Someone who erroneously elevates contemporary scientific ideas above pure rationalism, individualistic psychology, and sexual phenomenology will probably think that sex between men and women is ultimately about nothing but spreading genes and continuing each partner's biological line. This somewhat popular notion amounts to nothing more than a reductionism typical of those who out of sheer ineptitude conflate science with reason, psychology, and other aspects of reality. As with many other particular points, there would never be a need to specifically reflect on the fact that sexuality is only partially connected with genetics (in that genetics is a secondary side of sex at best) unless misconceptions have been introduced and popularized. Also, as with many other points that fall in this category [1], this myth is easy to refute!
Perhaps almost no one at all has sex with the literal motive of "spreading their genes." Any philosophy that reduces sex between partners to this is woefully incomplete and objectively false. There are practically always personal, relational, moral, or spiritual motives behind sexual activities involving two people--and even behind self-pleasuring, or masturbation, which can take place completely without involving others, except indirectly by the use of sensual images, videos, or memories in some cases. Anyone who has sex and does not have the conscious desire to have children as a result does not share this goal on any level, but directly hoping to have children while having sex does not even literally translate to hoping to spread one's genes.
After all, wanting a child can be about hoping for a baby that one can raise, love, and care for out of desire for companionship. Nothing about this, even if genetics is a factor in the biological and physical sides of sexual intercourse that leads to pregnancy, has any direct connection to wanting to spread one's genes! This is so blatantly obvious that most people would likely never even think of this idea except for close proximity to a culture that espouses it. It is incredibly easy to demonstrate that sexuality encompasses far more than genetics and the survival of the human species itself, as it spans an intertwined multitude of physical and mental aspects.
Sexuality has physical components, even components that themselves go far beyond anything relevant to genetics, and it also has purely mental components. Sexual attraction, desires, and thoughts are clearly psychological/phenomenological; arousal of the genitals, masturbation, and sexual activities with a partner are physiological. It should be obvious to anyone who either thinks about this on their own or has others bring this distinction up that this is the case! There is no single dimension to sexuality, even if some people only focus on or openly express one aspect of it. Sexuality is far more nuanced and multi-faceted than any one facet of it represents on its own. In short, its scope extends far beyond the passing of genes on to offspring!
The aforementioned act of masturbation in particular exemplifies how even physical sexual behaviors have no inherent connection to spreading genes on a physiological level. If this was the case, no man or woman would ever stimulate their own sex organs for the sake of pleasure, release, or comfort. None of the three pertain to passing genes to another generation in any way whatsoever. This is because sexuality includes the capacity for acts like masturbation that do not have to involve a partner and that can be thoroughly introspective experiences. Nothing about self-pleasuring or introspection exists because of a potential biological consequence of sexual intercourse, i.e. pregnancy; they can be enjoyed precisely because sexuality is not even innately about reproduction or even acts with a partner at all.
[1]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2020/06/reactionary-worldviews.html
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