In recent years it has been a challenge for scientists to understand what causes sexual arousal to women, since female sexuality appears to be more complex than male sexuality.
An experiment conducted in Canada assessed the sexual stimuli that arouse heterosexual men and women. Participants in the experiment watched videos of men and women having heterosexual sex, homosexual sex, masturbation and naked exercise (no sex).
Arousal was assessed objectively, with special equipment that measured the genital stimulation of men and women when they saw the video, but also subjectively with questionnaires.
Men’s organic measurements showed that their arousal depended mainly on the gender of those involved in sexual activity and less on the type of activity. The men in the study showed significant stimulation with all activities involving women. These were, homosexual sex between women, heterosexual sex and female masturbation. Mild stimulation was recorded with the image of naked women exercising. There was no stimulation with male homosexual sex, men masturbating or exercising.
Women’s arousal depended mainly on the type of sexual activity and no the gender involved. The highest arousal was recorded in the images included sexual intercourse, milder stimulation with the images of msturbation and even milder arousal with images of nude men and women working out.
Stimulation of women did not depend on the gender of those who participated in the sexual activity: similar arousal was recorded when they saw a woman having sex with a woman, a man having sex with man and a man having sex with a woman.
This study showed that women’s sexuality is more flexible than men’s in terms of same-sex sexual behavior. This “flexibility” has been seen in previous studies of female sexuality, and has also been observed in mammals.
Organic measurements of men’s arousal agree with their subjective reports, while in women, there was disagreement between organic measurements and what they themselves reported as arousing. For example, while significant organic arousal was recorded in women who saw homosexual sex, they said that this stimulus was not feeling arousing.
These results confirm that:
- a) men’s sexuality is quite different from women’s,
- b) women are more flexible than men in terms of same-sex sexual activity
- c) women’s physical arousal does coincide with their subjective feelings of arousal
This study highlights the need for a guilt free and sincere approach towards female sexuality, every time we try to answer the difficult question of what it is that women want!
Chivers ML, Seto MC, Lalumiere ML et al. (2010) Agreement of self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal in men and women: a meta-analysis. Arch Sex Behav 39: 5-56.
