Sexual arousal

Sexual arousal is the process and state of an animal being ready for sexual intercourse.

Table of contents

1 Human sexual arousal

1.1 Causes of human sexual arousal
1.2 Signs of human sexual arousal
1.3 Homophobia and sexual arousal

2 Sexual arousal in other animals
3 Related topics

Human sexual arousal

Unlike most other animals, human beings of both sexes are potentially capable of sexual arousal throughout the year, and there is therefore no human "mating season". Things that precipitate human sexual arousal are commonly known as turn-ons.

Causes of human sexual arousal

The sight, smell, warmth and touch of a (potential) sexual partner
Sexual foreplay
Erotic thoughts, fantasies or dreams
Presence of fetishised objects
pornography
erotica
masturbation
sexual role-playing
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Signs of human sexual arousal

Common to both sexes:

increased blood supply and respiration rate

Male sexual arousal:

penile tumescence and erection
- an instrument for measuring this is the penile plethysmograph (PPG) [1]
emission of pre-ejaculatory fluid (Cowper's fluid) from the bulbourethral glands

Female sexual arousal:

lubrication of the vagina by the Bartholin's glands
hardening of the nipples

Homophobia and sexual arousal

Psychoanalytic theory has long held that homophobia is the result of repressed homosexual desires. A study showed that more homophobic heterosexual men (80%) showed signs of arousal from being shown images of homosexual sex than non-homophobic heterosexual men (34%). See 'Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?'. The two groups were, however, aroused to the same degree by heterosexual imagery and lesbian imagery. The authors noted as a competing explanation that anxiety also produces arousal and might be responsible for the difference, so further research should test the two competing explanations.

Sexual arousal in other animals

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