Male and Female Sexual Response

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Male and Female Sexual
Response

• D. Kim Openshaw, Ph.D. LCSW, LMFT
• Department of Family and Human Development

Arousal
Response
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Male Sexual Response Cycle
Transition
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Female Sexual Response Cycle
Transition
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Phases of the Sexual Response Cycle

• Transition
• The psychophysiological readiness of the
  individual.
• Excitement
• The recognized first stage. Engorgement of the
  sexual organs (vasocongestion). Increases in
  muscle tension (myotonia), heart rate, and blood
  pressure occur.

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Excitement Phase of the Male Sexual Response Cycle
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Unaroused Phase of the Female Sexual Response
Cycle
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Excitement Phase of the Female Sexual Response
Cycle
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Excitement Phase of the Female Sexual Response
Cycle
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Phases of the Sexual Response Cycle

• Plateau
• Sexual tension continues to mount. Muscle
  tension, hart rate, blood pressure, and
  vasocongestion increase.

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Plateau Phase of the Male Sexual Response Cycle
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Plateau Phase of the Female Sexual Response Cycle
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Phases of the Sexual Response Cycle

• Orgasm. A series of muscular contractions of the
  pelvic floor muscles occurring at the peak of
  sexual arousal.
• Male Response
• Emission Phase of Orgasm. Seminal fluid is
  gathered in the urethral bulb, a process
  accompanied by a subjective sense that orgasm is
  inevitable.

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Emission Phase of the Male Sexual Response Cycle
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Phases of the Sexual Response Cycle

• Orgasm
• Expulsion phase. Semen is expelled out of the
  penis by muscular contractions.

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Orgasmic Phase of the Male Sexual Response Cycle
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Orgasmic Phase of the Female Sexual Response Cycle
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Orgasmic Phase of the Female Sexual Response Cycle
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Phases of the Sexual Response Cycle

• Resolution
• The final phase in which the sexual systems
  return to their nonexcited state.
• Males have a refractory time period, a period of
  time following orgasm in which the male cannot
  experience another orgasm.

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Resolution Phase of the Male Sexual Response Cycle
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Resolution Phase of the Female Sexual Response
Cycle
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Resolution Phase of the Female Sexual Response
Cycle
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Phases of the Female Sexual Response Cycle
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Some Differences Between the Sexes
What do you think are some of the
significant differences between the sexes in
sexual response patterns?
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Some Differences Between the Sexes

• What do you think are some of the significant
• differences between the sexes in sexual
• response patterns?
• Greater Variability in Female Response
• The Male Refractory Period
• Multiple Orgasms

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Sexual Response A Beginning to an End?
How did I become me ? The Evolution of
Gender