Sexology Summary

Chapter 3

• anatomy (parts of it) and physiology (if you want to know how something actually works) are not the same

Historical Perspectives

Sexual Pioneers

• Alfred Kinsey
• Opened the door for the study of human sexuality, but only told us what people say they do and not about the body functions
• William Masters and Virginia Johnson
• The role of the sexual revolution, social changes, birth control pill, finally open to learn about it before they were not allowed to talk about it
• on the one and they used simple physical measurements like blood pressure etc. on the other hand also recorded and observed specific exual responses
• they were either measured by doing masturbation manually or with mechanical devices
• Observed an estimated 10,000 complete sexual response cycles
• for 30 years they kept on studying, tried to help people gain sexual fulfillment
• Foundation for our current understanding of human sexual responding

Biology, Psychology, and Human Sexual Responding

• Nonhuman Mammals and Estrus of dogs, behavior of the male and female change
• for humans there are other reasons as well and psychology is a reason just as biology
• it is intricately connected to our psychological triggers and motivations
• Humans and Estrus
• The Role of Psychology

Masters and Johnson’s Four-Phase Model (The ExcitementPlateauOrgasmResolution Model) Three Important Points

• Masters and Johnson made some errors, but the basic conceptualization of how humans respond physically to sexual stimulation are still applied almost universally to this day
• approach to explain the process of human sexual response, encompassing four arbitrarily divided phases
• in order to explain how our body changes during sexual stimulation NOT Four Separate and Distinct Events
• effective framework for detailed description

1. Figure page 77- female response cycle tends to be more varied than the one of men

• Responses Occur In Reaction to ALL Forms of Sexual Stimulation
• Responses Occur In Men and Women

The "E" in the EPOR Model: Excitement

• blood begins to circulate into all erectile structures throughout the body, expand and stiff, called vasocongestion
• some people get a sex flush or reddening of the skin
• voluntary muscle tense- myotonia
• losing a erection during the excitement phase is normal
• for women it is the vaginal lubracation, clitoris erects, the shaft increases and the labia minora swell and might open; uterus engorges with blood, enlarges, moves upwards in abdominal cavity, may fibrillate; vagina changes shape, longer, widening out
• Sexuality and Culture: Tantric Sexual Techniques

1. open the chakras together and move energy to the main charkra in the head,

The "P" in the EPOR Model: Plateau

• at some point in the excitement phase, no additional elevation
• all erectile tissues are now full with blood; heart rate etc is high
• areolas become wider, walls of the outer one-third of the vagina become engorged with blood and thicken reducing the size of the opening, also without intercourse
• Tenting: inner two thirds of the vagina continuous to expand, creates a place for semen to pool directly under the cervix and stimulate it with hormones in the seminal fluid to suck sperm into the uterus on their journey to the fallopian tubes
• glans of the clitoris retract closer to the body and under the clitoral hood- less available for stimulation
• men pre-ejaculate fluid, additional lubrication for intercourse, flush out cleanse the urethra prior to the ejaculation

Self-Discovery: Clitoral Erection and the Myth of Female Orgasms During Heterosexual Intercourse

The "O" in the EPOR Model Orgasm

• only about 15 seconds, women usually do not get it through intercourse exclusively
• orgasm is the result of direct or indirect stimulation of the clitoris
• influencing intensity and duration of orgasm are the length of arousal prior to orgasm, the length of time since the previous orgasm, drugs, feeling of comfort and intimacy
• respiration etc increases, loss of control over voluntary muscles
• muscles in the pelvis area are contradicting really fast
• women: anus, uterus, muscles of the pelvic floor and walls of the outer third of the vagina contract
• Ejaculation occurs at two stages

1. Emission: buildup sperm and semen in the urethral bulb just prior to being expelled through the urethra; Ejaculatory Inevitability: sensation produced during the emission, point of no return, once it is in the urethral bulb the rest is reflexive  
2. Expulsion: contraction of pelvis muscles that force semen through the urethra and out of the body through the penis

• Afterglow: emotional and physical feeling of satisfaction, relaxation, and intimacy
• Women’s and Men’s Descriptions of Orgasm are quite similar, unable to distinguish whom it was from
• might also be biologically healthy (general health, pain relief, lower cancer rate, mood enhancement, longer life, greater feeling of intimacy, less heart disease, better sleep, younger appearance)

The "R" in the EPOR Model Resolution

• fourth and last stage, during which sexual structures return to their unaroused state
• also referred to as detumescence
• Multiple Orgasms for women if the stimulation continuous, might not even come to the resolution phase
• women: cervix widens slightly to facilitate the passage of the semen into the uterus and narrows about half hour after orgasm; uterus drops back down to just above the cervix where the semen is pooled if ejaculation has occurred in the vagina
• Refractory Period: men is physically unable to become aroused again
• More on Human Sexual Responding
• Variations in Orgasm
• Men and Multiple Orgasms used to think it is not possible, but apparently it is for some men but very little; usually the orgasm changes and not always with ejaculation
• women with multiple orgasms don’t think it is more pleasurable than a single one

p.86 summary phases

The G-Spot and the female ejaculation