Female Arousal

I've posted several times on the complexities of female arousal. Mary Roach, the author of Bonk, discovered some interesting research on the connection between a woman's mind and body. Using a device called an arousometer, a researcher studied the photoplethysmograph responses of three groups of women to erotic film clips: one group with arousal disorder, one with orgasm disorder, and a control group. The women with some dysfunction differed from the controls not in the physical changes that took place in their bodies while watching the clips, but in their awareness of the changes.

It turns out that the functional women - even those with only a small physical response to the erotic film - were able to notice and pay attention to their responses. In the dysfunctional group, many of the women had normal physical responses but didn't attend to them. These may be women who only feel aroused when there is an emotional, loving connection.

Women's sexual arousal signals are more subtle than men's. Part of the challenge for women is learning to tune in to their bodies, turn down the static, and get on the right channel.