Talk:Sexual arousal

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 August 2021 and 8 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Uambra. Peer reviewers: Zguo24, YamilBar, Guadgamero.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 09:05, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Nipples
Hmmm, I have a little problem with "hardening of the nipples" being listed as a sign of female sexual arousal. Seems to me this is a pretty widespread myth, one which might explain why men seem so obsessed with the phenomenon. In my experience, nipple hardening is very easy to bring about, just by touching, or exposure to cold, etc. This does not indicate that the female is sexually aroused. In fact, given the function of nipples, it seems unlikely. Since a baby suckling causes nipple erection, seems to me that it has far more to do with its milk delivery function, i.e. forming a firm nozzle, than anything to do with sex. In addition, male nipples become erect by much the same token, and I'm sure most men would agree that sexual arousal doesn't follow from that. Conversely, I have been in the presence of women who were sexually aroused, whose nipples remained resolutely un-erect in the absence of stimulation. I'm not saying that nipple play doesn't have a role in sex, clearly it does, but I dispute that it is per se an indication of arousal. Such stuff probably should remain in the minds of smut-obsessed schoolboys, and not become a "fact" stated in an encyclopaedia. Discuss. Graham 01:46, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I'm halfway with you. It isn't a per se but rather the reverse.... sexual arousal is one possible cause for nipple hardening. Different women have differing amounts of a sexual flush; some women have almost none, some have quite a large flush over much of their chest, neck and face. - UtherSRG 01:52, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

More external links
More external links may improve this article. Try want Wikipedia to appear Chauvinistic in it's aproach to sexual arousal. I don't have access to a vagina at the moment, but I plan on being around some this weekend. However, that might not work out. I guess what i'm trying to say is that I might not be able to add a picture of a moist vaginia to this article, so if someone else has access to one and could snap a picture, that would be great. Thanks.Jonesjim5 02:19, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

inappropriate reference
I removed this link as it goes to aroused due to aggression not sex.
 * Low arousal approach —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.88.19.146 (talk) 17:36, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Pics
I for one am tired of people trying to put penis images on every page where they might get away with it. "I could take a picture of my boner" does not indicate a serious, mature contributor, in my opinion. Evercat 13:06, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I am serious and mature. I didn't know the correct term for it, as I only learned English through friends and they always called it a boner. Please do not look down upon me or my additions to Wikipedia because I am a non-native English speaker. The picture of the boner adds something to the article that it didn't have before: a picture. One of the things that seperates the Wikipedia from a traditional reference book is that Wikipedia is more multi-media. We are not limited by sapce or size constrants as far as pictures go. Why shouldn't every article have an appropriate picture to go along with it? Some people learn well by reading, while others learn well with pictures. If any reader has a question about Sexual Arousal, the picture I added (and soon the picture of the moist vaginia) will hopefully answer it. Also, when readers think about Sexual Arousal, the pictures will equip them with a visual reference. Also, this might help rape-victims. After reading this article girls will realise that if a man is coming at them with a boner that looks like the one on the right, he is sexually aroused. This could prevent the rape of many young women who that would be the first time they experienced an aroused boner. Thank you. Jonesjim5 17:12, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

"This could prevent the rape of many young women". I still don't think you're serious. Evercat 19:07, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Not every page about sex has to have a picture of a penis just because it can. I think this attitude is at least a little childish. Evercat 23:48, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Due to your constant use of ad hominem attacks, your constant revertion of this article, and your general dislike for me, I have reverted this back to the original. Your arguements against the picture in this article seem to stem from the fact that I, as the one responsible for its adition, have a non-'serious attitude' and you even claim that I am 'a little childish.' Your main arguements have nothing at all to do with the article itself, but instead you constantly rely on unjust characterizations of my attitude for an excuse to revert my additions. This is severe anti-social behavoir leading me to question weather or not you are a vandal trying to disguise your page vandalism under the guise of a legitamate issue. If this issue continues, I am unafraid to contact Jimmy Wales and have him set the issue straight once and for all. Thank you. Jonesjim5 22:45, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Evercat. I dont think you need a big picture of someone's erect penis. I think it's completely inappropriate because many children access these articles. You could at least have a scientific picture, not some home-made porn picture. I think it's obscene and should be removed. You could even add a link to a scientific picture, instead of this.

There needs to be a photographic example. Just keep it clean,no fluids,or maybe it should only be half-erect instead of at the orgasmic stage of the process.

> Finally done as of 30 Oct 2008. There are some properly composed male and female examples on commons. Shame it took 2 years to get them.

I think the photographs are terrible. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these guys who are like "OMG kids read this!" but looking at it from an academic perspective, the photos aren't suited for the article. They both just look like semi-artsy home porn. We could do with clear (well lit) photos showing a flacid and erect penis side by side, as well as one for the female nipples and any others to highlight physical changes for arousal. Any concerns? ◄Ultre► (talk) 03:01, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

The photos could be better. Not sure if real photos or a diagram would be better (for a younger audience). Was quite shocked to see them at wikipedia. But i guess it's alright. 91.118.65.172 (talk) 04:15, 22 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is not censored 75.174.121.63 (talk) 22:59, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

Causes of human sexual arousal
This category is too vast to warrant shortlisting, which by nature would have to be subjective; better refer it to sexual arousal, attraction, or whatever the link is below it, or risk sounding silly grendel&#39;s mother 11:25, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Please edit it to improve it. As is, it is imperfect, but an attempt to help others understand. Removing it entirely because it isn't comprehensive doesn't seem like the right approach to me.

Okay but you open a big barrel of fish: how long can this list be? Where's the line between the present no. 1 and no. 2? Is foreplay, masturbation, and especially exhibitionism primarily a cause of human arousal or a result of it? Why is roleplaying there but another arousing fetish not? Is not one of the major instigators of arousal alcohol and drugs (in cultures that use them)? Now, don't you think it's best to redirect it all to sexual attraction to avoid circulating fragmentary musings on the matter?--grendel&#39;s mother 14:49, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
 * For that matter (and sorry to wax on about this but it's stuck in my head now), are there any non-humans reading this? Is it here to give asexuals a gist of the topic? The "causes" section is something that either a) needs not be covered at all because it is self-evident and entirely subjective, or b) sould be covered extensively to encompass everything. I'm for b) but I don't feel like having my wife catch me writing it. Leaving it like this is trite, like a section on "Why people eat" listing - they are hungry, they see something that looks appetising, they are trying to get their children to eat... and a full-stop after it grendel&#39;s mother 15:13, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Removed claim
I've removed the following:
 * "Scientific data shows that male circumcision may cause neurological changes in the human brain, which is suggested to lower sexual excitability (Mackey, 1997), due to decreased sensitivity (as a result of keratinization of the surface of the glans penis). This is contested "

My reasons? Firstly, the source cited didn't actually present any data, but merely claimed that it existed. Secondly, having searched far and wide, I've located only one study to investigate keratinisation. It found that the glans of circumcised and uncircumcised men are equally keratinised. I'm aware of only three studies to investigate sensitivity: again, these found no difference.

The text would need to be heavily rewritten to accurately reflect all this while conforming to NPOV and NOR. My feeling is that it's better left out of the article. Jakew 16:44, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Split
The merge between sexual pleasure and sexual arousal seems a bit artificial to me. The two are different terms: sexual arousal refers to the feeling characterized by an erection in males while sexual pleasure refers to the feeling that usually comes with the actual sex act, such as an orgasm or ejaculation. Yonatan talk 17:54, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Siderodromophilia
I've just come across (no pun intended) the above word, which is supposed to mean "sexual arousal derived from riding in trains". I'd like to put into an appropriate article but I can't quite see where. Any suggestions? -- JackofOz 05:17, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

- Presumably, it would go in paraphilias 74.12.78.68 09:56, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Famous doctor
I removed this paragraph since I cannot find a single line not only on the study but even on the "famous doctor". ''In the 1920s, Dr. Howard Flitz, a famous surgeon [citation needed], conducted a series of experiments in which he applied pressure and series of electric shocks to the sigmoid mesocolon nerve of his patients. After a few weeks many of his patients reported back that they were having trouble obtaining an erection. It has been said that damage to this nerve can cause permanent ED. This experiment would not be able to be conducted today as it is ruled unethical.''--Dia^ (talk) 08:55, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Inappropriate Pictures
I have removed the pictures as they come close to being "porn". If the community would like pictures related to this article, may I suggest medical diagrams.. Wikipedia is read by people of all ages!

Hmm, we seem to be going round in circles. Unfortunately those pictures are probably the best we currently have. The one of the guy seems reasonable enough because it seems to be a studied picture of arousal, and at least he has the blessing of not being fully erect. I agree that the picture of the woman is hardly ideal...it does seem to be some sort of porn shot. But I just took a look on commons and there doesn't seem to be a more relevant one, the others are far worse. It's all very well saying we should use something like medical diagrams, but we don't have any. Also, I'm not sure how diagrams would properly convey sexual arousal in the context of the whole body, and that's what this article is about. I'm not sure...perhaps it is just best to just have no pictures for sexual arousal at all.

-I would probably say have no pictures at all until we have something suitable

> Reckon it would be a hiding to nowhere trying to find diagrams for whole body arousal. However there is a less explicit female photograph on commons. It seems to show nipple erection (at least it does to my eyes), and it is about as "studied" a photograph as the male one from the last edit, so I've added them both in. Frankly, I think this is about as good as we are going to get image-wise for sexual arousal without tipping over the edge into porn.

>I propose we change the lead image to File:Uncircumcised-penis-wikipedia.jpg

File:Erection Homme2.jpg looks sleazy like some guy shot it in his bathroom. File:Uncircumcised-penis-wikipedia.jpg was taken in a medical setting by professionals, and it illustrates what an erection is much clearer and simpler.

picture
How about getting one of a open vagina not closed if anyone agrees please add.Markstar (talk) 06:28, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

Can we get cartoons depicting a vagina and a penis instead of pictures of real ones? Kids are also going to this website to search stuff.

Wikipedia is not censored. Family Friendlyness is not the point of Wikipedia, merely composing an encyclopedia is the goal...however, nipping the_nape.png seems unrelated, as though it was placed there by someone who likes porn. It has no caption indicating what it is for. It should be fixed, or removed.209.121.127.164 (talk) 02:05, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't think we have anything to worry about. If kids are looking for the term "sexual arousal", i'm sure they're prepared to see an image. --Exer 505 (talk) 00:22, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Kids might see body parts? OH NO THE HORROR. 74.80.58.186 (talk) 10:38, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

Add me Nirmal91 (talk) 03:13, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

SEXISM!?
Sorry for the angry-sounding title, but it is quite clear to me that this article is very 'unpolite' let's say, and sexually biased. My concerns are the following: it continually objectifies, 'most women... They like... They can be aroused... They can be touched in such places' this is unnecesary, sentences such as 'it is common for women to feel aroused etc' is much more acceptable.

Secondly, yet chiefly, this article has a section regarding sexual arousal in humans, and in females, but makes no reference at all in systems of arousal in other species and more importantly of the male sex. I think it is imperative that this article be expanded upon to include sexual arousal for males and other species in order to meet wikipedia's quality standards. 82.132.248.19 (talk) 17:36, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

NPOV
The study that is not cited here is highly controversial and inconclusive, and should not be mentioned. Many who cite this study fail to include that it also concluded that straight women were also aroused by chimpanzees having sex. Confession0791 (talk) 00:17, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Since there were no objections, I removed it. Confession0791 (talk) 05:53, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Straight women aroused by chimpanzees having sex seems perfectly plausible to me. 74.80.58.186 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 09:09, 25 November 2010 (UTC).

WP:HOWTO approach to female arousal
I recently made some changes to this article and have just reset some of the further changes made by Ewawer. In what I had written, I had been careful to summarise material from the fairly serious literature about female sexual arousal. What I have just reverted seemed to me to step over a boundary into describing how to arouse a female, and then what you might get away with doing to her after you had done so. Three phrases from the short piece of removed material that illustrate this are, "these may lead to a woman being receptive to...", "This may in turn make her more open to..." and "parts of her body which would normally be out of bounds". I don't mean to be a prude, and I have no wish to censor anything, but these phrases made me feel a bit yucky and are not encyclopedic. I have also reinstated a previous sentence about orgasm, as I feel it is best to be less goal-oriented and prescriptive about what women "would usually" do. I note that Ewawer has removed the short description of female orgasm from here, but am happy to leave the validity of that to others to decide. --Nigelj (talk) 14:51, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

How about we make the pictures collapse by default
I'd edit that functionality in but I didn't come here to see another guys penis… 98.26.81.41 (talk) 02:34, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Massive changes to the article
There have been a series of large-scale changes to this article in these edits between 5 - 9 April 2012. Most of these changes were made by two new users - and  - neither of whom had edited any other Wikipedia article before this. There are a number of problems with these edits. I was tempted to revert the whole lot to a previous version and ask the new contributors to introduce their changes one at a time so that we could discuss them and give a few tips about Wikipedia's Manual of Style and content policies as we go. I have a feeling that these users may be editing as part of some undergraduate Easter holiday project, and so we may never hear from them again. If that is the case, I think reversion might be the best solution for now. If not, there is now a great deal of work to do here. --Nigelj (talk) 16:39, 10 April 2012 (UTC)
 * 1) All the new references appear to be to individual papers. Per WP:PRIMARY and WP:MEDRS this gives us a problem as, without a lot of research by other editors, it is not possible for non-specialists to verify (WP:V is a core Wikipedia policy) whether each of these papers has been well-received, heavily criticised or indeed superseded by later research (some of the references date back into the 1980s). This is the reason we tend to use secondary sources and general or systematic reviews rather than raw research papers when writing articles.
 * 2) All the new references use a non-standard citation format that does not include hyperlinks to on-line versions of the papers. This is contrary to WP:MOS and makes verification of the new material all but impossible for those not sitting in a well-stocked university library. Citation templates are available from a drop-down on every edit page and these make for consistency of citation formats across the encyclopedia.
 * 3) This is a general-readership article about an everyday topic. Much of the new language is dense and rather technical (e.g. "Toates emphasizes the importance considering cognitive representations in addition to external stimuli; he suggests that mental representations of incentives are interchangeable with excitatory external stimuli for eliciting sexual arousal and motivation." etc). Secondary sources may have already put some of these research findings into more accessible language. This is not a complex medical topic.
 * 4) When we use the {main} template, for example "Main article: Human sexual response cycle", we expect that the main article has detailed coverage of a topic and that here we have a short summary of the material that can be found in that article. In this case, in the section Models of human sexual response, most of the material added here would have been better in the {main} article as most of it is not mentioned there.
 * 5) Quite a few WP:red links have been added to potential new articles that would explain many of the technical terms introduced here. Are we sure that these obscure topics are not covered anywhere in Wikipedia's millions of articles? Are these new authors planning on creating them soon? Is it necessary to introduce these topics in order adequately to explain sexual arousal encyclopedically in this article?
 * I agree. And they are definitely from a class, as even one of them stated. Flyer22 (talk) 20:57, 22 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Taking the time to look at these new sources, most are from peer-reviewed journals...such as Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, and so on. Flyer22 (talk) 04:14, 21 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex 5.109.45.28 (talk) 01:09, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Effects on pain tolerance?
Doesn't being aroused make you more tolerant to pain than you would be otherwise? Why it's not mentioned in the article? --TiagoTiago (talk) 07:50, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

"...out of bounds..."
The statement "those parts of their body which would normally be out of bounds" seems like an awkward way to refer to these regions of the body. I will try to do some reading in attempt to find a statement that describes these regions with less or no implication of social normalcy, which seems irrelevant to the subject matter. 166.248.83.24 (talk) 01:53, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

Image for female sexual arousal?
I am offering this image as an option for female sexual arousal. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fotomannforever (talk • contribs) 00:41, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Using sources
I’m quite aware of the fact that my adding Kazimierz Imieliński monograph to this article may not meet the policy of the English WP. On the other hand, the WP:NOENG guidelines states: "Because this is the English Wikipedia, English-language sources are preferred over non-English ones, assuming English sources of equal quality and relevance are available." The problem is that I fail to find relevant sources on this particular subject in English. Besides, I live in Russia, with the consequence that I have restricted access to the sexological literature of the west. Maybe someone is in a position to name the corresponding English sources that are more recent than Imieliński’s book. --SU ltd. (talk) 14:45, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

Lead picture
In this edit, the lead picture was swapped for another. I know this is a subjective matter, that we will never get to the bottom of, but I have to say that I prefer the previous pic. I don't see any evidence for, or even any suggestion of, sexual arousal in the painting of the woman in the water's edge. I don't think we should equate nudity, or females, or even sensual pleasure, with sexual arousal. --Nigelj (talk) 19:53, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Agreed. --TBM10 (talk) 20:17, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ --Nigelj (talk) 07:34, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

Remove images
Offensive material should be used only if its omission would cause the article to be less informative, relevant, or accurate, and no equally suitable alternative is available (Offensive material). Clearly, words are enough. Therefore, the images of sexual arousal in section 'Physiological response' should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.74.246.34 (talk) 00:11, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

Images removed
I have removed these video images as being unnecessary. I don't know if the note above refers to the same images, but the ones I have just removed do not, in my opinion, contribute anything encyclopedic to the article. Rather than simply restoring them, I reckon we should try and get consensus here on this. --Technopat (talk) 10:51, 4 August 2013 (UTC)

Linking the researchers' names
The Anome, regarding the WP:Redlinks you created here and here, are you certain that all of them should have Wikipedia articles? Flyer22 (talk) 15:16, 18 July 2015 (UTC)


 * No, I'm not. But I believe that if people are sufficiently notable in their field to be quoted as authorities in an article, they are likely to be notable in the Wikipedia sense as well, and that should be sufficient justification to create a red link. Redlinks are an essential part of Wikipedia's process, and we should have have more of them: they invite article creation at very low overhead, and they are trivial to remove later if they turn out to be superflous. -- The Anome (talk) 11:08, 19 July 2015 (UTC)


 * The Anome (last time WP:Pinging you to this section because I assume that you will check back here if you want to read replies or that this page is on your WP:Watchlist), I know that WP:Red links can be beneficial. But I also know that they can be detrimental, as I've stated in more than one section currently seen at the WP:Red link talk page. For what I specifically mean on that, see this discussion. It is common on Wikipedia to quote people who are not WP:Notable, or who are WP:Notable but should not have their own Wikipedia article per reasons made clear by WP:NOPAGE. I'm not stating that you were wrong to add those links; I was simply asking you about the need for them. I wouldn't even state that we are quoting those researchers as authorities. But, anyway, for now, I won't remove any of those links. Flyer22 (talk) 11:23, 19 July 2015 (UTC)

Picture of male arousal
May I enquire WHAT THE BLOODY HELL is the issue with a picture of a HAIRLESS male genitals?! Isn't it rather hypocritical that female genitals are HAIRLESS but that of the male counterpart is not?!

Silence means automatic consent. Should this comment remain ignored I will continue editing the article to show hairless male genitals until or unless a reply is posted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.186.96.225 (talk • contribs)


 * No, silence does not always mean consensus. Furthermore, you didn't give anyone a chance to respond. You simply went ahead and made a WP:POINTY edit, which I reverted. As for your query about the sexual arousal images, I'm sure the presentation has to do with the fact that the female genitals can be easily obscured by pubic hair while the male genitals are usually still very visible with or without pubic hair, and the current image of female sexual arousal shows female sexual arousal quite well. If you can find a female genitals image with pubic hair showing female sexual arousal as well as the current image does, then feel free to add it in place of the current one. And I don't mean a so-called female ejaculation image. The current image is hard to beat because it not only shows how the female genitals enlarge but also vaginal lubrication. Your replacement image should show the same. If it does not, it will be reverted. Your male genitals image does not improve the article whatsoever, and since men usually do not completely shave their genitals while women commonly do, your image also is far from being representative.


 * On a side note: WP:Edit warring and threats will get you nowhere. You also need to stop removing the signature from your post(s). If you don't want the bot signature there, then sign your posts with four tildes. Flyer22 Reborn (talk) 23:22, 11 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Pinging TBM10 and Versageek since, when looking at this and this edit, its clear to me that they reverted you when you edited as two different IPs and initially added a different image. Flyer22 Reborn (talk) 23:40, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

1. I was NEVER talking about 'female ejaculation'. You need to direct the correct comments to whoever talked about that. 2. My images DON'T improve the article? They are FAR from representative? Is that YOUR opinion, or did EVERYBODY vote on a general consensus? 3. Who said ANYTHING about 'edit wars and threats'? If that's how YOU think, I can't change it. But since when did I ever talk about that in MY own words? Did I ever intimidate you with so-called 'threats'? I'm sorry, if YOU see it as that way, nothing I can do will change it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.186.96.191 (talk) 01:07, 12 September 2017 (UTC)


 * I see that you were recently reverted by Jim1138. Edit warring is you repeatedly trying to add an image of hairless male genitals against multiple editors reverting you. I've already explained why the hairless female genitals image is there; it significantly enhances readers' understanding of the topic. By contrast, your hairless male genitals images are only being added because they show hairless male genitals. As for female ejaculation, per a recent edit that I reverted, I was making it clear that the image should be of vaginal lubrication and not an image of claimed female ejaculation. As for threats, you are the one who stated, "Should this comment remain ignored I will continue editing the article to show hairless male genitals until or unless a reply is posted." Flyer22 Reborn (talk) 02:17, 12 September 2017 (UTC)


 * The viewing angle of the image (2) you added is not the best; the original image (1) is more informative of penile differences. On (2), the male genitals are hairless. There is less genital hair on (1) than (2). i.e. stubble. The skin texture (2) looks unnatural as though there is some type of material on the skin. Image (1) should be used here. If you have another selection, please request input here, using wp:notifications. Thank you Jim1138 (talk) 04:14, 12 September 2017 (UTC)

"Aroused" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aroused&redirect=no Aroused] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Utopes (talk / cont) 01:04, 15 December 2023 (UTC)