Women's sexual response

Written by Dr David Delvin, GP and family planning specialist and Christine Webber, psychotherapist



Do all women have the same sexual feelings? No they don't. In actual fact, women vary enormously in their sexual drive. Some don't feel very interested in sex at all - whereas others are passionate and wild about it.

But an extraordinary change has taken place in the last 50 years or so. Back in the mid-20th century, it was generally felt by doctors that most women fell into the 'not very interested' group - and that only a few were enthusiastically sexy.

By the 21st century, all that had changed. Today, it is widely assumed by the media - and by many of the public - that most women are easily aroused by sexual stimuli and that only a minority have little interest in sex.

In fact, that isn't really true. Our research indicates that although most modern females are much more 'open' about sex, and are keen to enjoy it; it takes them time to learn how to do this.

Indeed, a small study which we completed in early 2005 indicated that a considerable proportion of young women just starting at university have thus far developed very little interest in sex (or knowledge about it), and have not even learned to reach orgasm yet. However, many of them do become very much more 'sexually charged' as the years progress.

Learning how to reach orgasm

We have found that younger females frequently have no real knowledge of the process of sexual arousal. In particular, women often need quite a lot of help to learn how to reach orgasm.

Unlike males - most of whom can 'come' easily from the moment they reach puberty - females will often spend a couple of years experimenting with their sexual feelings before they eventually learn how to come regularly and reliably.

But once women have learned to cast off their inhibitions and enjoy sex, they tend to respond to sexual stimuli in very much the same way.

What are women's sexual reactions?

A woman's first response to sexual stimulation is usually a nice, warm feeling all over her body - as she begins to let herself go.

At the same time her pulse rate starts to go up, and the pupils of her eyes get bigger. Incidentally, this widening of the pupils makes her more attractive sexually. In the olden days, drugs like belladonna ('beautiful woman') were used to produce this effect.

What happens to her sex organs as she gets aroused?

Laboratory studies carried out in Holland in 2004 show that as s soon as a woman starts thinking with interest about sex, her vagina begins to moisten. (This is the female equivalent of erection in men.)

The reason for this moistening is to lubricate her vagina, in preparation for possible sexual activity.

At the same time, various other things happen:

her clitoris - the most erotically sensitive part of her body- swells up.

her labia (the lips of the opening of her vagina) also swell up. The effect of this is to open up her vaginal opening slightly, in preparation for intercourse.

inside her, her vagina opens up - making room for the possible entry of a penis.

What happens next?

As she gets more and more aroused, her breasts will swell a little and her nipples will become more prominent. Her breathing gets faster and she starts to gasp. Her eyes tend to become glazed and she is likely to lick her lips - thus making them even more attractive to her partner.

If she is fair-skinned, a faint pink 'rash' will develop at the base of her neck and over her breasts.

And finally?

And finally, she climaxes. What generally happens here is that she experiences a series of waves of ever-increasing pleasure, till eventually the last one is so mind-blowing that she nearly passes out.

At that moment, nearly all women cry out - often very loudly! The muscles of their faces and bodies contract violently (but very enjoyably) - and then after a while everything relaxes.

So that's the end?

No, not really. These days, most women can - if they want to - go on to have further climaxes. But this will only happen if:

they are happy and relaxed

they are being skilfully stimulated

they have learned how to have multiple orgasms.

This is of course, a dramatic difference between the sexual response of females and males. Nearly all men have no chance whatsoever of enjoying multiple climaxes!

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