Sexual Climax in Female Macaca mulatta

The view that female infra-human primates do not achieve orgasm is widespread [e.g. FORD and BEACH, 1952; MORRIS, 1967]. It has been assumed that this aspect of sexual behaviour is qualitatively different in man. While there has been much experimentation in the neurophysiology and endocrinology of sexual behaviour in infra-human primates over the past 30-40 years, the assumption that female monkeys do not achieve orgasm has never been tested. The purpose of this report is to relate research begun on the question of whether or not female monkeys have orgasms and to discuss some of the theoretical questions related to this research, I would like to emphasize here that the research accomplished is only preliminary in terms of the research design employed, and that the results therefore are considered tentative.