HAHA - totally. You can read my stuff here, here, here and here to sort of get the idea where I’m coming from overall. Basically, it’s based in an evolutionary argument: the purpose of sex is children, thus, what really turns us on about sex is the prospect of children. This is generally acknowledged in the case of women, e.g. doll play, fantasizing about having a child(ren), purchasing a housepet as a kind of “kid substitute” for the duration she chooses to forgo having a child, nesting when first pregnant, etc. And despite the lower biological investment of human fathers into their offspring - I believe this is just as true of men, though it may be less obvious.
I’m not aware of any empirical study that supports (or denies) my theory on birth cries - it is my own theory. If I were in a position to suggest to scientists things they should study, this would be one of the things I would recommend they look into. As far as the pain and danger of childbirth, I think this only goes to reinforce my theory, not undermine it. The sex act is often most exciting when performed as an act of dangerous recklessness. Why is this? I think that the reasons for this are slightly different for men and women, respectively. For men, the reasons are probably more related to the prospect of cuckolding another man… the excitement is the excitement of “biological theft”. For women, the reasons are probably more related to the prospect of mating with a more genetically excellent male. But the root cause of this excitement in both cases lies not in the coitus itself, but in the ultimate consequences of it: reproduction. Note that I’m speaking of evolutionary forces on the unconscious psyche, I don’t think people generally think this stuff through, and I don’t think Nature has the slightest interest in having people think it through.
As you will notice, I’m using a priori reasoning. I’m not saying “Women make cries during sex, therefore, I think it’s all about the birth act.” I’m saying it the other way round. Sex is, logically, all about the reproductive consequences of it. Thus, the things that turn us on about sex - such as a woman’s vocalizations during sex - do so in large part because Nature has wired our brains to be excited by them vis-a-vis the way they push our “this will produce a child” button, psychologically. I know it’s a freak theory, but so be it.
As for Student et. al. who doubt there is any biological basis for gender roles, please consult the lecture by Steven Pinker above (first 40 mins), addressing a very narrow topic but still touching on many of the key issues that go into the discussion.
Clayton -