Women who have casual sex may suppress their ability to have orgasms.
Dr Susan Turner, 72, said in her 40 years as a GP she observed that women she treated who had casual sexual encounters often had problems in climaxing later in life when they have more committed relationships.
Writing in a letter to the Times, Dr Turner, of Cornwall, wrote: ‘When females achieve orgasm, oxytocin is released. This is the so-called “bonding” hormone. In my experience of more than 40 years as a GP, girls who treat sex as casual recreation subconsciously learn not to orgasm in order to avoid this. The result is often difficult later on with this when they move into committed relationships.
‘In this respect I think the sexes are truly different and that pressure put on girls to behave in this way is wrong.’