1. 興奮期 若干基本的觀察結果  不僅男性而且女性也能夠非常快地達到性喚起，而且某些女性在數分鐘內可能體驗一次或多次性高潮。事實上，有一些女性在開始性交後的15-30秒內就能達到性高潮。 但是，似乎在性喚起的第一階段，女性比男性更容易分散注意力，而且比男性更多地依賴持續的身體刺激。鑒於此，許多女性在性交時比她們的男性性伴似乎需要較長的時間來達到性高潮。男性的性興奮常常以心理因素得以持續和加強。 總的來看，女性不太容易僅由視覺和聽覺產生性刺激，或不太容易由性幻想和性直覺獲得性喚起。另一方面，通常，當女性能夠集中注意力在她們喜愛的性刺激方式時（例如在手淫時），她會象男性一樣快地達到性高潮。
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The Response Cycle: An Observed Pattern, not a Norm

1. Excitement

Some general observations
Not only men but also women can become sexually aroused very suddenly, and some of them may experience one or more orgasms within a few minutes. As a matter of fact, there are women who reach orgasm fifteen to thirty seconds after they begin sexual intercourse.
It seems, however, that during the first stages of arousal women are more easily distracted than men and depend more on continued direct physical stimulation. For this reason, many females seem to need a longer time to reach orgasm during coitus than their male partners, whose excitement is often sustained and increased by psychological factors.
In general, females are less easily stimulated by mere sights and sounds, or by erotic fantasies and anticipations. On the other hand, when the average woman is able to concentrate on her preferred method of stimulation (during masturbation, for instance), she achieves orgasm just as quickly as the average man