Perceived Arousal

In the last couple of posts, I've discussed the subtleties of female arousal and the connection between mind and body. As a result of these dynamics, women are often unaware of their bodies' sexual responses. As it turns out, however, women's genitals are amazingly responsive to a variety of sexual stimuli and are even less discriminating in their responses than men!

Studies on men's and women's responses to pornographic images have shown that men are aroused only by images that fit their sexual orientation and interests while women exhibit immediate genital arousal in response to films of sexual activity, regardless of who is engaging in it. Women even registered a genital response to films of bonobos mating, whereas men did not.

Despite genital arousal, women in these studies often report feeling no sexual response to the films whatsoever. Mary Roach concludes that "...it is the mind that speaks a woman's heart, not the vaginal walls." In other words, lubrication can occur with no sense of emotional or sexual arousal, and it's perceived arousal that feeds sexual interest.

Bottom line, a woman's mind and emotions play a more significant role in sexual arousal than the response of her genitalia. But it's still nice to know that the genitals are so responsive. Sometimes the body has a wisdom of its own.