Erogenous zones: preparatory period of sexual intercourse

Erogenous zones are areas of the skin or mucous membranes, the irritation of which causes sexual arousal. In addition to the areas indicated, erogenous zones also include the organs of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste, which, receiving the appropriate information, contribute to the emergence, stabilization and strengthening of sexual arousal.

3. Freud and his students considered the erogenous zones of an adult as the end result of a long sexual development, starting from birth. Thus, according to the ideas of 3. Freud, the entire surface of a newborn's body is one continuous erogenous zone (all the skin is "eroticized"). The child allegedly receives "sexual pleasure" from touching any part of his body. Later, "infantile sexuality" goes through a number of stages, during which various erogenous zones (oral, anal) come to the fore and the direction of sexual desire changes (autoerotic, homosexual, heterosexual). Mature sexuality is characterized by a heterosexual direction of sexual desire and the leading role of genital erogenous zones. The cessation of development or regression of sexuality leads, according to 3. Freud, to an infantile ratio of erogenous zones (oral, anal). According to supporters of psychosomatic medicine, skin diseases (eczema, neurodermatitis, psoriasis) and lesions of the mucous membranes (stomatitis, bronchitis, colitis, etc.) can be based on a sexual conflict. In this case, "eroticization" of certain areas of the skin and mucous membranes occurs (itching, trophic changes, etc.).

V. I. Zdravomyslov compiled a diagram of the location of a woman's erogenous zones. These zones differ in the intensity of arousal and its psychological content. Simultaneous stimulation of several erogenous zones, as noted by A. M. Svyadoshch, can lead to both the summation of their actions and the suppression of several others by one zone. Phenomena of ectopia and heterotopia of erogenous zones are observed. Ectopia is the switching off of a zone, the complete absence of any result when acting on it (EP = 0). Heterotopia is the transfer of an erogenous zone, its appearance where it was not there before. In rare cases, switching off of a large number of erogenous zones was described, which led to difficulties in conducting the preliminary period of caresses, since it was necessary to find the active erogenous zones, sometimes located in a very unusual way. In addition, a peculiar hyperesthesia of erogenous zones is observed (constant or during certain periods of the menstrual cycle), in which irritation of the zone may not be accompanied by a feeling of pleasure or voluptuousness, but on the contrary, may be felt as unpleasant or painful.

• Mouth. Lip kiss.

The history of the kiss can be traced back to ancient times. There are many theories and hypotheses about the origin of the lip kiss; monographs have been published on this issue. Analyzing the physiology of the lip kiss, researchers have distinguished three main factors: touch (sense of touch), taste, and smell. Different authors, giving preference to one or another factor, build their hypotheses about the origin of the kiss accordingly. Thus, some authors, who give the main role to touch, believe that the love kiss arose from primitive caress - kissing one's child and sucking on the mother's breast. Supporters of this opinion believe that at first the kiss was an instinctive contact and only later, causing sexual sensations, acquired erogenous significance.

This opinion is opposed by another, according to which the kiss has evolved into a sexual act from a touch expressing friendliness and worship. Such touching of persons of different sexes gradually facilitates their rapprochement and provides a greater opportunity for sexual intimacy.

Some authors see the leading side in the taste sensations that arise during a kiss. Van de Velde wrote that even the ancient Romans knew how to determine the taste of their lovers' kisses well. In his opinion, painless bites are a normal kissing technique. For men, the favorite place for such bites is the left shoulder or the area above the collarbone, for women - the neck (left side) and both sides of the body. Much depends on the height and position of the spouses. According to Van de Velde, the tendency to bite in love play is more developed in women. These authors find a greater connection between the digestive organs and the sexual sphere, between "taste and love."

And finally, the third group of authors considers the sense of smell to be the leading factor in a kiss. Of course, the sense of smell played a much greater role in ancient times than it does now. With the development of civilization and urbanization, the sense of smell of modern people plays an increasingly smaller role, but we will talk about this in more detail in the section "Nose and Smell".

As expected, there should be no question marks in the assessment of this zone, since almost every woman has kissed at some point and therefore knows how kisses affect her. And indeed, only two maps contain questions. One of the patients had suffered from pyorrhea and ulcerative stomatitis for many years and was afraid of infecting her husband with a kiss; another had a sharp unpleasant odor from her mouth and nose, and she always turned away from her husband during marital caresses. It could be expected that the mouth would strongly excite women in the overwhelming percentage of cases; in fact, it turned out that the arousing effect manifests itself to some degree in less than 50% of cases. 105 women found kisses pleasant, but did not excite them, and 73 patients were completely indifferent to them. 25 women found kisses unpleasant or disgusting. Only 80 women out of 400 (20%) experienced a sharp arousal when kissing on the lips. Quite often, women used their mouths for oral-genital, both heterosexual and homosexual contact.

• Language

Ovid Naso in his "Amores" ("Songs of Love") ardently promotes the tongue kiss. The tongue kiss has been praised by many poets of both ancient times and modern times.

This includes the gentle French kiss, in which the tongue only lightly touches the partner's lips, and the rough Indian samyana - rotating the tongue in the other's mouth, and the German tongue-to-tongue contact. It is also called deep, hot. The Indian "Kama Sutra" of Vatsyayana and the "Science of Love" of Ovid Naso describe various types of kisses. Ovid Naso gives women a number of hygienic tips on this matter (the sharp edge of a broken tooth can injure the other's tongue, and bad breath will spoil the sweetness of a kiss). V. du Sosses devoted an entire monograph to the science of kissing. Van de Velde writes that without the tongue there is no true love kiss, because this organ is generally one of the most important instruments of kissing variations. A kiss, in his opinion, causes the strongest irritation when the tip of the tongue gently tickles the lips and the tip of the tongue of the partner.

It would seem that a tongue kiss should thus provide the greatest sexual arousal. However, upon analysis it turns out that 111 women (27.7%) were completely unaware of the existence of such kisses, 46 women kissed "with tongue", but remained indifferent to it.

• Nose and sense of smell

It is widely believed that men and women with large noses are "the most passionate". The nose as an erogenous zone is mentioned by many sexologists, but our analysis showed that the nose is not an erogenous zone at all. Only 6 women (1.5%) found a nose kiss "very pleasant and slightly arousing". The majority of women remain completely indifferent to this caress or are even unfamiliar with it. Three women found nose kisses unpleasant.

At the same time, sexologists need to know about the close reflex connection between the nasal conchae and the female genitals. The first reports that irritations coming from the genital area can lead to the development of a disease of the nasal cavity appeared as early as 1885.

One of the founders of sexological science, Havelock Ellis, writes in his monograph "Sexual Perversions": "... persons with defects of the genitals necessarily have defects on the part of the olfactory nerves, and vice versa." H. Henscheld in his dissertation (Hamburg, 1967) cites an interesting case of agenesis of the olfactory region in combination with eunuchoidism.

W. Fliss has worked on this issue more than anyone else. He claims that there are special "genital points" (genitalstellen) on the septum and lower turbinates of the nose, which swell and bleed easily during each menstruation. We have encountered several cases of vasomotor rhinitis in the form of a kind of gestosis of pregnant women. The connection between Fliss's points in the nose and the female genitals has been proven in their works by numerous clinicians.

Thus, the presence of a reflex connection between the nasal mucosa and the female genital area can be considered proven both clinically and experimentally.

• Sense of smell

In regard to sexuality, the situation is better with the sense of smell, which for some women is a pronounced erogenous zone. I. Bloch quotes Henkel's statement: "Smell is the quintessence of love, i.e. olfactory sensations are the primary cause of sexual intercourse." I. P. Pavlov wrote: "And it seems to me that perhaps the main stimulant of the sexual reflex is a special olfactory irritant." In humans, the sexual role of the sense of smell, according to J. Novak, is a kind of atavism, "a remnant of animality," but in a pathological state it can have a significant impact on a person's sexual life. In people with a perversion of the sexual sense, some smells act like a whip, sharply stimulating sexual desire. An example of such a perversion will be given below.

Some insects are especially sensitive to specific smells. For example, males of some butterfly species can smell a female of their own species several kilometers away and fly towards her without fail.

For humans, the caprylic chemical group (sweat, vaginal discharge, seminal fluid, secretions of the foreskin and glands located near the genitals) is considered particularly sexually arousing. The smells of females that attract males are called epigones and include musk, cybert.

Hippocrates also noted that every man and woman has their own individual smell. He believed that a person's smell can change with age. Smell affects men more strongly than women. Women's vestibular glands emit a specific "feminine" smell. This smell can intensify during menstruation. It has an extremely arousing effect on some men and can explain their desire for cunnilingus.

O. Stall devoted a large chapter in his monograph to the specific smells of men and women. He believes that the smell of the caprylic group, usually perceived as unpleasant, has an arousing effect on some men.

Jaeger believed that men are often aroused by the scent of their beloved woman (the smell of hair, the smell of the armpits and head, especially the back of the head). O. F. Scheuer attributes this to the smell of the skin of the hands, feet, anus and even excrement. Many women have favorite perfumes that arouse them. I. Bloch writes that the most arousing smells include mignonette, heliotrope, jasmine, patchouli, violet, rose and musk. Some women are sharply aroused by the flower of the domestic chestnut, the smell of which is similar to the smell of male semen. There is a belief among women that the smell of cloves is one of the most arousing smells for men. We (V. I. Zdravomyslov) have met women who wet their pubic hair with "Gvozdika" perfume.

The stimulating effect of some perfumes on sexual feeling is also emphasized by Moritz Herzog. He writes that in his old age Richelieu lived among the smells of the strongest perfumes to stimulate sexual activity. N. E. Ishlopdsky writes in his monograph that in the East, more common is not a labial and certainly not a lingual kiss, but an olfactory kiss, when the nose of one subject touches either the nose, or the cheek or the hand of another. He writes that the Chinese, who also practice an olfactory kiss, consider the European labial kiss an expression of cannibalism. M. Hlrschfeld in his fundamental work provides photographs of such a nasal kiss.

In 86 cases out of 400, the smell of husbands was pleasant to our patients, and in 9 cases it even sharply aroused sexual feelings, but along with this, it was very often (102 cases) extremely unpleasant or even disgusting.

In many cases, the smell of vodka and tobacco played a negative role. The widespread use of alcohol is increasingly the cause of unhappy marriages and leads to divorce. The smell of wine fumes not only discourages most women from kissing, but often completely kills love.

• Eyelids and vision

The eyelids themselves are not a clearly defined erogenous zone. 167 women (41.7%) responded positively to eyelid kisses, 152 (38%) of them eyelid kisses were "simply pleasant" and did not cause any sexual feeling, and only 9 women "kisses on the eyes" caused a sharp sexual arousal. According to our patients, no one had ever kissed their eyelids, and six of them found these kisses unpleasant (possibly because they painted their eyelashes).

In addition to the kiss with the lips "on the eyes", the so-called "butterfly kiss" or "moth kiss" is also known - a two-sided touch of eyelashes.

The situation is different with vision. No matter how great the significance of hearing is in a woman's sexual life, N. E. Ishlondsky is still right in believing that the auditory sense generally manifests its action after a positive or negative attitude toward an object has been more or less visually determined, therefore he believes that vision plays a dominant role among all the senses in the sexual problem.

This opinion is shared by J. Bloch, who said that it was not without reason that two great thinkers - the philosopher Plato and the naturalist C. Darwin - agreed that "beauty is the embodiment of love." Beauty always evokes positive emotions. A. E. Mandelstam writes that the contemplation of naked forms, corresponding works of painting and sculpture is a powerful means of arousing sexual feeling. He assigns a large role to fashionable dresses, underwear, shoes, and hairstyles that emphasize a woman's attractiveness.

An analysis of our maps revealed some rather unexpected data. It turns out that 144 women were indifferent to the sight of their naked husbands, and only 64 were aroused by this sight, and only 16 were aroused strongly. In addition, 66 women found it unpleasant to look at their naked husbands, and two were even disgusted. 77 women out of 400 (almost 20%) had never seen male genitalia.

• Ear and hearing

The auricle has been considered one of the strongest erogenous zones since ancient times. Kissing and sucking the earlobes or the back of the auricle in some cases really did cause strong sexual arousal in the women we observed. This zone is especially widely used in Eastern countries. In India, the perversion "davanbanja" - coitus in the auricle - has existed since ancient times.

In our case, 183 women (45.7%) had never had their ears kissed, 78 (19.5%) women were completely indifferent to such kisses. In 121 cases (30%) the zone was positive, and only in 11 (3.7%) did it cause a sharp arousal, in 18 cases (4.5%) kisses caused negative emotions, of which in 6 cases kisses on the ear were even disgusting.

Hearing. A woman can be aroused by the affectionate words she hears during foreplay and coitus itself. R. Neubert believes that a woman "loves with her hearing." A woman can be told ten times a day that she is the sweetest, the most charming, the most beautiful.

It is known that some women can be excited by this or that music, therefore, speaking about erogenous zones and erogenous reactions, we cannot but dwell on music and singing. The powerful influence of singing and music on emotions has been known since ancient times. Music can excite, but music can also calm. Therefore, even in ancient times, Plato, Aristotle, Asclepius (Aesculapius) and Caelius Aurelian used music to treat patients. In the Middle Ages, Avicenna recommended musical influence on patients.

In Western Europe, "music therapy" became fashionable in the 17th-18th centuries. Since the 19th century, scientific study of the influence of music on various functions of the human body (circulation, respiration, gas exchange, etc.) has begun.

In Russia in 1913 V. M. Bekhterev organized the "Society for Clarification of the Therapeutic and Educational Significance of Music". Unfortunately, the World War interrupted the activities of this society. In our time, one of the outstanding students and followers of V. M. Bekhterev - V. N. Myasishchev at the same institute revived the study of music therapy.

It is necessary to welcome the fact that in recent years an increasing number of our authors include music in the complex of psychotherapeutic treatment of neuroses and neurosis-like conditions. In England Frank Knight uses with good effect the music of D. D. Shostakovich for the treatment of severe forms of psychoneuroses, which are not amenable to the influence of other types of therapy. In the USA the National Association of Music Therapists was formed, which compiled therapeutic catalogs of music - a musical pharmacopeia ("musicopeia"). V. L. Levi cites some excerpts from the "musicopeia", recommended to modern enthusiasts of this problem. Unfortunately, this list does not include works on the topic of "Music and Sex".

This gap is filled by the large and multifaceted study of music's influence on sex by A. Hens. The author believed that of all musical works, the most arousing were the operas of R. Wagner ("Tristan and Isolde", "The Ring of the Nibelung", "Tannhäuser") and the operettas of J. Offenbach. Wagner's music and its significance in sexology are the subject of monographs by P. Becker. R. Meireder calls Richard Wagner an erotic genius in his book.

Today, most authors include the latest dance music in this category. The arousing sexual effect of the latter is further enhanced by the corresponding body movements, which we will discuss a little further in the section "Sensation Analyzers".

We cannot fully agree with the opinion of G. P. Shipulin that, when compiling a "musical pharmacopoeia", it is necessary to take into account only instrumental works, and not vocal music, which has a different point of application in the psyche (the word is addressed to the second signal system). L. S. Brusilovsky rightly points out the role of active (solo and choral singing) and passive (listening to singing) vocal therapy in the treatment of various diseases.

In the second edition of the "Guide to Psychotherapy" L. S. Brusilovsky provides a review of world literature on music therapy from ancient times to the present day. According to the nature of their effect on the nervous system, he divides all works into stimulating and sedative. Unfortunately, this review barely mentions the influence of music on sex.

Recently, the influence of music on various manifestations of neuroses, as well as the role of music in the treatment of sexual disorders, has been studied by S. A. Gurevich.

Without denying the semantic meaning of singing, we can assert that very often a "song without words", i.e. only the sound (timbre and intonation) of the voice can cause a rather pronounced emotional reaction, including a sexual one. In this regard, women are most strongly affected by the very high notes of lyric tenors. Whole epidemics of such tenorists are known - "Pechkovshchanka", "Lemeshista", etc.

A. Moll once emphasized that music and singing have an exciting effect on the nervous and muscular systems. In his opinion, women are especially sensitive to music in an erotic sense.

It is clear that the effect of music therapy depends not only on the work and its performer, but also on the listener himself and can only be achieved in people who more or less understand music.

The above judgments about the emotional significance of the auditory analyzer are confirmed by the analysis of erogenous maps. The analysis of our data regarding hearing confirmed the words of Rudolf Neubert that a woman "loves with hearing". Thus, in 154 women (38.5%) hearing was indeed a pronounced erogenous zone, and in 38 patients "affectionate words" in themselves could cause strong sexual arousal.

Along with this, the same analysis showed an unsightly picture of the marital behavior of a large number of the husbands of our patients. All sexologists agree that a husband should not turn away from his wife after sexual intercourse and fall asleep without subsequent caresses, without an epilogue to coitus, without nachspiel. According to our data, the husbands of 90 of our patients (22.5%) perform sexual intercourse in an extremely primitive manner. Silently at night, he will turn his wife to himself before she has even woken up, silently do his business and, without saying a word, "turn and fall asleep". In 47 cases (11.75%), the wives were completely indifferent to the "husbands' conversations", and in 12 cases (3%), the husbands said such vile things that they caused displeasure and sometimes even disgust in the women. It is not surprising that with such behavior they discourage their wives from fulfilling their "marital duties" and develop in them persistent sexual coldness.

• Neck

The neck is a rather pronounced erogenous zone. In 218 women this zone was positive, in 27 cases it caused sharp sexual arousal. Along with this, 95 women (23.7%) were completely unfamiliar with kisses on the neck, in 12 cases they were even unpleasant. Different parts of a woman's neck are not equal in the degree of erogeneity. Some people enjoy kisses on the neck from the front, others - from the back, on the border of the scalp. Therefore, recently we have distinguished between "neck from the front", "neck from the back" and "side surfaces of the neck". Of the 200 women surveyed (Table 4), only 122 (61%) had the same reaction to all parts of the neck, and in 78 cases (38%) - different.

"The cat's place" (the place on the back between the shoulder blades) is a pronounced erogenous zone for those women who know about its existence, but the fact is that 319 women out of 400 have never been kissed in this place. In 40 of our patients this zone was positive, and in 7 of them it caused a sharp arousal. Only two of the examined women found their husband's kisses between the shoulder blades unpleasant.

• Mammary glands

Just like the mouth, the mammary glands are irritated more often than other zones, so there are almost no uncertain answers (only 7 women noted that they do not know how they react to this irritation). In 288 cases (72%), the mammary glands were positive zones. In 46 cases, caresses directed at the mammary glands (even without irritating the nipples) caused a sharp sexual arousal.

It should be noted that the mammary glands are powerful erogenous zones not only for women. Even manual contact with them has an exciting effect on men. There is even a perversion university - coitus intra mammorum (sexual intercourse between the breasts). In the "Kama Sutra" and "Anamgaranda" this type of coitus - narvasadata - is even recommended for sexual intercourse after a break (at least a few days) in cases where lovers want to avoid pregnancy, believing that during ejaculation mature semen will flow out, and during subsequent acts immature semen will flow, incapable of fertilization.

With this method, not only can a man bring himself to orgasm, but a woman also gets great excitement from touching the penis and scrotum. In addition, a man, pressing the mammary glands against each other, produces additional irritation with his hands, as if massaging them. S. Embe Boas believes that this method is most interesting for men who love massive, powerful busts.

Sometimes the mammary glands can reach a colossal size. In some cases the enlargement is unilateral, but more often it is bilateral. Let us cite several such exclusive cases. Bartholines reported a woman whose mammary glands hung down to the knees. Bonet described mammary glands weighing 64 pounds, Durston - a 24-year-old woman who could not get out of bed without assistance: her left breast weighed 64 pounds, and the right one was somewhat smaller. Mapdelsloch observed a two-year-old girl with a bust like that of a nursing woman.

Men are aroused not only by manual or sexual contact with women's mammary glands, but even by looking at them. Women know this well and widely use it, wearing dresses with deep necklines.

During the sexual act itself, many women experience engorgement of the mammary glands (tumescence phase), sometimes quite significant, the clarity of the venous pattern increases. The detumescence phase also affects the mammary glands (their engorgement quickly subsides, the venous pattern again becomes less noticeable). In 30 cases, the mammary glands were a negative zone, and in 6 cases this was expressed quite strongly.

Nipples and the areolas around them are one of the most powerful erogenous zones in women. Their sexual characteristics differ significantly from those of the mammary glands. The first thing that catches the eye is that there are almost 10 times more question marks: there are 63 of them instead of 7. Only 37 women are indifferent to nipple irritation instead of 85. The sexual effect is sharply expressed three times more often. In 134 women, this effect was sharply expressed and in some cases even led to nipple orgasm. G. Merzbach wrote about this back in 1909.

Nipple stimulation is achieved in various ways: by hand (kneading, pulling), by mouth (sucking, licking) and, finally, by glandis penis. Owners of nipple orgasm claim that it is achieved much easier with the latter method than with others. Female nipples are extremely sensitive to any sexual stimulation and immediately become erect, and the areolas surrounding them become tumescent.

Van de Velde believed that erection of the nipples, similar to erection of the male genital organ and female clitoris, further enhances the erotic effect. Maximum arousal is achieved with simultaneous stimulation of the clitoris and nipples.

In view of the above-mentioned difference in the sexual characteristics of the mammary glands and their nipples as erogenous zones, it will be of interest to analyze their individual ratio. As can be seen from Table 6, in 64 cases the ratio of the erogeneity of the nipples and mammary glands was not revealed. Of the remaining 336 cards, 135 (40.2%) showed their equal erogeneity, in 152 cases (45.2%) the nipples were more erogenous and in 49 (14.6%) - less erogenous due to 47 cases of negative value.

During the sexual act itself, the erection of the nipples and tumescence of the areolas usually intensify even more, and in the 4th phase of the act (detumescence) these phenomena pass quite quickly.

In contrast to female nipples, male nipples are a much less pronounced erogenous zone, their irritation during lovemaking has little effect on overall sexual arousal. According to W. Masters and V. Johnson, erection of male nipples during sexual intercourse, although to a lesser degree, is observed. They observed slight engorgement of nipples in men in 60% of cases, and pronounced erection in only 7%. If detumescence of female nipples after coitus usually occurs very quickly, then, according to the data of the aforementioned authors, in men (if erection of nipples occurs) it passes very slowly (sometimes even within several hours).

• Fingers and touch

Our data analysis revealed that for 148 women, fingers are a positive erogenous zone, but they do not often cause real sexual arousal (only about 5%), while in other cases women simply enjoy having their fingers kissed. Along with this, the analysis showed that 149 women have never had their fingers kissed.

Only two women found it unpleasant when their husbands tried to kiss their fingers. In addition, three of our patients were aroused by kisses on the palmar surface of the hand, and two - on the dorsal surface.

We included toes as an erogenous zone in the analysis much later, and therefore the number of observations is smaller (130).

H. Libermann claimed that the tips of the toes are among the most important erogenous zones of women. Our analysis showed the following. Firstly, it is clear that men do not hold women's toes in high regard: only 24 women out of 130 had their toes kissed by men (18.5%), therefore "?" was given by 81.5% of women, while "?" was given by 37% of those surveyed when kissing fingers. Of these 24 women, 13 were indifferent to these kisses, one found them unpleasant, and only 10 women (41.5%) had a positive reaction to this zone. Three of them found foot kisses merely pleasant, and only five experienced a sharp arousal. It is possible that some of the 10 women were simply driven by satisfied vanity - "they are so loved that their feet are kissed."

From the recent literary data, only A. M. Svyadoshch had to observe one patient in whom kissing feet caused sharp arousal.

• Touch

Touch can be considered as an erogenous zone in two aspects: in the general body and in the genital.

A. E. Mandelstam writes that hugs, touching hands and feet, especially in dance, excite sexual feelings. In Indian sexology, a large section is devoted to the technique of various hugs. Iv. Bloch wrote: "...Touching the skin of a loved one is already half of sexual intercourse, these touches give voluptuous sensations that are transmitted to the genitals."

Particularly erogenous are modern dances, which were thoroughly criticized by M. Margulis in his book "The Disease of the Century". He emphasizes that modern dances are most harmful to girls, who should know as much about sexual life as necessary to be able to maintain their purity.

Women's sense of touch is more subtle and stronger, more closely connected with sexuality. Many women have a habit of touching men's chests, arms, and if they are sitting, their legs when talking to them. They touch with pencils, fingers, but only with the man they like.

O. F. Scheuer believed that human skin can be considered as one large organ capable of causing voluptuous sensations. There is also eroticism of muscles. Friction, massage with hands and feet were widely used in ancient India, by the Greeks and Romans. Massage in baths under water, performed mainly by beautiful young men or women, is still very common in the East in order to cause sexual arousal and voluptuous sensations.

Most sexologists recommend that women insert their husband's penis into their vagina during intercourse. This is especially important in cases of functional pain syndrome caused by neurosis. In this analysis, we will examine the effect of touching her husband's genitals on a wife. For 126 women, it was pleasant, and for 28 of them, it caused a sharp arousal. 120 women, mostly frigid, did it indifferently (without positive or negative emotions). 96 (22%) women had never touched their husband's genitals. For 58 women, this touch was unpleasant, and for 12 of them, it was even disgusting.

• Small of the back

The lower back is a mildly expressed erogenous zone. Only 24 women had the lower back as a pronounced erogenous zone. In five women it was negative. The EP was only +0.54. The sacrum has an even smaller EP - +0.48. Only 16 women had the sacrum area cause sexual arousal, and the number of "?" reached 207 out of 400.

• Buttocks

Among the erogenous zones of a woman, the buttocks occupy a special place. Beautiful female buttocks were held in high esteem in ancient Greece and Rome. Horace wrote: "It is a great vice for a woman if her bottom is poorly developed - it is the same as a flat nose or crooked legs." In Greece, a temple of Venus Callipyge (kallos - beautiful, pyge - buttocks) was built. Beautiful female buttocks have an exciting effect on the libido of men.

Almost all erogenous zones of a woman cause positive emotions, mainly during caresses and kisses, the buttocks are an exception. Here, pleasant sensations and even arousal are often caused not by caresses, but by the use of force (sharp squeezing of the buttocks by a man's hand) and even by causing pain. This feature (flagellation) is noted in both domestic and foreign medical literature.

Our analysis of erogenous maps showed that in 177 cases (44%) out of 400 this zone was positive, and in 15 women it caused a sharp sexual arousal. The number here is 3 times less than when determining the erogenous index of the lower back and sacrum. Along with this, in 34 cases the zone had a negative character, mainly due to the range of acceptability. EP +0.75.

• Navel

As an erogenous zone, the navel occupies a middle place. In 56 women (24%) it was a positive zone, in 7 cases it gave a sharp arousal, 52 women remained completely indifferent to the kiss of the navel. 15 women found the kiss of the navel unpleasant, of which two found it disgusting. Here there is a very large number of question marks - 237 (57.2%).

The lower abdomen is a rather pronounced erogenous zone. In 169 women, this zone was positive, although it had a pronounced character only in 15 women. 57 women were indifferent to caresses of the lower abdomen. The percentage of question marks, although noticeably less than in the study of the navel as an erogenous zone, is still very high - 167 women (41.7%) asked the question. This zone had a negative character only in 7 women (1.7%).

• Clitoris

The erogenous role of the clitoris is widely known. In Russian it is called "pokhotnik". In 321 women (80.2%) it was a positive zone, and in 176 cases (44%) any touch to it caused a sharp sexual arousal. Along with this, it should be noted that 32 women remained completely indifferent to any irritation of the clitoris.

It is irritated in various ways: by hands and mouth during foreplay and petting, by the male penis during intercourse. Some husbands use clitoral stimulation with the mouth (cunnilingus) as an additional measure if the wife does not have time to achieve orgasm during intercourse.

In 20 cases, touching the clitoris caused an unpleasant sensation. These are mainly women suffering from vaginismus. Many do not allow their husbands not only to caress their genitals, but even to touch them. In the vaginismus section, we will give the example of A. Ts., who was brought up in such a way that she never touched her genitals, even when washing. In 27 cases, any touching of the clitoris was unpleasant, and in 4 of them even disgusting.

Mantegazza rightly asserted that the clitoris, like the penis, increases in size during erection. A. Moll categorically denied this and believed that the clitoris, unlike the male genital organ, does not change its size during arousal. We consider this a misunderstanding. The erection of the clitoris is, of course, much less pronounced than the erection of the penis. In some cases, with a small clitoris, this increase is barely noticeable. The size of the clitoris is even more variable than the size of the penis. The larger the clitoris, the more noticeable its tumescence and increase in volume during erection.

The size of the clitoris does not play a significant role in the sexual characteristics of a woman. According to W. Masters and V. Johnson, during an erection the clitoral shaft constantly reacts by increasing its diameter, but they observed its elongation in less than 10% of cases.

An absolute absence of tumescence occurs only in some frigid women. H. Rohleder described "clitorism" - a prolonged and painful tension of the clitoris (similar to priapism in men), which develops in some women mainly due to excessive masturbation.

The labia minora, the entrance to the vagina and its lower part are the most important part of the female reproductive system for achieving orgasm. No matter what position coitus occurs in, the male sexual organ cannot bypass this place.

A woman cannot differentiate her sensations related to the middle part of the vagina during sexual intercourse, so we did not consider this part as a separate erogenous zone.

Since the cavernous bodies, in addition to the clitoris, are also located at the entrance to the vagina in the area of the labia minora (labiae pudendae minores, nimphae), it is logical that this place should be a powerful erogenous zone. Our analysis fully confirmed this, but the power of this zone is somewhat inferior to the clitoris (see vaginal orgasm).

Thus, out of 400 women, 309 experienced positive emotions from stimulation of this zone, and 97 of them experienced strong arousal to the point of orgasm (vaginal orgasm). For 41 women, the zone was indifferent, and only 26 patients found stimulation of the introitus unpleasant.

During the analysis, we will analyze the cervix together with the characteristics of the posterior fornix - their characteristics are almost identical. Many women cannot differentiate whether the cervix or the posterior fornix is irritated.

The cervix is one of the most powerful erogenous zones. Irritation of the cervix during sexual intercourse caused positive emotions in 151 women (37.7%), and in 101 (25.2%) - sharp arousal, often ending in cervical (uterine) orgasm.

Wernich devoted a special article to the state of the cervix during coitus. He believes that erection of the lower part of the uterus during sexual arousal should be equated to the tension of the penis in a man and is essential, and perhaps even the main moment for fertilization.

At the same time, question marks are very common in this zone - 142 cases (35.5%). These are either women suffering from vaginismus, where coitus was absent or, at best, superficial, or cases where the woman states that she does not understand whether the husband touches the cervix or not. In some cases, the problem is the husband's impotence, in others - the woman's inappropriate position during intercourse, when the penis either passes by the cervix or does not reach it.

This zone is also characterized by the fact that it very often has a negative character (90 women - 22.5%), when: touching the cervix is not only unpleasant, but even painful and disgusting. These are mostly women with chronic inflammatory processes of the genitals.

Whether the cervix and clitoris are competitors in achieving orgasm or work synchronously will be shown by an analysis of their relationship.

• Anus

The perineum and anus area has been considered a very powerful erogenous zone since ancient times. Many modern sexologists share this opinion. There are women who have rectal and perineal orgasms.

In general, the widespread use of this erogenous zone is typical for southern and eastern countries. Thus, in India, very often during sexual intercourse, the husband additionally irritates the anal area with a finger or even inserts a finger into the rectum. It is known that on the island of Sifnos (one of the Cyclades Islands) in ancient times, both men and women masturbated by inserting a finger into the anus (N. Rau, Rosenbaum). G. S. Vasilchenko observed a woman who, regardless of the duration of friction, did not have an orgasm until the man inserted a finger into her anus.

In the women we examined, only a small number of cases were noted of using the anus for the final phase of sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy (instead of coitus interruptus).

Only 98 women out of 400 felt positive emotions when touching their anus, and 11 of them felt so aroused that it sometimes led to a rectal orgasm. 108 women (27%) were completely indifferent to anal irritation, and in 128 cases (32%) a question mark was placed.

In addition, this area very often has a pronounced negative character. For 126 women (31.5%), touching the anus was extremely unpleasant and even disgusting, and sometimes painful. In most cases, these were women suffering from hemorrhoids. Sometimes an indifferent attitude was replaced by negative emotions after the husband's attempts to perform rectal coitus.

The inner thighs are a fairly pronounced erogenous zone. In 230 women (57.5%), this zone was positive, but only 17 women experienced strong arousal from caressing this zone. 105 women (26.2%) remained indifferent to caresses of this zone, 59 of those examined reported that this zone had never been caressed. Only six women suffering from vaginismus found touching the inner thighs unpleasant, as it caused them to fear a new painful attempt at sexual intercourse.

Permanent or temporary shutdown of one or another erogenous zone, as well as a significant decrease in its intensity is called ectopia of the erogenous zone. It can be single or multiple. Ectopia is especially common in hysterical women prone to the development of local anesthesia. Transfer of the erogenous zone, its occurrence in an unusual place on the surface of the woman's body is called heterotopia of the erogenous zone. Suggestion in a hypnotic state can affect the intensity of one or another erogenous zone, but for a relatively short period. Apparently, self-hypnosis and autogenic training can have a certain effect on erogenous zones. It should be noted that the idea that caresses are only physical (mechanical) irritation of erogenous zones is incorrect. In fact, each caress is a psychophysiological phenomenon. It has a psychological, personal content, sometimes expressed in symbolic form. The pattern of caresses, its mechanisms reflect socio-cultural, historical, ethnographic factors, as well as personal values, attitudes and characteristics of a person.

• The Importance of Erogenous Zones for Family Relationships

Thus, all sexologists, both ours and foreign, agree that a husband must know his wife's erogenous zones. The only exception was R. Kraft Ebing, who, having been brought up in the spirit of Victorianism, advised doctors to refrain from recommending that a husband use erogenous zones. It is completely unclear why L. Ya. Milman shares this point of view in his monograph.

In some cases, the indicators of individual erogenous zones were filled in twice - for the husband and the friend with whom there is a parallel sexual life. Often these sexual characteristics differed sharply from each other. For the analysis, we took the most positive option in each zone.

According to Moraglia, one woman, by her own admission, had 14 different places on her body, the irritation of which caused her strong sexual arousal. According to our data, such pansexuality is not very rare. In the last 3 years alone, we have observed 5 women with at least 14 distinct erogenous zones.

In one of our patients, suffering from severe vaginismus, all erogenous zones located in the front (mouth, mammary glands, genitals) had sharply expressed negative indicators, and the zones located in the back, all, although weakly expressed, were positive.

Given the individual location of erogenous zones for each woman, one of the most important tasks for both spouses is to find these zones and then use them before each sexual intercourse.

W. Liepmann emphasizes that there is no place on the human body that could not act erogenously, and for some people it could even be the main zone of arousal. Therefore, in the case of sexual frigidity, one should persistently search for the location of such zones. Using these areas in the preparatory period can unexpectedly turn sexual frigidity into strong arousal and passion.

W. Stockel writes that the treatment of sexual frigidity is "a journey undertaken for discoveries in the area of erogenous zones" and advises a husband with a cold wife to continue this search until "he finds those places or that method of intercourse that excites his wife's sexual desire and causes orgasm." Even minor indications to the husband of erogenous zones can turn a cold, "sexless" wife into a normal and even passionate woman.

Of course, every husband should know his wife's erogenous zones and skillfully use them during foreplay, but, as N. V. Ivanov correctly pointed out, not all zones of a given woman are included in the boundaries of the acceptability range, and if the husband, without regard for his wife, crosses the boundaries of this range, he thereby introduces an inhibiting influence that can lead to a breakdown and the development of frigidity. It should also be noted that over time and with tactful behavior of the husband, the range of acceptability of a woman usually gradually expands.

On the other hand, incorrect upbringing in some women extremely limits the range of acceptability, and then the doctor should, according to the advice of S. I. Konstorum, explain to the patient that "since they love each other, then in this love they are allowed to do everything" (N. V. Ivanov, A. P. Slobodjanik). At present, when working in family consultation, we (Z. E. Anisimova) have often had to see the opposite ratio of the range of acceptability - a wider range for a woman and a narrower and more rigid one for a man, especially if the husband is younger than the wife.

According to A.P. Slobodjanik and G. Merzbach, a woman herself should tell her husband everything she needs to create optimal relationships.

• Emotional-erogenous preparation

The first phase of coitus consists of emotional-erogenous preparation of the woman, in arousing her desire for intimacy. This is achieved by foreplay, stimulation of the erogenous zones specific to this woman.

Unfortunately, many husbands consider foreplay to be excessive sentimentality and often begin coitus as soon as they themselves have an erection, without any interest in the woman's sexual experiences.

Most girls, dreaming of marriage, see the spiritual side of it. Physical sensations and physiological processes are secondary for them. Many men, however, have a specific desire for detumescence. When faced with this at the first steps of family life, a young girl feels insulted and disappointed in her dreams. This disappointment is one of the frequent psychogenic causes of sexual frigidity.

Mirka M. Klimova-Fugnerova in her book "For Women" writes that the tactlessness of a partner who unceremoniously seeks sexual intercourse without preliminary displays of affection and tenderness, which prepare a woman for erotic arousal, leads to sexual coldness and even disgust.

Unfortunately, men often forget that in marriage there should be love, respect, politeness and attention (sexual etiquette) first of all. A husband should be extremely attentive to his wife in their sexual life as well. R. Neubert writes: "A husband should not fall asleep before his wife in bed and wake up after her, and it is even more unacceptable to turn away and snore after sexual intercourse."

• Lack of emotional-erogenous readiness

Most women (according to our data, more than 70%) begin to experience orgasm not immediately after the start of sexual activity, but after some, sometimes quite a long period of time: at this time, the woman has "retardation frigidity", which is not a pathology.

According to S. Schnabl, this period of time lasts on average about 3 years (according to our data - 2.62 years). In women who began their sexual life at a later age, the period

The period of retardation frigidity is somewhat reduced. According to Schnabl, in recent years the period of retardation frigidity has begun to decrease in young people as well.

L. Ya. Yakobzon cites Elberskirchen's statement that sexual arousal is caused in a woman by courting her. Since husbands rarely court their wives in marriage, this contributes to the development of sexual frigidity. R. Neubert is of the same opinion. In his "New Book on Marriage" he writes: "A husband should court his wife not only before marriage, but also in family life." In another place he exclaims: "How wives suffer from their husbands' inability to love!"

Todor Bostandzhiev (Bulgaria) and Z. A. Rozhanovskaya believe that there are no "cold" women at all, but there are women "not warmed by a man's attention and care, his affection and tenderness." Such behavior of a husband in marriage often depends not only on his "egoism and rudeness," but often on complete ignorance of issues of sexual life and marriage.

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