>>Okay, Kathy.  Can you or someone else explain the mechanism of
contractions in orgasms, then?  Is both smooth and striated muscle
involved?

Um, I dunno.

 What is the pathway leading from stimulation to muscle
contraction?

Um, I dunno.

 Is there any purpose in oxytocin being released *after*
orgasm occurs, or is it more in the line of an "accidental" release in
the same manner as a woman hearing another baby, etc?

Um, I dunno.  Though I have seen some awesome footage of what a woman's
cervix does after orgasm and ejaculation by the male -- the cervix reaches
down, opens up and "scoops up" semen to take into the uterus.  So perhaps
the oxytocin is responsible for some of these acrobatics of the cervix?
Though that would imply that all men and women have simultaneous orgasms,
which isn't bloody likely, as most women in the world seldom or never have
orgasms (search the archives for female circumcision to find those discussions).


Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University