All rights reserved. Duplication with permission only. In the history of western cultures, nothing has greater mystique than women's sexuality and, specifically, female desire and female orgasm. Women experience their orgasmic potential in many ways, and this potential is almost as varied as each individual. Clinical sexologists and sexual scientists define orgasm as an experience that affects the entire body involving pleasurable waves of energy, preceded by engorgement with blood of the genitals and nipples, and often accompanied by involuntary muscular contractions, changes in breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, skin color, as well as the release of chemicals in the brain causing temporarily altered states of consciousness.
Many women find that genital arousal is their favorite way to achieve orgasm.
For some women, arousal results most intensely from direct stimulation of the clitoris. For others, the clitoris may be too sensitive to be touched directly and stimulation of the surrounding vulval structures may be preferred. For some women, the clitoris retracts and almost disappears as it becomes engorged with excitement. For some women, genital arousal results most intensely from direct stimulation of the vaginal canal by a finger, a sex toy, or a penis. For other women, the walls of the vagina seem almost without sensation.