More is known, and accepted as a matter of daily life, about how to sell a woman's sexuality than basic knowledge of what factors define its capacities to develop and change. Not surprisingly, women's sexuality is still seeking a legitimate place in scientific discourse, in spite of the fact that the sexual and reproductive issues women face worldwide include serious consequences to the physical and emotional health and welfare of women and their families. The present talk will selectively address these themes with data on sexual response, partner choice and sexuality in an aggressive world.
A combination of laboratory (psychophysiology, MRI and fMRI) methods plus self report, summarized over several studies are described. A combination of measures adds value to understanding women's sexual response capacity. No single measure is convincingly excellent but each provides incremental knowledge.
In the past 10 years, more is known about women's sexual response yet the gaps in knowledge, particularly as they relate to sexual and emotional health in societies, are startling. Persistent efforts are needed from the scientific community and those they work with, in order to improve our knowledge base as it relates to measurement of behavioral, physiological, and interpersonal (couples) variables as they impact the key areas of women's sexual health and survival worldwide. The needs remain urgent.
Conflict of Interest: Pfizer, Bayer HealthCare, and Zestra Laboratories
Financial Support/Funding: zer, UW Reproductive and Sexual Medicine Clinic The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction NIH
Recorded in Sweden in June 2009
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