Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 5: Erotic Symbolism; The Mechanism of Detumescence; The Psychic State in PregnancyEllis, Havelock
Science
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 5: Erotic Symbolism; The Mechanism of Detumescence; The Psychic State in Pregnancy
Ellis, Havelock
Sex; Sex (Psychology)
"I have never noticed in my reading any attempt to analyze the
sensations which accompany the orgasm, and, as I have made a good
many attempts to make such an analysis myself, I will append the
results on the chance that they may be of some value. I have
checked my results so far as possible by comparing them with the
experience of such of my friends as had coitus frequently and
were willing to tell me as much as they could of the psychology
of the process.
"The first fact that I hit upon was the importance of pressure.
As one of my informants picturesquely phrases it--'the tighter
the fit the greater the pleasure.' This agrees, too, with their
unanimous testimony that the pleasurable sensations were much
greater when the orgasm occurred simultaneously in the man and
woman. Their analysis seldom went further than this, but a few
remarked that the distinctive sensations accompanying the orgasm
seem to begin near the root of the penis or in the testes, and
that they are qualitatively different from the tickling
sensations which precede them.
"These tickling sensations are caused, I think, by the friction
of the glands against the vaginal walls, and are supplemented by
other sensations from the urethra, whose nerves are stimulated by
pressure of the vaginal walls and sphincter. The specific
sensation of the orgasm begins, I believe, with a strong
contraction of the muscles of the urethral walls along the entire
length of the canal, and is felt as a peculiar ache starting
from the base of the penis and quickly becoming diffused through
the whole organ. This sensation reaches its climax with the
expulsion of the semen into the urethra and the consequent
feeling of distention, which is instantly followed by the
rhythmic peristaltic contractions of the urethral muscles which
mark the climax of the orgasm.
"The most careful introspection possible under the circumstances
seems to show that these sensations arise almost wholly from the
urethra and in a far less degree from the corona. During periods
of great sexual excitement the nerves of the urethra and corona
seem to possess a peculiar sensitivity and are powerfully
stimulated by the violent peristaltic contractions of the muscles
in the urethral walls during ejaculation. It seems possible that
the intensity and volume of sensation felt at the glans may be
due in part to the greater area of sensitive surface presented in
the fossa as well as to the sensitivity of the corona, and in
part to the fact that during the orgasm the glans is more highly
congested than at any other time, and the nerve endings thus
subjected to additional pressure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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