How would you describe this female pleasure? It is erotic in nature or emotional? Men are motivated to initiate and drive sexual activity due to their acute arousal with a lover. JANE (cont): Women are not so motivated because they are not erotically aroused with a lover. A women offers regular intercourse to a man who supports her goals of affectionate companionship and support for family. JANE (cont): No one has the right to experience sexual pleasure. We either do or we dont. Women enjoy emotional pleasure with a loving man who offers a committed relationship. Mara H.: Your response seems to come from a very heteronormative, malecentered perspective on sexuality. First, its important to recognize that sex is not synonymous with penetration. Women have their own sexual autonomy and the right to experience sexual pleasure, which has historically been denied to them. Mara H. (cont): Women are often made to feel that they have an ‘obligation’ to engage in sexual activity with their partners, even when they dont want to, due to societal expectations or perceived marital duties. This notion that women must prioritize their partners sexual needs over their own undermines their autonomy and diminishes the importance of consent. Mara H. (cont): It perpetuates a culture where womens sexual agency is not respected.The generalization that women are not erotically motivated is a dangerous oversimplification and reinforces harmful stereotypes. Mara H. (cont): Perpetuating this type of restrictive view of female sexuality can contribute to broader societal violence, control, and suppression of womens autonomy. Female pleasure can be both emotional and erotic, and women, like men, deserve a sexual experience that is fulfilling on all levels. Denying this is not only inaccurate, but also harmful. JANE: Saying that women have the right to orgasm with a lover (or at any time) is just as ridiculous as saying that men have the right to bear children. We only evolve functionality that is critical to our survival or to reproduction. Evolution does not provide sexual function purely for our pleasure. The prime purpose of sex is reproduction. JANE (cont): Sexual pleasure is merely a byproduct that motivates men to engage in mating behaviour. If women could orgasm from intercourse, or any other activity with a lover, the focus on male orgasm would be reduced and reproduction would suffer. Women are not intended to be aroused with a lover because their orgasm has nothing to do with increasing human reproductive success. JANE (cont): Womens sexual function is to assist with male arousal and male orgasm, which triggers the ejaculation of spermatozoa into the vagina. Women are only capable of orgasm because they have a phallus, an evolutionary anomaly. This explains why female orgasm was a mystery for so long and why female masturbation is rare. Celebrating our ability to enjoy eroticism