Similarities and Differences in Our Sexual Responses

1. Similarities and Differences in Our Sexual Responses Measurement of Sexual Responses Models of Sexual Response Men’s Sexual Response Cycle Women’s Sexual Response Cycle Controversies About Orgasm Penis Size: Does it Matter? Sexuality and People With Disabilities

2. Measurement of Sexual Responses • Masters and Johnson recorded over 10,000 sexual episodes leading to orgasm. This included people engaged in masturbation, intercourse, and oral-genital sex. Many subjects were observed dozens of times in order to determine the variability in their responses.

3. Models of Sexual Response • Masters and Johnson described the physiological responses that take place in men and women as occurring in four phases: • (1) excitement, • (2) plateau, • (3) orgasm, and • (4) resolution. They referred to this response pattern as the sexual response cycle.

4. The focus of the older modes was on genital responses, whereas the newer models emphasize the greater complexity of women’s responses.

5. Desire • The addition of a desire phase has been very popular with many sex therapists, particularly those who feel that the subjective aspects of sexual responsiveness are as important as the physiological responses.

6. Sexual response cycle- The physiological responses that occur during sexual arousal, which many therapists and researchers have arbitrarily divided into different phases. • Desire- A state that “is experienced as specific sensations which move the individual to see out, or become receptive to sexual experiences.” • Vasocongestion- The engorgement of tissues with blood.

7. Vasocongestion refers to tissues becoming engorged with blood, and myotonia refers to a buildup of energy in nerves and muscles, resulting in involuntary contractions. • Myontonia- A buildup of energy in nerves and muscles resulting in involuntary contractions.

8. Excitement phase- The first phase of the sexual response cycle as proposed by Masters and Johnson. The first sign is vasocongestion of the penis, leading to erection. • Plateau phase- The second phase of the sexual response cycle proposed by Masters and Johnson. Physiologically, it represents a high state of arousal.

9. Excitement (Arousal) • Vasocongestion of the penis results from nerve impulses causing dilation of the arteries that carry blood to the penis. • The more important of the two is located in the lowest part of the spinal cord. • Nerve impulses caused by stimulation of the penis travel to this center, which then sends nerve impulses back to the penis in a reflex action.

10. The nerve impulses release a chemical in the penis that causes the smooth muscles in the spongy tissue to relax, allowing dilation of the arteries. • A second erection center, located higher in the spinal cord, also receives impulses originating in the brain, and thus it too contributes to psychologically caused erections.

11. Plateau • The plateau phase is a period of high sexual arousal that potentially sets the stage for orgasm. In some men this phase may be quite short; in others it may last a long time.

12. Orgasm • Researchers can measure the contractions, but they cannot measure the pleasure. • Ejaculation- The expulsion of semen from the body. • Resolution- It refers to a return to the unaroused state. • Orgasm refers to the subjective pleasurable sensations, while ejaculation refers to the release of semen from the body.

13. Resolution • In men, this involves a loss of erection, a decrease in testicle size, movement of the testicles away from the body cavity, and disappearance of the sex flush in those who have it. • Loss of erection is due to the return of normal blood flow to the penis.

14. Women’s Sexual Response Cycle • Masters and Johnson recognized three major variations in the female sexual response cycle: • Women could experience an orgasm by resolution, • two or more orgasms in rather quick succession, • or reach plateau without achieving orgasm. • Masters and Johnson’s model for women is similar to their model for men in its emphasis on physiology and genital arousal.

15. More recently, feminist scholars have emphasized the role of intimacy needs, • the relational context of arousal, • and cognitive interpretation of sexual stimuli in women’s sexual responsiveness.

16. Desire • “sexual desire as a spontaneous force that itself triggers sexual arousal.” • Refractory period- In men, the period of time after an orgasm in which their physiological responses fall below the plateau level

17. Desire (women) • Is driven by the need for a relationship and intimacy. • These are “desire for • (a) feeling valued by one’s partner, • (b) showing value for one’s partner, • (c) providing nurturance to one’s partner • (d) obtaining relief from stress, • (e) enhancing feelings of personal power, • (f) experiencing the power of one’s partner, • (g) experiencing pleasure, and • (h) procreating.”

18. Excitement (Arousal) • Masters and Johnson’s description of what occurs during the excitement phase. The vaginal walls become engorged with blood, and the pressure soon causes the walls to secrete drops of fluid on the inner surfaces. • Although lubrication makes vaginal penetration easier and prevents irritation during thrusting,it does not mean that she is emotionally, or even physically, ready to begin sexual intercourse.

19. The walls of the vagina, which are collapsed in the unstimulated state, begin to balloon out, and the cervix and uterus pull up, thus getting the vagina ready to accommodate a penis. • The clitoris becomes more prominent during the excitement phase than at any other time. • For many women, it is the relational context that is important—“emotional closeness, bonding, commitment,…and desire to share physical sexual pleasure—for the sake of sharing more than for satisfying sexual hunger.

20. Plateau • These tissues become greatly engorged with blood and swell, a reaction that Masters and Johnson call the orgasmic platform. • First, the clitoris pulls back against the pubic bone and disappears beneath the clitoral hood. • Second, the breasts, and particularly the areola, become engorged with blood and swell, increasing in size from 20 to 25% in women who have not breast-fed a baby and to a lesser extent in those who have.

21. Third, the secretion of fluids from the vaginal walls may slow down if the plateau phase is prolonged.

22. Orgasm • Like men, women also had rhythmic muscular contractions in specific tissues that were initially 0.8 seconds apart. • These tissues included the outer third of the vagina, the uterus, and the anal sphincter muscles.

23. Resolution • At some point after a single orgasm or multiple orgasms, a woman’s responses will start to fall below plateau level and return to normal. The blood drains from the breasts and the tissues of the outer third of the vagina, the sex flush disappears, the uterus comes down, and the vagina shortens in width and length. The clitoris returns to its normal position within seconds, but the glands may be extremely sensitive to touch for several minutes.

24. Are All Women Capable of Orgasm During Sexual Intercourse? • Laumann and colleagues found that 75% of married and 62% of single women usually or always had an orgasm during sexual intercourse.

25. How Many Types of Female Orgasm are There? • Several studies have found that women subjectively distinguish between orgasms caused by clitoral stimulation during masturbation and orgasms during intercourse. • The Grafenberg (G) spot was first described by the German gynecologist Ernst Grafenberg in the 1940s.

26. There is one thing that all sex therapists agree on today—that one type should not be viewed as infantile, immature, or less important and another type as mature, authentic, or more important. “The liberated orgasm is any orgasm a woman likes.”

27. Sexuality and People With Disabilities • “Regardless of their specific disabilities, persons with mental retardation are individuals with sexual feelings who develop physically at a rate comparable to that of normal young adults and respond to many of the same sexual stimuli and situations as do persons without mental retardation.”

28. A more realistic approach is to provide sexuality education to both persons with mental disabilities and to their service providers. • People with hearing or vision impairments also have sexual desires and needs that should not be ignored by family, educators, and health-care providers.