Article About Female Sexuality Compared to Male's.

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My first was reaction was curiosity as to how they measured this in women, and the explanation for how they did it does not give me a lot of confidence in the results.

I do not see that there is any good evidence for assuming increase in blood flow of the kind relied on, constitutes evidence of arousal.


Nothing you posted sounded like a jerk to me.

I haven't read the article yet, but just a comment on the arousal thing.

When I find myself in a situation where I feel unsafe (including anything relative to sex in some circumstances), I can get very wet, and there are other signs of "arousal" that can come up as well. Do you consider that sex or fear? (Wetness is self defense if your body figures you're about to be raped - it reduces the pain somewhat, and I think it became an automatic response when I was a kid being abused - kind of like dogs salivating when the experimenter shows up with the dinner bell - a subconscious response.)

I personally wouldn't call it sex because it's not consensual. So with me, researchers would definitely have to take into account both physical arousal and how I felt about it. But I think men can be turned on against their will, too.

Maybe I'd better read the article.

The article pretty much confirms what you wrote.

I´m glad they´re finally researching women´s sexuality. I´ve always had the feeling that most people know very little about this.

Men don't like admitting that either.

It is arousal just not specifically sexual arousal. Arousal is a general increase in activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). It starts off in the limbic system and trigger a domino effect all of you body. This is a cycle because you symptoms cause a further reaction from the brain and so on. There is quite a lot similar between men and women into that situation.

If you soiled yourself, that doesn't have an obvious reason but it is still is a reaction.

I have found some I some odd ocd thoughts. When I was extremely stressed I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at sickening things. I wasn’t ever sexually abused though.

A man would at least have those same feelings. Don't think that all men are just going to be excited by what a woman can do.

With regard to the article:

Frankly, my penis doesn't generally "press on my consciousness" that much. Even if it did, It wouldn't mean I would think a certain way. When I was younger, for example, I wouldn't even THINK about female anatomy unless there was a pretty female that was obvious, or I was alone. I couldn't even READ the word CLIT. If I did, my penis would react before I could do anything to stop it, and it would at least be embarassing. But I didn't even have to think about sex. It was like my subconcious just thought "HEY, he's thinking about sex, GET READY!". And that really IS the way I was. I would end up finding a way to distract me, and wait for it to subside. That seemed to take forever.

The fact that they tested females and males in different ways corrupts the test. IF men and women had a common point of reference, they could then adjust the test to react accordingly. Alas, there is NO common point of reference. Even flutter could NOT, despite what flutter thinks, have an understanding of how a woman feels. Women couldn't have an understanding about how men feel. AND, if someone used one of those gadgets on flutter, after the operation, it would not be like a woman. Who is to say that they could even find a 1:1 correlation between men and women? Heck, women might get more embarassed, feel jealous, etc... and that could play havok with the device used to measure THEIR response while the male version wouldn't show a reaction at all.

Without such an adjustment, they really are grasping at straws. MAN, the kinds of things people work on. SHEESH!

Maybe not, but the first page indicates that we tend to be more truthful, at least according to the subjects tested.

Interesting article, for two reasons.

Reason #1 - I walk by CAMH 5 days out of the week and I had not idea they were doing THOSE kinds of studies there

Reason #2 - I think that the body gives the most honest reaction, but the mind is clouded by what is "socially appropriate" and some women aren't willing to admit that they are sexually aroused by things/images/thoughts that their social class/circle/society says the shouldn't be. In the end the answer they give that is ruled by the brain is censored, whereas the body signals say otherwise.

^That's the same impression that I got.

I definitely agree, but don't forget that by defining sexual arousal simply as physical reactions to viewing pictures, the research loses credibility in defining what women are sexually aroused by in truth. However, the physical reactions present options, but do not represent feasibility. I want to think that women's bodies process visual cues before their minds process the actual images, similar to facial recognition processes.

The idea that women are confined to think that certain things are attractive by social constraints, i.e. religion, class, gender, trends, media, etc. is very real, and women in arranged marriages are a prime example. Even if a woman's body does give some kind of indication, there is still more process before defining "sexual arousal" has occured in all fairness. Can you imagine being treated like you were actually attracted to everything that your body showed a reaction to? I am a sex positive person, and I am very tolerant of new ideas for social change in regards to sex and relationships for women, but I also know that women have to be respected, and that means that more sexology research will have to occur before any "real evidence" of systematic sexual abuse is brought out. Unfortunately, science is the only way to prove it, before some people will ever believe it.

^ I completely agree. I think it's a small step into a much broader subject of research. There are so many facets of it that need to be explored.

Combine that with sensory overload: Sensory overload = reacting strongly to everything in your environment -> treated like actually attracted to it and given more of it in response -> even more sensory overload = no time whatsoever to make sense of your reactions. Good reason to learn to hide reactions.

Oh yeah, gotcha, all that, plus not intelligently understanding how the body works due to lack of formal education about sexuality and/or Autistic Spectrum disorders (the overload). Then, take into account that everyone around the situation stereotypes women as crazy in general anyway. No one cares what's happening, right? It's not like any friends are there to help.

Head down, run and hide, get out of the public place, or go be alone somewhere, and face the disappointment of failure rather than be socially exploited, or worse... strange men around, and it's like they don't have to ask to play grab ass, but then it's enraging beyond description at their reaction to your body.

Later, some kind of crippling traumatic existential depression takes over and lasts for weeks because of one night, one place, and no idea why. Just chalk it up to being female, it's not like females can have Aspergers, or that gifted people ever suffer (sarcastic). Hell, I thought I was normal.

Did I say too much?