(a) The third stage of the sexual response cycle is associated with the peak of sexual pleas-
ure. What is the third stage called?(b) What muscle in the female surrounds the channel of the vagina?
(c) During the fourth stage of the sexual response cycle, the individual becomes temporar-
ily unresponsive to sexual stimulation. What is the fourth stage called?Answers: (a) Orgasm; (3) The pubococcygeus (PC) muscle; (3) Resolution.One of the important findings associated with the Masters and Johnson
research is that some individuals are capable of multiple orgasms. Multiple
orgasmstake place when a person has an orgasm, remains excited (or possibly
experiences the resolution stage very briefly), and has at least one more orgasm. It
is necessary to speak of the sexes separately when discussing multiple orgasms.
Women have substantially greater multiorgasmic capacity than do men. Women
who have second and even third orgasms report them to be more pleasurable than
the first orgasm. It is estimated that about 15 percent of women sometimes have
multiple orgasms.
Men who have a second orgasm within a brief span of time report it to be less
pleasurable than the first orgasm. Unlike women, very few men will be capable of,
or interested in seeking, a third orgasm without a well-defined resolution stage. It
is estimated that about 7 percent of men sometimes have multiple orgasms. (In the
case of multiple orgasms, the percentage estimates for both sexes are somewhat
unreliable. The data are based primarily on the responses of subjects to question-
naires and interviews.)
Returning to the first and second stages, excitement and plateau, it is
important to note that when sexual intercourse—without self-imposed delay-
ing tactics—is the primary stimulus used to induce orgasm, the average male
takes about two to four minutes to achieve an orgasm. Under similar condi-
tions, the average female takes about ten to twenty minutes. This is an impor-
tant difference in male and female sexual response, and it provides useful
information to couples. In general, it is preferable for the female to attain
orgasm before the male.
In the case of masturbation, both males and females can often attain orgasm
within two to four minutes.(a) Which sex has greater multiorgasmic capacity?(b) Men who have a second orgasm within a brief span of time report it to be
pleasurable than the first orgasm.
(c) When sexual intercourse is the primary stimulus used to induce an orgasm, which sex
usually takes longer to achieve an orgasm?
Answers: (a) Women; (b) less; (c) Women.Sex and Love: Are You in the Mood? 177