1. Sexual Arousal and Response
Anth/Soc 390
Sexuality and Gender Issues
Sexual Arousal and Response

2. Sexual Arousal and Response
Making Sense of Sex: The Role of the Senses in Sexual Arousal
Aphrodisiacs: Of Spanish Flies and Rhino Horns
Sexual Response and the Brain: Cerebral Sex?
Sex Hormones: Do They “Goad” Us into Sex?
Sexual Response

3. Making Sense of Sex
All the senses can be responsive to stimuli that enhance or diminish one’s sexual arousal.
Vision
Visual stimuli are very important to human sexual arousal and response.
Smell
Odors can be sexually attractive, or off-putting
Pheromones: odorless chemicals detected by the nose, that may induce mating behavior
Contributes to menstrual synchrony in women

4. Making Sense of Sex The Skin Senses Taste Hearing
Erogenous zones are areas of the body that are especially sensitive to stimulation such as strokes and caresses.
Primary erogenous zones have a large number of nerve endings and include the genitals, breasts, and mouth.
Secondary erogenous zones are areas of the body that become associated with sexual experiences, perhaps shoulders or backs.
Taste
Tastes seem to play a minimal role in sexual arousal and response
Hearing
Auditory stimuli can have a strong influence on sexual arousal and behavior
A person’s voice, certain music, certain “dirty” words, etc.

5. Aphrodisiacs Aphrodisiacs
Substances that cause arousal or increase a person’s capacity for sexual pleasure or response
Foods resembling male genitals
Drugs that affect the brain’s receptors for dopamine
Testosterone
Good nutrition and exercise
Novelty

6. Aphrodisiacs Anaphrodisiacs
Substances that inhibit or destroy sexual arousal and response
Tranquilizers and barbiturates, which depress the central nervous system
Drugs for hypertension
Some antidepressants
Nicotine
Antiandrogen drugs, substances that decrease the level of androgens in the bloodstream

7. Aphrodisiacs Psychoactive Drugs Alcohol
A small amount can be stimulating, but large amounts often curb sexual arousal & response
Reduces sexual inhibitions
Binge drinking associated with high-risk sexual behavior
Can create feelings of euphoria

8. Aphrodisiacs Hallucinogens Stimulants Marijuana
No proven connection between such drugs and sexual arousal and response.
Effects may depend on prior use, attitudes/expectations , and amount
Stimulants
Activate the central nervous system, but may not have specific sexual effects
Can elevate mood, which could increase sexual pleasure
Regular users may need the drug to become sexually aroused or may lose the ability to enjoy sex.
Marijuana
studies do not show sexual impact, may depend on the expectations of users

9. Sexual Response and the Brain
Brain Mechanisms in Sexual Functioning
The cerebral cortex: the part of the brain that is active when people engage in sexual thoughts, images, wishes, and fantasies.
The limbic system: structures active in memory, motivation, and emotion
Hypothalamus: Regulates body temperature, drives, hormones, and emotion

10. Sexual Response and the Brain

11. Sexual Response and the Brain
Are There Pleasure Centers in the Brain?
Electrical stimulation of certain parts of the limbic system has led to reports of sensations similar to sexual gratification.

12. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sex Hormones
Hormones
Substances that are secreted by endocrine glands and regulate various body functions
The bodies of both men and women manufacture small amounts of the other gender’s hormones.
The testes produce small amounts of estrogen and progesterone.
The ovaries produce small amounts of androgens.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

13. Sex Hormones
Sex hormones at puberty result in the development of secondary sex characteristics, which are the physical traits that differentiate males from females but are not directly involved in reproduction.
Sex Hormones and Sexual Behavior
Sex hormones have organizing influences (they influence the type of behavior expressed) and activating influences (e.g., testosterone influences the motivation to engage in the behavior).

14. Sex Hormones Sex Hormones and Male Sexual Behavior
Male hormones influence sex drive & response
Men who are surgically or chemically castrated typically show a gradual decline in sexual desire.
Hypogonadism, a condition characterized by abnormally low levels of testosterone production, results in a loss of sexual interest and a reduction in sexual activity.

15. Sex Hormones Sex Hormones and Female Sexual Behavior
Estrogen and progesterone activate changes that occur during puberty and regulate the menstrual cycle, but do not seem to influence sexual motivation or response in human females.
Women who have ovarietomies (surgical removal of the ovaries) continue to be sexually active.
Androgens appear to have more of an effect on both men’s and women’s sexual response.

16. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
Sexual Response Cycle
Masters and Johnson’s model of sexual response consists of four phases:
Excitement phase
Plateau phase
Orgasmic phase
Resolution phase
Both women and men experience vasocongestion (swelling of the genital tissues with blood) and myotonia (muscle tension) early in the response cycle.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

17. Sexual Response Excitement Phase
The first phase of the sexual response cycle and is characterized by:
Erections in men
Vaginal lubrication and genital swelling in women
Muscle tension and increases in heart rate in both females and males
Sex flush is a reddish rash that may appear on the chest or breasts late in the excitement phase.

18. Sexual Response Plateau Phase
The second phase of the sexual response cycle and is characterized by:
Increases in vasocongestion, muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure
Orgasmic platform, which is the thickening of the walls of the outer third of the vagina, due to vasocongestion
Sex skin, which is the reddening of the labia minora
Rapid breathing and heart rate, blood pressure increases

19. Sexual Response Orgasmic Phase
Male orgasms consist of two stages of muscular contractions.
1st stage: contractions push seminal fluid into urethral bulb
2nd stage: ejaculation
Female orgasms involve contractions in the pelvic muscles, uterus, and anal sphincter.
In both men and women, muscle spasms occur throughout the body and blood pressure and heart rate peak.

20. Sexual Response Resolution Phase
The fourth phase of the sexual response cycle, during which the body gradually returns to its prearoused state
Refractory period, which men undergo to varying degrees, is a period of time following an orgasm during which an individual is no longer responsive to sexual stimulation.
Resolution takes longer when people do not reach orgasm.
Blood is released from engorged areas, myotonia dissipates, and blood pressure, heart rate, & respirations return to normal

21. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

22. Sexual Response
Kaplan’s Three Stages of Sexual Response: An Alternative Model
Desire
Excitement
Orgasm
The stages are independent and their sequence is variable.
This model is notable for identifying desire as a separate phase of sexual response.
Useful for identifying and treating sexual dysfunctions

23. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Response
Controversies about Orgasms
Multiple Orgasms
One or more additional orgasms following the first, which occur within a short period of time and before the body has returned to a preplateau level of arousal
Women are more capable of multiple orgasms, by definition, than men are because they do not experience a refractory period.
Men may experience multiple orgasms if they are dry orgasms
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

24. Sexual Response Controversies about Orgasms
How many kinds of orgasms do women have?
Freud:
Clitoral orgasms – childhood fixation
Vaginal orgasms – adult, mature reaction
Masters & Johnson
Only one type of orgasm
Singers
Vulval orgasm – vaginal location
Uterine orgasm – thrusting, no vaginal spasms
Blended orgasm
No consensus yet