What Is Human Sexual Response?
The human sexual response cycle is a four-stage model of physiological responses during sexual stimulation. These phases, in order of their occurrence, are the excitement phase, plateau phase, orgasmic phase, and resolution phase. The cycle was reported by William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson in their 1966 book Human Sexual Response, where the term sexual response cycle was coined. Afterward, other models of the human sexual response cycle were created.
Human sexual response is just a clinical way of describing the things that happen to you while you’re being sexual. Human sexual response usually refers to things that we don’t consciously control. If your heart starts beating fast or you feel flush, that would be considered part of your sexual response. But choosing to take your clothes off because you’re partner is calling you to bed to have sex isn’t considered part of your sexual response (even though it’s a pretty reasonable response to feeling sexual!) Human sexual response is usually measured in the body. Things like increased heart rate, flushed skin, dilation of the pupils, heightened awareness, are all parts of sexual response. Sex researchers have traditionally distinguished male sexual response from female sexual response but this has more to do with preconceived
