Women's Sexual ExperiencesIndividual Interpretations of the Sexual ExperienceAs one reads the descriptions the women give of their intercourse experiences, it becomes apparent that each tells a different story with its own special dramatic quality and significance. Each woman perceives the events of intercourse within the context of her own unique problems and expectations. Although no attempt is made to analyze quantitatively the nature of the "self-presentations" in the intercourse descriptions, an impressionistic summary is offered of what seem to be the most common themes. 1. Some women present sex and intercourse primarily as a great adventure in which there are new experiences and sensations to be sampled. Emphasis is placed upon the range of sexual positions used, the novelty of some of the sensations aroused, and the potential for unlimited exploration by each spouse of the other spouse's body. 2. Related to this first theme is the perception of sex and intercourse as a means of attaining ecstasy or going on a "trip" in which there are strange sensations and loss of identity. Included in this category are those who wish to ascribe a religious or mystical quality to sexual arousal. 3. For some women sex and intercourse is an opportunity to prove their superior prowess in an activity that is highly valued. They dwell on their responsiveness, their ability to attain multiple orgasms, and the fact that they exceed their husbands in sexual capacity. The giving of sexual pleasure seems similar, and is certainly important for many women. 4. Another theme found in the intercourse descriptions portrays penetration and thrusting primarily as an opportunity for intimacy and blending oneself with a sex partner. Much is said about closeness, skin contact, cuddling, and feeling unbelievably united to another human being. The process of joining sexually with someone is depicted as comforting and anxiety allaying. 5. A troubled martyred stance appears in some. The women in this category see intercourse as either painful or unpleasant. They picture themselves as victims of an inability to respond adequately to sexual stimulation. They dwell on their irritability during intercourse and their anticipation of ultimate frustration. 6. One interesting group characterizes sexual excitement as almost too intense to tolerate. They refer to their state of sexual arousal as painfully intense and suggest that they can barely control the sexual tension that builds up during ways for a woman to reach orgasm during sexual intercourse. Illustratively, one woman said that when she became highly aroused sexually she was "ready to climb the walls." Reference is also made to excited body areas feeling "sore" and oversensitive, especially the clitoris and the vagina after thrusting. Sexual excitement seems to be regarded as a force greater than self, which has potential overwhelming and disorganizing properties. 7. There are also those who adopt a no-nonsense "businesslike" attitude. They describe sexual intercourse as a routine, well-practiced procedure that provides adequate sexual gratification, but which is simply one of a number of other important life activities. Several of the women who conveyed this idea indicated that shortly after intercourse they often resume some household task or work that needs to be done. 8. Those who experience sexual intercourse as a reaffirmation of feminine identity should also be mentioned. They speak of how "womanly" they feel during and after sexual arousal. They experience sexual arousal as a demonstration that a man has accepted them in the role of "real" woman. This brief review of the patterns discerned in the intercourse descriptions is not in any sense offered as a definitive classification scheme. It merely reflects an impressionistic summary of the relatively small number of responses in the sample. These categories are obviously not mutually exclusive and more than one pattern could easily characterize any particular woman. How unified are the various dimensions or aspects of a woman's sexual behavior? If she consistently achieves orgasm, does this mean that she prefers a high intercourse rate? If she has intercourse frequently does she also get a high amount of sexual satisfaction from it? Does the relative degree to which she prefers clitoral versus vaginal stimulation correlate with her ability to attain orgasm? Do a woman's feelings during orgasm predict how she will feel after orgasm has occurred? Is a woman's masturbatory behavior related to other aspects of her sexual behavior? It is possible, on the basis of the data collected, to offer answers to such specific questions as well as the more general one of whether various aspects of a woman's sexual behavior can be consistently predicted from other aspects. This involves looking at the interrelationships of the primary measures of sexual behavior and response that were obtained. Orgasm ConsistencyWhat does one find when the correlations of orgasm response consistency with other sexual indices are examined? Does the consistency with which a woman experiences orgasm during intercourse correlate with other aspects of her sexual behavior? To answer this question the correlations of the orgasm consistency index with the range of other sexual indices were analyzed across seven different samples. The arbitrary convention is adopted here and in other data analyses that follow in this chapter of considering that noteworthy correlations exist only when they are statistically significant (.05 level) or borderline so (namely, .10 level) in at least 50 percent of the women studied. The positive findings pertaining to orgasm capacity may be summarized as follows. The greater a woman's orgasm consistency the more likely she is: To rate herself as being high in sexual responsiveness. To indicate that she feels satisfied after orgasm. To describe her orgasms as being of high strength. To experience more than one orgasm in an
hour period. Intercourse Frequency and Sexual Responsiveness
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