Measurement of female sexual arousal

I've read description of scientific studies of sexuality where male arousal is measured using the diameter of the penis.

For females, I think I've seen mention of measurement of vaginal moisture (but how? conductivity?), but surely this is imprecise in time (the wetness stays after the female is no longer aroused). Are there methods based on measuring inflation of the clitoris?

A couple of excerpts from Wiki and another source that collects medical reference data. The latter mentions that clitoral photoplethysmography (measuring blood flow in the clitoris) is one method.

"Vaginal photoplethysmography (VPG, VPP) is a technique using light to measure the amount of blood in the walls of the vagina. The device that is used is called a vaginal photometer. The device is used to try to obtain an objective measure of a woman's sexual arousal. There is an overall poor correlation (r = 0.26) between women's self-reported levels of desire and their VPG readings.[1]"

"In the past 10 years, VPP, ultrasonography, temperature measurement via thermistors and thermographic cameras, magnetic resonance imaging, laser Doppler imaging, and labial and clitoral photoplethysmography have all been used to assess sexual response."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaginal_photoplethysmograph

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-013-0010-6

I'm fascinated by the female anatomy. I love the subject of anatomy in general, but a women's body is truly a wonder.

I've been reading into this subject of female arousal as it particularly intrigues me, how my body works and goes through those stages of arousal.

Check out this find: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167876008008404

They also have a labial thermistor they used in this study, along with the photoplethysmography.

It would be fascinating to partake in these studies. Though that would take someone with time which we are not always afforded. Interesting topic, nonetheless. It's always fun learning and understanding as then, when we as the patient go in for an exam, we can come equipped with some understanding and questions for the doc. 🙂

I would love to know my states of arousal before, during, and after my teen exams. The real ones with my pediatrician and play ones with my friend Caroline. ☺️

Years ago there was a study at a Dutch university about female and male sexual arousal.

For both sexes the test taken was the same.

Each person was seated in a blinded room (so full privacy).

The males had a measuring device around their penis, measuring the hardness of his penis.

The females had a sort of glass tampon inserted into their vagina, measuring the blood stream through their vaginal walls. @Rigel also mentioned such a device in his reaction.

Each test person had to look at a sex video over and over again.

They had to respond with a button how aroused they felt. Also the arousal was measured by the device.

So with the button it was more how aroused they felt. The device measured the actual arousal of the body.

After seeing the video over and over again, both males and females reported being less aroused. The button was used less and eventually not used anymore.

The males showed a one on one relation between the button and the hardness of the penis. Not being aroused also means not having a hard penis.

The females didn't show that relation at all. Not being aroused, still have a higher blood circulation in their vaginal walls.

The conclusion of this study was that the female body prepares itself for intercourse when a sexual content is displayed. This would also explain why females that sexual molested, show signs of arousal during this. Sorry for this hard conclusion, it is not ment to harm someone.

This would also explain why females that sexual molested, show signs of arousal during this. Sorry for this hard conclusion, it is not ment to harm someone.

Thank you @Doctor_Rob ,that explains a lot, and if I had known this at the time it would have spared me years of guilt.

The conclusion of this study was that the female body prepares itself for intercourse when a sexual content is displayed. This would also explain why females that sexual molested, show signs of arousal during this. Sorry for this hard conclusion, it is not ment to harm someone.

I heard the same in a program talking about sexual abuse of women. The body parts respond as a reflex even if the human mind is appalled and traumatised. They said attackers sometimes use the female's response to 'mess with their heads', i.e by saying that they're obviously enjoying this experience, that they can't deny their physical reactions.

Analogously, I guess that if someone forces poison into your throat, it's going to get swallowed down just because that's the reflex that always happens, whatever your mind thinks.

Is clitoral response better correlated than vaginal?

I love this topic. After reading the great responses and the references I was amazed by how many ways have been devised to measure the degree to which my pussy is ready for fun (and my pussy was pleased to know that anybody cared). Turns out though, that sexual arousal is more of a state of mind - a “feeling” - which of course is the interpretation of the signals from the genitals and elsewhere - made by the brain. In women, the state of the genitals is a rather inconsistent indicator of the level of sexual arousal felt by the brain. Apparently, in men the genital state is much better correlated to the brain’s sexual arousal. See @Shygirl17, @Rigel, and @doctor rob and their references for information on measurement and the differences between female/male.

I suppose it should not be surprising, but only reasonable, for women not to go for sex every time their pussy notifies the brain that it’s ready, but instead to be a bit choosy about with whom and when they have sex. After all, in the paleo-days the woman was the only one who could provide food for the little result and for the most part she provided it’s care thereafter - the amount of help from the male partner, then as now, being quite variable. But just to be sure we don’t forget to be prudent, it was baked into our genes by partially decoupling genital signals from the brain’s sexual arousal. Thus, some time was provided for serious thought (or something like that - lol). I am guessing that popular culture provides some conformation to this idea; in that, when men get into trouble by some problematic sexual behavior it is commonly said that “he was thinking with the wrong head”. I can’t think of a similar expression for women in the same context.

This fundamental difference in women and men has important implications for understanding responses to coerced sex. It demolishes (as pointed out by several posts) the idea that if a woman’s genitals show signs of arousal - then she must have been enjoying the “experience”. It may also be a factor in explaining why, in the conjugal bed, it may take more time and foreplay for the woman to be sufficiently aroused to satisfactorily complete the act than it does for the male partner. It would be very interesting to continue to hear other’s thoughts on this whole subject.

@HerBottomsUp Do I understand it correctly that vaginal moisture does not imply arousal, but that clitoris erection does imply it?

@Pecan_nutjob. I'm not sure of the answer to your question, Pecan, I will have to ask my clitoris. Hold on. Sorry, my clit was mum on the subject!

Doesn't all sex start and finish in the mind?