biology

Human female sexuality

Human female sexuality is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Human female sexuality rather than just read about it. In short: Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sexual activity. Various aspects and dimensions of female sexuality, as a part of human sexuality, have also been addressed by principles of ethics, morality, and theology.

Key takeaways

Human female sexuality belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Human female sexuality to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Human female sexuality from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sexual activity. Various aspects and dimensions of female sexuality, as a part of human sexuality, have also been addressed by principles of ethics, morality, and theology. In almost any historical era and culture, the arts, including literary and visual arts, as well as popular culture, present a substantial portion of a given society's views on human sexuality, which includes both implicit (covert) and explicit (overt) aspects and manifestations of feminine sexuality and behavior. In most societies and legal jurisdictions, there are legal bounds on what sexual behavior is permitted. Sexuality varies across the cultures and regions of the world, and has continually changed throughout history, and this also applies to female sexuality. Aspects of female sexuality include issues pertaining to body image, self-esteem, personality, sexual orientation, values and attitudes, gender roles, relationships, activity options, and communication. While most women are heterosexual, and attracted only to men, significant minorities are homosexual (lesbian) or varying degrees of bisexual. Bisexual females are more common than bisexual males.

Physiological

General Sexual activity can encompass various sexually stimulating factors (physiological stimulation or psychological stimulation), including sexual fantasies and different sex positions, or the use of sex toys. Foreplay may precede some sexual activities, often leading to sexual arousal of the partners. It is also common for people to be sexually satisfied by being kissed, touched erotically, or held.

Orgasm

Orgasm, or sexual climax, is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual tension during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic muscular contractions in the pelvic region characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure. Women commonly find it difficult to experience orgasms during vaginal intercourse. Mayo Clinic states: "Orgasms vary in intensity, and women vary in the frequency of their orgasms and the amount of stimulation necessary to trigger an orgasm." Additionally, some women may require more than one type of sexual stimulation in order to achieve orgasm. Clitoral stimulation in normal copulation happens when the thrusting of the penis moves the clitoral hood and labia minora, extending from the clitoris. Orgasm in women has typically been divided into two categories: clitoral and vaginal (or G-spot) orgasms. 70–80% of women require direct clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm, though indirect clitoral stimulation may also be sufficient. Clitoral orgasms are easier to achieve because the glans of the clitoris, or clitoris as a whole, has more than 8,000 sensory nerve endings, which is as many (or more in some cases) nerve endings as are present in the human penis or glans penis. As the clitoris is homologous to the penis, it is the equivalent in its capacity to receive sexual stimulation. Although orgasms by vaginal stimulation are more difficult to achieve, the G-spot area may produce an orgasm if properly stimulated. The G-spot's existence, and existence as a distinct structure, is still under dispute, as its reported location can vary from woman to woman, appears to be nonexistent in some women, and it is hypothesized to be an extension of the clitoris and therefore the reason for orgasms experienced vaginally. Women are able to achieve multiple orgasms due to the fact that they generally do not require a refractory period like men do after the first orgasm. Although it is reported that women do not experience a refractory period and thus can experience an additional orgasm, or multiple orgasms, soon after the first orgasm, some sources state that both men and women experience a refractory period because, due to clitoral hypersensitivity or sexual satisfaction, women may experience a very small period after orgasm in which further sexual stimulation does not produce excitement. Nipples can be sensitive to touch, and nipple stimulation can incite sexual arousal. Few women report experiencing orgasm from nipple stimulation. Before Komisaruk et al.'s functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) research on nipple stimulation in 2011, reports of women achieving orgasm from nipple stimulation relied solely on anecdotal evidence. Komisaruk's study was the first to map the female genitals onto the sensory portion of the brain; it indicates that sensation from the nipples travels to the same part of the brain as sensations from the vagina, clitoris and cervix, and that these reported orgasms are genital orgasms caused by nipple stimulation, and may be directly linked to the genital sensory cortex ("the genital area of the brain").

Sexual attraction

Women, on average, tend to be more attracted to men who have a relatively narrow waist, a V-shaped torso, and broad shoulders. Women also tend to be more attracted to men who are taller than they are, and display a high degree of facial symmetry, as well as relatively masculine facial dimorphism. Based on contemporary research and surveys, women, regardless of sexual orientation, are just as interested in a partner's physical attractiveness as men are.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Human female sexuality

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Human female sexuality claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Human female sexuality before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Human female sexuality ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Human female sexuality

In research: Human female sexuality appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Human female sexuality in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Human female sexuality is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Evolutionary psychology, Human sexuality, Women and sexuality, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Human female sexuality outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Human female sexuality in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Human female sexuality means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Human female sexuality out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Human female sexuality in simple terms?

Why does Human female sexuality matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Human female sexuality?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Human female sexuality.