1. Similarities and Differences in our Sexual Responses
Chapter 4
Similarities and Differences in our Sexual Responses

2. Measurement of Sexual Responses
Masters and Johnson recorded over 10,000 sexual episodes leading to orgasm in the 1960s.
Masters & Johnson recorded over 10,000 sexual episodes leading to orgasm in the 1960’s:
Volunteers aged 18 to 89 years old.
Masturbation, sexual intercourse, oral-genital sex
Measurements included heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, respiration and brain waives.
Penile strain gauges and vaginal photo-plethysmographs measured sexual arousal.
How did they do that?

3. Were subjects’ responses affected by the equipment?

4. Personal Reflections
Do you think it is important that we know the physiological responses that normally occur during sexual arousal? Is it important that physicians and therapists have this information? What do you think about studies that require observing and recording individuals engaged in sex?

5. Models of Sexual Response
Masters and Johnson – four phases
Helen Kaplan – three phases
Feminist Scholars – singular focus on genitals
Masters & Johnson – four phases
Excitement, Plateau, Orgasm, Resolution
Helen Kaplan – three phases
Desire, Excitement, Orgasm
Feminist Scholars – Questions singular focus on genitals
Women’s sexual responses are more complex

6. Male Sexual Response Models

7. Male Sexual Response begins…
Desire
Vasocongestive response
Excitement phase (men)
Desire – a state that is experienced as specific sensations which move the individual to seek out, or become receptive to, sexual experiences.
Vasocongestive response – engorgement of tissues with blood.
Excitement phase (men) – 1st phase of the M&J model. The first sign is vasocongestion of the penis, leading to erection.

8. Neural Mechanisms of Erection
Reflex center receives input caused by stimulation to penis
Smooth muscles of penis relax, allowing for vasocongestion
Second erection center receives input from brain
Reflex center low in spinal cord receives input caused by stimulation to penis
Smooth muscles of penis then relax, allowing for vasocongestion
Second erection center receives input from brain

9. More About Male Excitement
Myotonia Heart rate and blood pressure increases Scrotum thickens and spermatic cord shortens Testicles engorge with blood Nipple erections occur in some men
Myotonia – a buildup of energy in nerves and muscles.
Increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
The scrotum thickens and spermatic cord shortens, elevating the testicles.
Testicles begin to engorge with blood.
Nipple erections occur in some men

10. Plateau Phase in Men High sexual arousal
Penis and testicles become larger
Cowper’s glands secrete clear fluid
25% of men experience sex-tension flush
High sexual arousal or varying lengths of time.
Penis and testicles become larger.
Cowper’s glands secrete a clear fluid to make the urethra less acidic (from urine).
25% of men experience a sex-tension flush on the skin of the chest or other areas.

11. Male Orgasm: Intense Physical Sensation and Pleasure
Emission stage
Expulsion (ejaculation) stage
Emission stage
Contractions of vas deferens, prostate gland, and seminal vessicles mix sperm with seminal fluids. Feelings of “I’m coming.”
Expulsion (ejaculation) stage
The urinary bladder is closed off from the urethra.
Muscles in the urethra and at the base of the penis contract, forcing the blended semen out of the body.

12. Is orgasm just a genital thing?
What do you think?
Researchers can measure muscular contractions but they cannot measure pleasure. Personal perceptions matter.
People report a feeling of pleasure focused initially in the genitals and then spreading throughout the entire body.
Some experts conclude that the essence of orgasm lies not in the genitals but in the brain.

13. Male Resolution Phase Return to unaroused state
Physiological responses drop below plateau levels and into excitement level
Refractory period
Resolution is the return to the unaroused state.
Physiological responses drop below the plateau levels and into the excitement level
If stimulation continues, he may return to plateau and another orgasm after a “Refractory Period” during which he cannot experience another orgasm.
Length of the Refractory Period depends on many physiological, behavioral, emotional and age-related factors.

14. Women’s Sexual Response Cycle
For many women, sexual desire is motivated less by biological urges than it is by relationship and intimacy needs! Individual differences
Individuals differ in these motivations:
Feeling valued by one’s partner
Showing value for one’s partner
Obtaining relief from stress
Enhancing feelings of personal power
Experiencing the power of one’s partner
Experiencing pleasure
procreating

15. Models of Female Sexual Response

16. Excitement Phase in Women
Vaginal lubrication from vasocongestion
Labia engorges and vaginal walls balloon
Cervix and uterus pull upward
Clitoris engorges
Nipples react
Vasocongestion of the vaginal walls causes vaginal lubrication by a “sweating” effect after several minutes of stimulation.
Labia become engorged and move apart.
Walls of the vagina balloon out.
Cervix and uterus pull upward.
Engorged clitoris becomes more prominent.
The nipples erect and breasts plump up.

17. Plateau Phase in Women “Orgasmic platform” Outer vagina narrows
Sex flush of skin
Clitoris pulls back beneath clitoral hood.
Breast areola swells
Secretion of vaginal lubrication slows
Inner 2/3 of the vagina expand, uterus tilts further, creating the “orgasmic platform.”
Outer 1/3 of the vagina is highly engorged, very sensitive and significantly narrowed.
50 – 75% experience a sex flush of the skin.
Clitoris pulls back beneath the clitoral hood.
Areola of the breast swells.
Secretion of vaginal lubrication may slow.

18. Orgasm and Resolution in Women
Subjective feelings of orgasm similar to male
Rhythmic contractions of specific tissues
Some women experience true multiple orgasms
Subjective feelings of orgasm do not differ from the man’s except for a lack of “orgasmic inevitability” he feels during his emission stage.
Like men, women have rhythmic contractions of specific tissues.
Some women experience true multiple orgasms; full orgasms in quick succession without dropping below the plateau levels of physiological arousal (no refractory period).

19. Internal View of Female Sexual Response

20. Variability of Female Sexual Response
multiple organism?
really have
Do women
As many as 10% of sexually experienced women have never had an orgasm.
Only about 14% - 16% regularly have multiple orgasms, but perhaps as many as 40% have experienced multiple orgasms occasionally.
Many women report that multiple orgasms are most easily experienced during masturbation.
When orgasm or multiple orgasm as emphasized as a goal it can be self-defeating.

21. Personal Reflections
Do you judge your sexual experiences by your ability to reach orgasms or your frequency of orgasm? Your partner’s orgasm? Why? Many women do not experience orgasm during sexual intercourse. How do you think they feel about it? How would you feel if it were you? Is it necessary to have an orgasm to enjoy sex?

22. Controversies About Orgasms
Non-orgasm percentage
Orgasms with simultaneous clitoral stimulation
Biological and psychological effects and subjective feelings of intensity and pleasure
5 – 10% of women never have orgasms
About 1/3 of women do not have orgasm during sexual intercourse; of those who do, most require simultaneous clitoral stimulation.
Regardless of the type of stimulation needed to achieve orgasm, physiologically an orgasm is an orgasm.
Biology and psychology affect subjective feelings of intensity and pleasure.

23. The Grafenberg “Spot” and Female Ejaculation
Ejaculation of Skene’s glands
The G-spot, clearly identified in only 10% of women; highly sensitive dime-sized area on the front vaginal wall, under the bladder. It swells when stimulated.
% of women have experienced ejaculation of the Skene’s glands, usually in women with strong PC muscles and responsive to G-spot stimulation.

24. The “Liberated Orgasm”: Any Orgasm a Woman Likes
Types of orgasm:
Tenting; resulting from clitoral stimulation
A-frame, resulting from G-Spot stimulation
Blended
Cervical
For some women orgasm is not a short, intense release of tension, but can last for well over a minute.

25. Female Genital Cutting
Prevalence
WHO estimates
Type
Sunna circumcision or excision
Infibulation (phraonic circumcision)
Rationale
Patriarchal culture; elimination of female sexual desire; reduction of infidelity
WHO estimates 85 – 114 Million women have had their genitals cut, including large majorities in Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, and the Sudan. Many are cut in Kenya and some other African countries.
80% are Sunna circumcision or excision
Infibulation (phraonic circumcision)
Village women perform the surgery on girls with primitive tools and without anesthetic.
These patriarchal cultures seek to eliminate female sexual desire so as to reduce infidelity to secure a husband’s ownership of his wife and children.

26. Personal Reflections
What was your reaction to reading about female genital mutilation in some African and Islamic cultures? What is your view about male circumcision in the United States? What about breast augmentation operations? We do not mutilate women’s genitals in this country to deny them their sexuality. Do we deny women’s sexuality in other ways? How?

27. Can men have multiple orgasms?
Masters and Johnson model
“Mini-orgasms” by withholding ejaculation
Wet and dry orgasms
Individual variability
According to the Masters and Johnson model, men may have several “mini-orgasms” by withholding ejaculation before having a full “wet” orgasm. The wet orgasm is nearly always followed by a refractory period.
Variability among individuals must be considered; some men may experience a wet orgasm followed by “dry” orgasms.

28. Penis Size: Does It Matter?
Women’s preferences (or non-preferences) X-rated entertainment and insecurity in normal men Penis size and ethnicity
Women rarely mention penis size as a significant factor in their ability to experience sexual pleasure with a man.
X-rated entertainment worships Priapus, leading many normal men to feel insecure.
Despite popular mythology, no study has found a substantial difference in penis size between black men and white men.

29. Personal Reflections (men)
Do you wish you had a different-sized or different-shaped penis? How would you like it to be different? Why? Should the size of a man’s penis be an important factor in sexually pleasing a partner?

30. Aphrodisiacs and Anaphrodisiacs
Foods that resemble genitals
Spanish fly
Alcohol
Cocaine
Marijuana
Foods that resemble genitals – placebo effect
Spanish fly – painful inflammation can result
Alcohol – fewer inhibitions but decreased performance
Cocaine – energy, self-confidence, erectile failure and difficulty reaching orgasm
Marijuana – increased tactile sensitivity, erectile problems, lower testosterone levels

31. More about Drugs Taken for Their Supposed Aphrodisiac Effects…
XTC (MDMA)
“Sextasy” (Viagra plus XTC)
Yohimbine
Pheromone perfumes
XTC (MDMA) – euphoria, overheating, memory loss, permanent brain damage
“Sextasy” – Viagra plus XTC – pounding headaches, prolonged and painful erections
Yohimbine – helpful for men with psychologically caused impotence but little effect on men without erectile problems
Pheromone perfumes – no reliable results

32. People with Disabilities
Sexual self-esteem
Creativity and openness
Understanding partners and care-givers
Emotional intimacy
Dismissing society’s attitude
Sexual self-esteem
Creativity and openness to finding behaviors for sexual expression
Understanding partners and care-givers
Emotional intimacy
Regardless of what we look like or our physical or mental capabilities, we are all sexual beings
The greatest barrier is society’s attitude.

33. Personal Reflections
If you were to have an accident and become physically disabled, do you think you would still want to hug, hold, kiss, and share affection (and have sex, if possible) with your partner? How do you presently react when you see a person with disabilities engaging in these behaviors?