Be a slut

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 9:03 AM on November 9, 2006.

Feministing's Jessica Valenti, undoubtedly depressed at this distinctly anti-abstinence finding, writes:

Scientists say that promiscuity can increase women’s chances of having healthier babies.

Promiscuity in some mammals results in greater competition between sperm, with the winner having the best genes.

In controlled tests, each of 17 female marsupials mated with the same three males. In another group, 19 females were forced to be monogamous and take only one mate.

After the offspring were born, the more polyandrous females were found to have young attached to every teat.

The proportion of each litter that survived was three times greater for the females that had mated with several partners.

In fact, and this is hysterical to me, "scientists claim that, in chimpanzees, the female reproductive tract becomes a battlefield between competing sperm… There is even evidence 'kamikaze sperm' sacrifice themselves by blocking other sperm."

What are the chances of the Catholic Church massaging this into the doctrine? Give it a millennium. (Feministing)

Tagged as: feminism, reproductive rights, abstinence, biology

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.