THE NAKED APE

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there is a great deal of skin manipulation. The hands and fingers explore the whole body surface, concentrating especially on the face and, at higher intensities, on the buttocks and genital region. As in oral contacts, the male pays particular attention to the female's breasts and nipples. Wherever they move, the fingers repeatedly stroke and caress. From time to time they grasp with great force and the fingernails may be dug deeply into the flesh. The female may grasp the penis of the male, or stroke it rhythmically, simulating the movements of copulation, and the male stimulates the female genitals, especially the clitoris, in a similar way, again frequently with rhythmic movements. In addition to these mouth, hand and general body contacts, there is also a tendency at high intensities of pre-copulatory activity to rub the genitals rhythmically against the partner's body. There is also a considerable amount of twining and inter-twining of the arms and legs, with occasional powerful muscle contractions, so that the body is thrown into a state of clinging tension, followed by relaxation. These, then, are the sexual stimuli that are given to the partner during. bouts of pre-copulatory activity, and which produce sufficient physiological sexual arousal for copulation to occur. Copulation starts with the insertion of the male's penis into the female's vagina. This is most commonly performed with the couple face-to-face, the male over the female, both in a horizontal position, with the female's legs apart. There are many variations of this position, as we shall be discussing later, but this is the simplest and most typical one. The male then begins a series of rhythmical pelvic thrusts. These can vary considerably in strength and speed, but in an uninhibited situation they are usually rather rapid and deeply penetrating. As copulation progresses there is a tendency to reduce the amount of oral and manual contact, or at least to reduce its subtlety and complexity. Nevertheless these now subsidiary forms of mutual stimulation do still continue to some extent throughout most copulatory sequences. The copulatory phase is typically much briefer than the pre-copulatory phase. The male reaches the con- 48
summatory act of sperm ejaculation within a few minutes in most cases, unless deliberate delaying tactics are employed. Other female primates do not appear to experience a climax to their sexual sequences, but the naked ape is unusual in this respect. If the male continues to copulate for a longer period of time, the female also eventually reaches a consummatory moment, an explosive orgasmic experience,. as violent and tension-releasing as the male's, and physiologically identical with it in every way except for the single obvious exception of sperm ejaculation. Some females may reach this point very quickly, others not at all, but on the average it is attained between ten and twenty minutes after the start of copulation. It is strange that there is this discrepancy between the male and female as regards the time taken to reach sexual climax and relief from tension. This is a matter that will have to be discussed in detail later when the functional significance of the various sexual patterns are being considered. Suffice it to say at this point that the male can overcome the time factor and arouse the female to orgasm either by prolonging and heightening the pre-copulatory stimulation, so that she is already strongly aroused before penis insertion takes place, or he can employ self-inhibitory tactics during copulation to delay his own climax, or he can continue to copulate immediately after ejaculation and before he loses his erection, or he can rest briefly and then copulate for a second time. In the latter case, his reduced sex drive will automatically ensure that he takes much longer to reach his next climax and this will give the female sufficient time on this occasion to reach hers. After both partners have experienced orgasm there normally follows a considerable period of exhaustion, relaxation, rest, and frequently sleep. From the sexual stimuli we must now turn to the sexual responses. How does the body respond to all this intensive stimulation? In both sexes there are marked increases in pulse rate, blood pressure and respiration. These changes begin during pre-copulatory activities and rise to a peak at the copulatory climax. Pulse rates which, at normal level, stand at 49
Page 1 and 2: THE NAKED APE by Desmond Morris A B
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is intend
Page 5 and 6: INTRODUCTION THERE are one hundred
Page 7 and 8: some respect. If they were healthy,
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER ONE ORIGINS THERE is a labe
Page 11 and 12: we put it, it looks out of place. E
Page 13 and 14: The primate group, to which our nak
Page 15 and 16: Faced with a new environment, our a
Page 17 and 18: complex manoeuvres could be develop
Page 19 and 20: The brightest stars in the carnivor
Page 21 and 22: a pack of African hunting dogs it i
Page 23 and 24: the night, but the contrast is neve
Page 25 and 26: in the dirt of the den or lair. Aft
Page 27 and 28: was a process of differential infan
Page 29 and 30: eating it, each have their own part
Page 31 and 32: Male and female hunting apes had to
Page 33 and 34: feature was its naked skin, which l
Page 35 and 36: home bases, its dens became heavily
Page 37 and 38: vital missing links in our ancient
Page 39 and 40: first appears. A great deal will de
Page 41 and 42: CHAPTER TWO SEX SEXUALLY the naked
Page 43: phase, privacy is sought and the su
Page 47 and 48: the arteries pumping blood into the
Page 49 and 50: activity. Once the climax has been
Page 51 and 52: old females will have experienced o
Page 53 and 54: stay put and mind the babies while
Page 55 and 56: -the female remains responsive to t
Page 57 and 58: mucous surfaces permanently exposed
Page 59 and 60: areas in other animals where there
Page 61 and 62: Any body relationship, they feel, s
Page 63 and 64: At some point, back in our ancestry
Page 65 and 66: sexual contacts. In this particular
Page 67 and 68: This may also explain why the male
Page 69 and 70: lengths to render her as sexually r
Page 71 and 72: ised his sex life. The contemporary
Page 73 and 74: apology being proportional to the d
Page 75 and 76: enlarges it, imitating in this way
Page 77 and 78: ituation where the female is produc
Page 79 and 80: and avoids being attacked. A subord
Page 81 and 82: object lacking these signals. Secon
Page 83 and 84: is that the prolonged period of inf
Page 85 and 86: on the fundamental sexual structure
Page 87 and 88: CHAPTER THREE REARING THE burden of
Page 89 and 90: is not enough for the infant's lips
Page 91 and 92: mother, either instinctively or by
Page 93 and 94: apid during the first two years of
Page 95 and 96:
onwards. It may even clasp on to he
Page 97 and 98:
unlike the verbal signals, they eme
Page 99 and 100:
mother's face and to distinguish he
Page 101 and 102:
oth frighteningly odd and at the sa
Page 103 and 104:
friendly, but if we greet them by l
Page 105 and 106:
We develop the vital bond of attach
Page 107 and 108:
andom and unco-ordinated. The cryin
Page 109 and 110:
CHAPTER FOUR EXPLORATION ALL mammal
Page 111 and 112:
But the reverse is actually the cas
Page 113 and 114:
are combined, one with another, to
Page 115 and 116:
equired no reward-it was its own re
Page 117 and 118:
Writing, a formalised offshoot of p
Page 119 and 120:
and clothing, in furniture and cars
Page 121 and 122:
contacts immensely difficult and wi
Page 123 and 124:
epeatedly bite themselves, or pull
Page 125 and 126:
on the other hand, of vital signifi
Page 127 and 128:
in respiratory activity. Breathing
Page 129 and 130:
under the extreme conditions of agg
Page 131 and 132:
formalised into rhythmic twistings
Page 133 and 134:
sdditional energy on it, and it is
Page 135 and 136:
the grooming itself. Monkeys make g
Page 137 and 138:
signal. (With the arm bent and held
Page 139 and 140:
intensities of it are expressed in
Page 141 and 142:
mechanisms. Many moths have a pair
Page 143 and 144:
largely confined now to a form of s
Page 145 and 146:
such a situation can be seen to per
Page 147 and 148:
the policeman into a position of im
Page 149 and 150:
attacker and his enemy, and it is t
Page 151 and 152:
intelligence that must get us out.
Page 153 and 154:
frequent accompaniment of wailing o
Page 155 and 156:
of the `pomp and circumstance' will
Page 157 and 158:
in profusion. This is usually expla
Page 159 and 160:
personal acquaintances listed there
Page 161 and 162:
grounds. It is a predominantly masc
Page 163 and 164:
elements of challenge, luck and ris
Page 165 and 166:
Another interpretation is that we h
Page 167 and 168:
If they appeal to our old primate w
Page 169 and 170:
disposal, we might be expected to r
Page 171 and 172:
giving an impression of great conce
Page 173 and 174:
the female can then fondle it and c
Page 175 and 176:
is it aesthetically pleasing. Its f
Page 177 and 178:
significance of the hair. In its re
Page 179 and 180:
co-operativeness, specialised groom
Page 181 and 182:
it is a strong dose of security tha
Page 183 and 184:
If the environment becomes too cold
Page 185 and 186:
CHAPTER EIGHT ANIMALS UP to this po
Page 187 and 188:
prey-predator relationship, since i
Page 189 and 190:
substitute space-traveller. No othe
Page 191 and 192:
interferes with the efficient runni
Page 193 and 194:
point of view, are fully justified
Page 195 and 196:
small objects (chimpanzee, monkey,
Page 197 and 198:
The unexpected discovery here is th
Page 199 and 200:
on its back. It must be stressed he
Page 201 and 202:
This cannot be explained solely on
Page 203 and 204:
spiders being nasty, hairy things.
Page 205 and 206:
symbolically, scientifically or aes
Page 207 and 208:
tendencies; that if we have to beco
Page 209 and 210:
Heart-beat response: Salk, 1966. Gr
Page 211 and 212:
BIBLIOGRAPHY AMBROSE, J. A., `The s
Page 213 and 214:
MILES, W. R., 'Chimpanzee behaviour
Page 215:
Mimikry der Primaten'. Die Naturwis
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THE NAKED APE

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