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Human Female Sexuality
Human Female Sexuality
Female sexuality redirects here. For sexuality of non- age, self-esteem, personality, sexual orientation, values
human female animals, see Animal sexual behaviour.
and attitudes, gender roles, relationships, activity options,
Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range and communication.
1 Physiological
1.1 Orgasm
Main article: Orgasm In females
Orgasm, or sexual climax, is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual tension during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic muscular contractions in the
pelvic region characterized by an intense sensation of
pleasure.[1] Women commonly nd it dicult to experience orgasms during vaginal intercourse.[2][3] Mayo
Clinic states: Orgasms vary in intensity, and women vary
in the frequency of their orgasms and the amount of stimulation necessary to trigger an orgasm.[4] Additionally,
some women may require more than one type of sexual
stimulation in order to achieve orgasm.
Orgasm in women has typically been divided into two
categories: clitoral and vaginal (or G-spot) orgasms.[5][6]
70-80% of women require direct clitoral stimulation to
achieve orgasm,[7][8][9][10] though indirect clitoral stimulation may also be sucient.[11][12] Clitoral orgasms are
easier to achieve because the glans of the clitoris, or clitoris as a whole, has more than 8,000 sensory nerve endings, which is as many (or more in some cases) nerve endSymbol representative of the female gender.
ings present in the human penis or glans penis.[13][14] As
the clitoris is homologous to the penis, it is the equivalent
of behaviors and processes, including female sexual iden- in its capacity to receive sexual stimulation.[7][15]
tity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological,
social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious as- Although vaginal orgasms are more dicult to
[6][16]
the G-spot area may produce an orpects of sexual activity. Various aspects and dimensions achieve,
gasm
if
properly
stimulated.[16] The G-spots existence,
of female sexuality, as a part of human sexuality, have
also been addressed by principles of ethics, morality, and and existence as a distinct structure, is still under dispute,
theology. In almost any historical era and culture, the as its reported location can vary from woman to woman,
arts, including literary and visual arts, as well as popular appears to be nonexistent in some women, and it is hyculture, present a substantial portion of a given societys pothesized to be an extension of the clitoris and therefore
[16][17][18]
views on human sexuality, which also include implicitly the reason for orgasms experienced vaginally.
or explicitly female sexuality.
In most societies and legal jurisdictions, there are legal
bounds on what sexual behavior is permitted. Sexuality
varies across the cultures and regions of the world, and
has continually changed throughout history, and this applies equally to female sexuality. Aspects of female sexuality include issues pertaining to biological sex, body im-
3
an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their relatives, having sex outside marriage,
becoming the victim of rape, or dressing in ways which
are deemed inappropriate.[35][36][37]
Lesbianism and female bisexuality also emerged as topics of interest within feminism. A short-lived concept
of political lesbianism within the feminist movement led
to temporary schisms between heterosexual and lesbian
Another historical device used to control female sexual women, then rapidly oundered in the face of the accepbehavior was the chastity belt, which is a locking item of tance that most womens sexuality was not dened by polclothing designed to prevent sexual intercourse. The belts itics, but by their own sexual preferences.
were worn by women to protect their chastity, which in- Feminist attitudes to female sexuality have varied in
cluded preventing masturbation or sexual access by unau- scope throughout the movements history. Generally,
thorized males.[38][39][40]
modern feminists advocate for all women to have access
to sexual healthcare and education, and agree on the importance of reproductive health freedoms, particularly regarding issues such as birth control and family planning.
3 Modern studies
Bodily autonomy and consent are also concepts of high
importance in modern feminist views of female sexualIn the modern age, psychologists and physiologists en- ity.
gaged in the task of exploring female sexuality. Sigmund
Freud propounded the theory of two kinds of female Matters such as the sex industry, sexual representation
orgasms, the vaginal kind, and the clitoral orgasm. in the media, and issues regarding consent to sex unHowever, research, such as that done by Masters and der conditions of male dominance have been more conJohnson (1966) and Helen O'Connell (2005), reject this troversial topics among feminists. These debates culminated in the late 1970s and the 1980s, in what came
distinction.[6][27][41][42]
to be known as the Feminist Sex Wars, which pitErnst Grfenberg was famous for his studies of female ted anti-pornography feminism against sex-positive femgenitalia and human female sexual physiology; he pub- inism. Parts of the feminist movement were deeply dilished, among other studies, the seminal The Role of vided on these issues.[43][44][45][46][47]
Urethra in Female Orgasm (1950), which describes female ejaculation, as well as an erogenous zone where the
urethra is closest to the vaginal wall. In 1981, sexologists John D. Perry and Beverly Whipple named that area 5 Legislation
the Grfenberg spot, or G-spot, in his honor. While the
medical community generally has not embraced the com- The expression of female sexuality, and the circumplete concept of the G-spot,[16][17][18] Sanger, Kinsey, and stances under which an individual may engage sexually
Masters and Johnson credit his extensive physiological with a woman or girl, are subject to a variety of laws
around the world. Forced sexual encounters and sexual
work.
encounters with girl children are usually prohibited, although the age of consent diers by country, and not
all countries criminalize marital rape. In some coun4 Feminist concepts
tries there are laws against pornography and prostitution
(or certain aspects of those). Controversial laws include
Further information: Feminist views on sexuality
those which prohibit sex outside of marriage, such as
premarital sex or adultery, with critics arguing that, in
The feminist movement, and the increasing social status practice, these laws are used to control womens and not
of women in modern society, have led to womens sexu- mens behavior.[48][49] The virginity and family honor of
ality being reassessed as a subject in its own right. Dur- women still play an important role in some legal systems:
ing the 1970s and 1980s, in the wake of the sexual rev- in some jurisdictions, the punishment for rape is more seolution, numerous feminist writers started to address the vere if the woman was a virgin at the time of the crime,
question of female sexuality from their own female per- and under some legal systems a man who rapes a women
spective, rather than allowing female sexuality to be de- can escape punishment if he marries her.[50]
ned in terms of largely male studies. One of the rst such
popular non-ction books was Nancy Friday's My Secret
Garden. Other writers, such as Germaine Greer, Simone 6 Women as responsible for sexual
de Beauvoir and Camille Paglia, were particularly inusafety
ential in this, although their views were not universally or
placidly accepted. Toward the end of the twentieth century the most signicant European contributions to un- With regard to the responsibility for safe sexual activity
derstanding female sexuality came from psychoanalyti- in heterosexual relationships, the commonly held denical French feminism, with the work of Luce Irigaray and tion of safe sex may be examined; it has been argued that
Julia Kristeva.
there are three facets to the common perception of safe
4
sex: emotional safety (trusting ones partner), psychological safety (feeling safe), and biomedical safety (the barrier of uids which may cause pregnancy or transmit disease). The phrase safe sex is commonly known to refer
to biomedical safety.[51]
Since the emergence of sexual independence (in the
West), health ocials have launched campaigns to bring
awareness to the risks of unprotected sexual intercourse.
While the dangers of unprotected sex include unintended
pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs/STDs),
with HIV/AIDS being the deadliest, the use of contraceptive devices (the most reliable being condoms) remain
inconsistent.[52] Campaigns that advocate consistent condom use are frequently targeted toward women. They often place the greatest responsibility for safe sex on women
and there are several social constructions and assumptions
that are to be taken into account to understand the reasoning why.
The social construction of masculinity and femininity
play a lead role in understanding why women are commonly held responsible for the outcome of sexual encounters. Often, societies create dierent sexual norms
and assumptions for women and men, with female and
male sexuality often seen as being the opposite of one
another: for example, females are commonly taught that
they should not want sexual activity or nd it pleasurable, or have sexual relations outside of marriage, while
males are commonly taught to feel entitled to have sexual relations and pleasure and that their self-worth is
demonstrated through their sexual prowess and notions
of authority and power.[53] Sexual interactions often take
place in unequal structural circumstances in the context
of imbalance of power between men and women.[54][55]
Feminists, such as Catharine Mackinnon, have stated that
the inequality in which heterosexual intercourse takes
place should not be ignored and should play a crucial
role in policies; Mackinnon has argued: The assumption is that women can be unequal to men economically,
socially, culturally, politically, and in religion, but the
moment they have sexual interactions, they are free and
equal. Thats the assumption - and I think it ought to
be thought about, and in particular what consent then
means.[56]
Socially constructed masculinity might suggest that men
are constantly interested in sex, and that once men
are sexually aroused, they must be satised through
orgasm.[57] This drive is intertwined with the male identity and consequently creates a momentum that, once
started, is dicult to stop.[58] Socially constructed femininity might suggest the connotation of passivity, which
has impacted the cultural importance of female desire.
This is a factor that contributes to womens sexual desires
being largely ignored; because men are seen as unable to
control their sexuality, this can make women responsible
for enforcing condom use instead of the uncontrollable
male. Some scholars argue that a contributing factor in
this division of responsibility for safe sex factors is the
REFERENCES
privileged status of male desire in Western culture, as indicated by the commonly held belief that the female sexual experience is not adversely impacted by condom use
but that the male sexual experience is diminished with
the addition of this barrier.[59] They believe that this is
problematic, as the use of condoms is symbolically linked
to casual sex and promiscuity, which goes against the social norms of femininity.[60] This link is considered something that cannot be underestimated as discontinuation
of condom use becomes a test or a marker which signies
the existence of a committed and exclusive relationship,
and demonstrates trust.[51]
Others speculate that the responsibility for condom use
falling on women is not so much imposed by society, but
is instead resultant of the possible consequences of unprotected sex being generally more serious for women
than men (pregnancy, greater likelihood of STI transmission, etc.). Bacterial STIs, such as chlamydia and
gonorrhea, show that rates among women can be three
times higher than men in high prevalence areas of the
United States, and one-fourth of pregnancies in developing countries and one-half of pregnancies in the United
States are unintended.[61]
Another social idea of sexuality is the coital imperative. The coital imperative is the idea that for sex to
be real, there must be penile-vaginal intercourse. For
many women, this imposes limitations to the sexual
possibilities[7][11][27] and a condom is seen as a symbol
of the end of the sexual experience. Public acceptance
of penis-vagina penetration as central to a sexual relationship is reinforced by the focus on condom use.[62]
These ideas, male sex drive and coital imperative, paired
with the social construction of femininity, may lead to an
imbalance of the power in making the decision to use a
condom.[63]
7 See also
Birth control
Erotic plasticity
Female promiscuity
Feminist theory
French feminism
Human female reproductive system
Human male sexuality
Womens erotica
8 References
[1] Masters, W.H., & Johnson, V.E. (1970). Human Sexual
Response. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
[16] Kilchevsky A, Vardi Y, Lowenstein L, Gruenwald I. (January 2012). Is the Female G-Spot Truly a Distinct
Anatomic Entity?". The Journal of Sexual Medicine 2011
(3): 71926. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02623.x.
PMID 22240236. G-Spot Does Not Exist, 'Without A
Doubt,' Say Researchers Lay summary Hungton Post
(January 19, 2012).
[22] Daniel L. Schacter, Daniel T. Gilbert, Daniel M. Wegner (2010). Psychology. Macmillan. p. 336. ISBN
1429237198. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
[26] Dunn ME, Trost JE (October 1989). Male multiple orgasms: a descriptive study. Archives of Sexual Behavior 18 (5): 37787. doi:10.1007/BF01541970. PMID
2818169.
[12] Elisabeth Anne Lloyd (2005). The case of the female orgasm: bias in the science of evolution. Harvard University
Press. pp. 311 pages. ISBN 0-674-01706-4. Retrieved
January 5, 2012.
[25] Crooks, Robert (2002). Our Sexuality. WadsworthThomson Learning. ISBN 978-0-534-57978-4.
[13] Carroll, Janell L. (2009). Sexuality Now: Embracing Diversity. Cengage Learning. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-49560274-3. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
EXTERNAL LINKS
[50] http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=
1720&context=jiws
[32] Review of General Psychology, by the Educational Publishing Foundation 2002, Vol. 6, No. 2, 166 203:
Cultural Suppression of Female Sexuality
[53] http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/
sexual_health/defining_sexual_health.pdf[]
[54] http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/
sexual_health/defining_sexual_health.pdf[]
[55] http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/sex.and.gender/
Readings/DownSoLong--Sexuality.pdf[]
[36] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honor%
20killing
[56] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/12/gender.
politicsphilosophyandsociety[]
[37] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/honor+killing?
s=t[]
[41] John Archer, Barbara Lloyd (2002). Sex and Gender. Cambridge University Press. pp. 8588. ISBN
0521635330. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
[59] Garvey, Nicola, Kathryn McPhillips, and Marion Doherty. Trans. Array The Kaleidoscope of Gender: Prisms,
patterns, and possibilities. Joan Z. Spade and Catherine
G. Valentine. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press,
2011. 323-332. Print.
[40] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chastity+belt[]
9 External links
Maggie Wittlin, "Girls Gone Wild...For Monkeys",
Seed Magazine" (10/14/2005)
Sally Lehrman, The Virtues of Promiscuity
7
Jennifer Armstrong, Slut is Not A Four Letter
Word
Sexual pleasure as a human right: Harmful or helpful to women in the context of HIV/AIDS?, by Jennifer Oriel, University of Melbourne
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