The Sexual Response - Stimulus and Response

The Basic Pattern: Sources of Sexual Stimulation

Touch: Erogenous Zones
Of all the human senses, the sense of touch seems to be the one most often responsible for erotic arousal. A person becomes aware of being touched through nerve endings in the skin and some deeper tissues. Since some areas of the body surface contain many more of these nerve endings than others, they are also more sensitive to the touch and, as a result, they may be especially receptive to sexual stimulation. These particular regions have, therefore, also often been called erogenous zones (literally, love-producing zones, from gr. eros: love and genesthai: to produce). The best known erogenous zones are the glans of the penis in men and the clitoris and the minor lips in women, the area between the sex organs and the anus, the anus itself, the buttocks, the inner surfaces of the thighs, the breasts (especially the nipples), the neck, the mouth, and the ears.