Transcript Chapter 6 Sexual Arousal and Response

Chapter 6
Sexual Arousal and Response
Sex and Gender: some definitions
• Sex: biological female or maleness
– genetic sex: determined by sex chromosomes
– anatomical sex: determined by physical differences
• Gender: psychosocial meaning of maleness and
femaleness; masculinity or femininity
• Gender Identity: each person’s subjective
sense of being male or female
• Gender Roles: the cultural norms for male and
female behavior
ANONYMOUS QUESTION BOX
FOLLOW-UP!
Question
How does an intersexed baby come
about?
Answer
Hopefully you all learned the answer to this
in chapter 5! Intersexed disorders can come
about as a result of:
•Chromosomal abnormalities
• Klinefelter’s syndrome (XXY)
•Abnormal prenatal hormone action
• Fetally androgenized females
• DHT-deficient males
Question
I noticed many risk factors include
smoking so my question is does it
include smoking marijuana rather than
cigarettes or both?
Answer
In general, the risks of smoking
cigarettes and marijuana are different.
However, the health effects of
marijuana have been less widely
studied. Also, marijuana is frequently
combined with tobacco.
Question
If you know someone who is a heavy
smoker of cigarettes, weed, and blunts
cigars and they mix all that together but
uses the tobacco from the cigarettes
and mix it with cigars and weed, can
they get cancer? And can you get
secondhand smoke from it?
Answer
Mixing tobacco with marijuana retains all
the health risks of the tobacco (cancer,
lung disease, many others) and creates
secondhand smoke that can also cause
these effects. Marijuana itself is not
known to cause cancer, and although
secondhand smoke can be intoxicating
to people around you, it is not known to
carry health risks.
Question
Who has more STDs, males or females?
Answer
This depends; men have higher rates of
certain STDs and women have higher
rates of others. It can also vary by
country…in some countries where
prostitution is very common, men have
higher STD rates. All known STDs can
infect both sexes, so you should be
careful and protect yourself no matter
the sex of your partner!
Question
Why is there so much pain when men
hit their penises?
Answer
The sensitivity of the penis (and scrotum) is
a direct result of the number of nerve
endings in the penis. The penis is highly
sensitive to all forms of physical stimulation,
including painful stimuli! A woman’s clitoris
is equally or more sensitive, but somewhat
less likely to be injured due it its location on
the body.
Question
How common is sexual incompatibility
(big man, small woman penis/vagina)?
And are there any solutions to it?
Answer
Unfortunately, there are no good statistics on this,
but it’s not uncommon, especially among younger
women who tend to have tighter vaginas. The
solution to this problem is lubrication. Either
artificial lubricants or increased foreplay to
increase a woman’s natural lubrication will help.
Also, if a woman is tense it can cause the
muscles in her vagina to contract, worsening the
problem.
Question
What is the best way to stimulate a woman’s
clitoris during sex?
Answer
It depends on the woman! Different women like
different things. In general, the clitoris is very
sensitive, so most women prefer gentle touching
in that area. You can ask your partner what she
likes, or try different types of stimulation and pay
attention to how she responds.
Chapter 6
Sexual Arousal and Response
CULTURAL ASPECTS OF
SEXUAL AROUSAL
Western society
• Emphasis is on achieving
orgasm, usually for all
partners
• Genitally focused activities
are considered optimally
arousing
• Racial differences exist:
– 38% of African American
women reported that they
always have an orgasm
during sex with their primary
partner
– 34% of Hispanic women and
26% of White women
reported the same
Other societies
•
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In some Asian societies, sex is
intermingled with spiritual traditions,
and extension of sexual arousal is
seen as desirable (Tantric traditions in
India)
In some African cultures, female
orgasm is rare or unknown
Kissing on the mouth is rare in some
cultures (e.g. Inuit people, Hindus in
India)
A 1951 study showed that among 190
societies, only 21 acknowledged
mouth kissing, and only 13 considered
it part of sexual behavior
Oral sex is common among Western &
industrialized Asian countries and in
the South Pacific, but is considered
unnatural in most Southern African
countries
Attractiveness is not universal
• But there are some
trends:
– For women: a
symmetrical face, a
low waist to hip ratio,
full breasts and full lips
tend to be considered
attractive
– For men: a
symmetrical face,
broad shoulders and
narrow waist
The Brain and Sexual Arousal
• Cerebral cortex:
thinking, higher brain
function
• Limbic system:
emotion center;
includes the:
• Hypothalamus:
master controller of
many hormones
• Hippocampus:
important for learning
& memory
Neurotransmitters
• Brain cells communicate through chemical
signals called neurotransmitters
– Dopamine facilitates sexual arousal
– Serotonin inhibits sexual arousal
• Seems to play a role in the “refractory period” after
male ejaculation
• SSRI drugs (Prozac, Zoloft, and others) for
depression can dampen sex drive & arousal
THE SENSES AND SEXUAL
AROUSAL
The Senses and Sexual Arousal
• All sensory systems can contribute to arousal
• Touch is the dominant “sexual sense”
– Primary erogenous zones: have high
sensitivity due to neural density
• genitals, buttocks, anus, perineum, breasts, inner
thighs, armpits, navel, neck, ears, and mouth
– Secondary erogenous zones: have erotic
significance due to social conditioning; can be
anywhere else on the body
The Senses and Sexual Arousal
• Vision usually next in
dominance
• Men self-report higher
arousal than women
from visual stimuli
• Women and men have
similar physiological
responses to porn,
suggesting that maybe
cultural factors are at
play
Other Senses and Sexual Arousal
• Smell may arouse or
offend; stong
connection to the
limbic system
– Pheromones
– Body odors & fluids
• Taste plays a minor
role
• Hearing plays a
variable role
Aphrodisiacs
• Substances believed to arouse sexual desire or
increase capacity for sexual activity
– Food
– Drugs and alcohol
• Alcohol causes disinhibition, but impairs sexual
performance & sensitivity
• Also make risky (unprotected) sexual behavior more
likely
• Many aphrodisiacs not shown effective in humans
– Role of expectations
True aphrodisiacs?
• Androgens: testosterone and other androgens
boost sex drive in both men & women, but have
side effects
• Yohimbine: available by prescription to treat
male impotence, but efficacy is questioned
• Bremelanotide: currently in clinical testing to
enhance sexual desire in both men & women
– Originally developed as nasal spray, but found to cause
high blood pressure; now being tested as implantable
device
Anaphrodisiacs
• Inhibit sexual behavior
– Drugs (e.g. opiates, tranquilizers)
– 75% of male marijuana smokers report that it enhances their
sex lives, but erectile dysfunction is twice as common in
marijuana smokers; cannabinoid receptors have been found
in the penis
– Antihypertensives, antidepressants & antipsychotics have all
been found to dampen sexual desire and sexual function
– Birth control pills reduce levels of testosterone in the blood;
– Nicotine
• Constricts blood flow
• Possibly reduces circulating testosterone