One theory is that because women have been at risk of being raped throughout history, they evolved to respond with lubrication to any sexual stimulus, no matter how unappealing. Sex researchers aren't sure why this happens. This doesn't mean that all straight women are secretly bisexual, Savin-Williams warned, just that their subjective arousal doesn't necessarily match their body's arousal. But straight women dilate basically equally in response to erotic images of both sexes, despite reporting feelings of arousal for men and not women. Gay women show more pupil dilation to images of other women, similar to the pattern seen in straight men. ![]() In women, things are more complex, Savin-Williams said. ![]() Bisexual men respond to both men and women. In men, this pattern is generally straightforward: Straight men respond to sexual images of women, and gay men respond to sexual images of men. The results showed that pupil dilation matches the pattern seen in genital arousal studies. People also reported their own feelings of arousal to each video. The videos were all matched for brightness so that differences in light wouldn't skew the results.Ī gaze-tracking camera recorded the pupils during these videos, measuring tiny changes in pupil size. These volunteers watched separate one-minute videos of a man masturbating, a woman masturbating and neutral landscape scenes. They recruited 165 men and 160 women, including gay, straight and bisexual participants. To get around these issues, Savin-Williams and his colleague Gerulf Rieger, also of Cornell University, turned to the pupils. It's also difficult to ask direct questions about sexual orientation in many cultures, Savin-Williams said. Simply asking people if a given stimulus turns them on or not is equally problematic, as people may be ashamed to admit their desires or even deny them to themselves. "Some people just don't want to be involved in research that involves their genitals," Savin-Williams said. Some people can suppress their genital arousal, or simply don't have genital responses in a laboratory environment. These measurements have drawbacks, Savin-Williams said. For men, this involves a circumference measurement of the penis, while women use a probe that measures pressure change in the blood vessels of the vaginal walls. Traditionally, researchers have studied arousal and sexual orientation by asking volunteers to watch erotic movies or pictures while attached to instruments that measure blood flow to the genitals. The dilation is a sign that the autonomic nervous system - the system that controls involuntary actions like pulse and breathing - is ramping up. In fact, Savin-Williams said, the pupils dilate slightly in response to any exciting or interesting stimulus, including a loved one's face or a beautiful piece of art. In 16th-century Italy, women would take eye drops made from the toxic herb Belladona, which kept their pupils from constricting and was thought to bestow a seductive look. The link between pupil size and arousal goes way back.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |