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All About Arousal: The Science of Sex
by Kendra Lee, 11.23.04
Updated October 2007
Sexual attraction is all about desire. |
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You and that special someone are snuggled on the sofa watching Heroes, and you're really enjoying this together time. But you find you can't really concentrate on the action on TV because of the actions of your body. Your breathing quickens, and your heart is pumping so fast it feels like there's a jackhammer in your chest. What gives? It's all part of what sex scientists call the sexual response cycle.
Step One: Attraction
Sexual attraction is all about desire. That's why sex scientists call the beginning of the sexual response cycle the desire phase. Two people become attracted to each other through sensory stimuli — like the way a girl's skin feels, how a guy smells, or the sound of someone's voice. Their interest grows, and they may move ahead to the next phase — excitement, which is how the body responds to desire.
Arousal: What to Expect
A number of things happen as you become aroused and your body prepares itself for possible sexual contact. In the arousal phase, your heart begins to beat faster and your blood pressure rises. The muscles in your body grow tense, and your nipples may get hard. A girl's breasts enlarge. Increased blood flow to the genitals will cause a girl's clitoris to swell and a guy's penis to become erect. Ladies, your vagina lubricates — you get wet — and fellas, you'll notice your testicles drawing closer to your body as your scrotum thickens. People with light complexions may have a sex flush — they redden around the chest and neck.
Arousal Escalates
Physical contact keeps your body at a heightened state of arousal. Sex scientists call this the plateau phase. But physical contact doesn't mean only genital contact. Though your genitals are the most sensitive part of your body, many people become aroused through kissing and touching other sensitive areas — called erogenous zones — including the back, breasts, ears, feet, knees, lips, or neck. Really, almost anywhere on your body could be an erogenous zone.
Hitting the Peak
After sufficient arousal, you may experience orgasm. This is the scientific word for the phase that people often call climaxing or "coming." The scientific explanation is that painkilling chemicals called endorphins are released into the bloodstream, causing intense pleasure and relaxation. You may feel flushed or warm, and you experience rapid muscle spasms all over your body, but mainly concentrated in the genital and anal areas. A guy's orgasm is usually accompanied by the release of ejaculatory fluid, and about 10 percent of women also ejaculate during an orgasm.
Getting There
Orgasm can be reached through almost any form of sexual stimulation — masturbation, dry humping, or vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse. (Some men reach orgasm by having their prostate gland stimulated from anal sex.) Mamy women reach orgasm through clitoral, rather than vaginal, stimulation. Other women have orgasms through either or both forms of stimulation. Men tend to reach orgasm faster than women. They typically become sexually aroused more quickly, too. But women are more likely to experience more than one orgasm or to have multiple orgasms than men are.
Some people, especially certain women, do not experience orgasm. Others have difficulty reaching it. Many have it sooner than they want to. And for many women and men, the other phases of the sexual response cycle are more important and orgasm is not always a goal.
The Cool Down
After you've had an orgasm, your body slowly goes back to its normal state. Your heart rate decreases and your blood pressure lowers. Sex scientists call this the resolution phase. The increased blood flow to the genital area subsides, and the clitoris or penis becomes soft again. You may feel quite sleepy or quite invigorated. Most guys have what is called a "refractory" period, a time during which they are unable to have another erection. The refractory period is generally briefer in younger men and longer in older men. Women don't have refractory periods and can move from one sexual response cycle to another without taking breaks in between.
We're Not All the Same
A person's experience with desire, arousal, and orgasm can vary from encounter to encounter (and during masturbation), depending on many different factors. The degree of attraction to a partner, comfort, fatigue, mood, or use of drugs or alcohol are just a few of the elements.
"Some people take a long time to build to climax; others can come right away," explains Deborah Hatchell, author of What Smart Teens Know ... About Dating, Relationships, and Sex. Some people don't have orgasms at all, and instead find pleasure in other stages of sexual response cycle.
Likewise, people may have a lot of ejaculate, a small amount of ejaculate, or none at all. "So, don't try to compare your orgasm [or lack of it] to someone else's description of theirs, because it's easy to feel like something is wrong with you if you haven't had the same experience," says Hatchell.
Remember, everyone's experience is different, and that's what makes us unique and normal! |
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