The Erogenous Zones
 

While the discussion up to this point has been general, it now becomes specific; what are the degrees of female passion, how does that passion express itself, how is it best aroused? All normal women will find themselves described in composite somewhere in this chapter. To begin with, let us consider all the principal "spots of eroticism," that is, areas on the female body which have the capacity to stimulate desire when touched by the male lips, hands, or genitals. It might be stated first that the entire female body is an area of sexual excitation when caressed carefully by sensitive male hands. Just the feeling of their lovers5 hands moving softly, gently, and tenderly anywhere about them will create a sensation of comfort and enjoyment in most women. This feeling, however, is a general one which will improve as attention becomes concentrated upon specific areas which have the power to produce definite thrills of excitement. For example, the ears, the cheeks, the mouth, neck, shoulders, bust, waist, stomach, hips, thighs, genitals, legs, when caressed by the male hands, will all react pleasantly to such a touch. But the hands are as nothing, compared with the effectiveness of the mouth, lips, and tongue passing over the same areas. The ear always is sensitive and responsive. The tongue chasing about the rim of it or moving within; the lips nuzzling all of it; or the teeth, lips, and tongue playing with the lobe of it, have the power to make some women pant, their breath hissing in and out at an unbelievable rate. These women who readily respond to toying with their ears are among the most easily aroused. Rapid panting likewise is the unfailing sign of a speedily aroused and highly passionate woman, a woman who requires a lengthy period for satisfaction.

Other women, however, can only momentarily withstand any playing with their ears. While the ensuing sensation is arousing, it is so only in a limited degree, and the result is a sensation more descriptive of the type that produces goose pimples. It has the effect, however, of making them wish to engage quickly in a passionate kiss; usually, immediately upon withdrawing their ear, they will turn their mouth actively upon their partner's. As might be assumed, this type of woman is slower to arouse, though not necessarily less passionate than the other, and will never express her emotion in the rapid panting above described.

But the ear is not always immediately responsive where the latter type of woman is involved. It might take a minute, at times, before the precise spot, or the precise manner of toying with it to produce reaction, is discovered. In this case, extending the heat of the breath to the area by a deep, slow exhalation will enhance its sensitivity. Notwithstanding, there are occasions also when it fails completely to react.

This has been emphasized because most men expect an immediate response from anything they may do. If, for example, they start toying with the female ear and their partner manifests no reaction, they immediately assume a lack of sensitivity there, and proceed elsewhere. This is unfortunate, because proper playing with a woman's ear or the adjoining area is one of the various factors of foreplay that contribute to arousing her, and it should not be neglected.

Another section of the female body as responsive as the ear in adding fuel to a woman's emotions is the area about the neck. The neck is most sensitive on the line running directly from the end of the shoulder to the ear, and to a point midway to the throat and midway to the direct center of the back of the neck. In other words, the throat and the section immediately adjoining it, and the area along the back of the neck, are not so sensitive as the area beneath the ear and the hollows found there. A woman will respond to kissing or light movements by the tongue on these sections precisely as she will to the ear, and the technique used to develop the sensitivity is the same.

The top surface of the shoulder also contains spots of eroticism that must be determined by experimentation, since the entire shoulder is not naturally an area of sensitivity. However, it definitely does contain areas every bit as sensitive as the neck.

We all know, of course, that the lips and the mouth, in addition to the clitoris and the vulva, always have the capacity to arouse passion, even assuming all other areas to be insensitive. Consequently, the kiss is the most important factor in foreplay, and he who does not constantly engage in it when his mouth is not otherwise occupied is a sorry lover, indeed. This holds true for every moment of foreplay as well as for the intercourse itself when performed in a position which allows it.

There are various types of kisses, and the standard Hollywood picture of half-parted lips, though it photographs well, may not necessarily be the kind appealing most to a woman. Some women, for example, prefer to kiss and be kissed with the insides of the lips. It is a warm, moist, intimate, and exciting exchange. Other women do little kissing themselves and prefer to be kissed, merely cutting off the air with their lips to allow proper suction. Still others may enjoy being kissed on the lower lip; that is, the lower lip is taken between both lips of her partner and sucked and worried by the tongue. For variety, the male may change to the upper lip, but such kisses involve only one of the female lips at a time. Again, there are those women who enjoy a kiss in which the male mouth envelops both of the female lips, sucking and teasing them lightly with the tongue. Then, too, there are others who prefer always the conventional type: to kiss and be kissed only with the outside of the lips pressed together. Of course, there is nothing too intimate about this type. Except for the fact that such a kiss is sustained longer by lovers, it is the kind normally exchanged between relatives.

The most intimate form of all, popular with at least fifty per cent of all woman and eighty per cent of the highly passionate, is the "French kiss'" or "soul kiss," as it is most generally called in this country. In this style, both lovers kiss open-mouthed, the female darting her tongue in and out of her partner's mouth while he does the same; both create a continuous movement with their tongues, and the male probably eventually draws his partner's tongue into his own mouth and holds it there.

Unhappily, nothing sounds less inviting than the kiss generally, and the "soul kiss" particularly, when brutally described in words. Since the latter is standard procedure for at least half the couples in this country and for the majority of Europeans, it must certainly have more to recommend it than verbal description. There are women who do not find too much enjoyment in the "soul kiss," and others who part their lips the moment a man leans forward to make love to them. Proper procedure requires that each woman be met in the manner that appeals to her the most, since successful sex practice is largely a matter of variety.

In addition to the kiss itself is the fervor with which it, as well as love-making in general, is administered. However, it can be stated positively that the great majority of women prefer their lover to be soft and gentle, for the kiss to be tender. There are, nevertheless, those who wish it to be fierce, almost painful. They prefer a rough, nearly bruising pressure by the male mouth upon their lips; when held, they wish to be squeezed to a point of breathless-ness. Strangely, with regard to this matter of embrace, many women, even more or less moderate in their passion, have this desire, while preferring their kisses soft and tender. The majority of women, however, prefer gentleness throughout and it is largely the woman most expressive in her passion who either prefers or easily tolerates a roughness on the part of her lover.

The suitable technique for kissing and embracing is something the male must discover for himself by experiment with the individual woman to determine her preference, since it will not necessarily follow that every highly passionate woman, for example, desires roughness on the part of her lover. The best procedure to adopt is to assume initially that all women prefer gentleness and tender-nesss, and determine their precise desires subsequently. While some females will definitely find roughness distasteful, none will object to a gentle approach, even though they may prefer a harsher treatment.

Next, and existing as one of the most prominent of the erogenous areas, are the female breasts. The sensitivity of the nipples alone is sufficient to reduce many girls and women to a state of helpless desire. Breast size has no bearing upon responsiveness. A flat-chested woman may react more intensely than her full-bosomed sister. The breasts, however, vary greatly in sensitivity as an agency of excitation, not only with respect to individual women but on occasion with an individual woman. Some women who experience a genital thrill as soon as the nipple is taken in the mouth will at other times experience practically no sensation other than warmth. The size of the nipple is no indication of sensitivity.

Under any circumstances, the fondling of the breasts or the massaging of the nipples is pleasant and comfortable for every woman. Considered from their average condition of responsiveness, it can be said that breast sensitivity ranges from one producing warmth without passion to one where arousal is almost immediate and desire for intercourse at once induced.

Although the breasts are responsive to hand fondling, the excitement that arises when they are kissed and suckled is normally a hundredfold more intense. Such emotion may register itself in a deep, shuddering sigh, in a light or heavy gasping, or in rapid panting; all are attended by closed eyes and an attitude leaving no doubt that the woman so excited has been gripped by a powerful seizure of sexual thrills. Many women react with a violent quivering which so shakes them from head to foot that the vibrations are easily felt; frequently, when a woman is very much in a sexual mood, this quivering is produced by kissing alone.

Women who react sharply to breast fondling are definitely in the minority and represent for the most part the highly passionate; another large group reacts exclusively with closed eyes and a deep, slow breathing. Sensation of enjoyment is immeasurably greater in the former, however, and of a quality which may be called intense even in the latter. In either case, both types of women are quickly aroused, although it does not necessarily follow that the latter will be equally expressive in intercourse. In fact, many women who will gasp when the nipple of the breast is taken in the mouth are definitely impassive in intercourse and may be only normally responsive in the genital area.

The majority of women, however, experience only a mild excitement from the handling or kissing of their breasts. Occasionally, the feeling extends itself to the genitals, depending upon the mood of the woman, but more frequently not. At any rate, with respect to such women, the breasts alone could never create an overpowering emotion or even a deep excitement, and are at best merely a contributing factor to the general creation of passion, as are the mouth and ear. Most of the women of this group are also of the individual orgasm type, a detailed discussion of which appears later, and generally are capable of only one or two orgasms unless their capacities are developed. On the other hand, at least one-quarter of this group possess an ability for numerous orgasms and a capacity for clitoral stimulation which is quite beyond that suggested by the weak responsiveness of their breasts.

The next erogenous zone as we move downward is the waist, sexually sensitive primarily to contact by the mouth and largely on the area directly above the hips and extending half way to the middle of the stomach. Mouth contact here, such as kissing or brushing with the tongue, produces a definite exciting effect directly upon the genital area, to which all women are subject in approximately the same degree.

The groins follow and, being directly adjacent to the genitals, are sensitive to the touch of both hand and mouth. Strangely, in spite of the proximity of the groins to the genitals, the excitement that is induced by contact with that area is not even as great as that induced by caressing the breasts of women who are highly sensitive in that region. On the other hand, with respect to women who are not unduly sensitive in the breasts, the groin area has the invariable capacity to stimulate them.

We will ignore for a moment the interior and exterior genitals, because such areas are the most important of all, and much is to be said concerning them. Outside of these, only the insides of the thighs and the area directly above the knees remain to be considered. The inside sections of the thighs are particularly responsive to hand caressing and, when run over rapidly by the tongue, from knee to groin, can invoke a high pitch of excitement in both male and female. With respect to that area directly above the knee, it is strange but true that many normal women experience their highest degree of excitation when this area is continuously squeezed by the hand. It holds more of a thrill for them than mouth, breast, or ear kissing combined, and is sufficient in itself to produce the desire for intercourse. One might imagine that a woman possessing this peculiarity would be a highly emotional type, but she is among the most passive during the sex act.

It is interesting to observe that the buttocks, as well as the leg below the knee, are completely useless areas as excitants, so far as bedroom intimacy is concerned. Of course, these areas in contact when opposite sexes are clothed will naturally create desire, as when the calves of the leg or the knees are surreptitiously brought together under a table or in other close proximity. This is merely a matter of body contact, any form of which has the power to arouse two people who would like to be intimate but are unable to do so. However, this resolves itself very quickly into mere nothingness as soon as the couple are able to adopt the more intimate contact which bed and nudity allow.

These areas, then, with the exception of the genitals, comprise all the erogenous zones concentration upon which by the male can develop desire in the female. They are specific regions and every normal woman must be affected emotionally by some of them to a large degree if her partner understands his role. Before proceeding to the genitals, it may be well to recapitulate and reconsider the situation.

We see that the sexual nature of woman is a varying arrangement of emotional factors and that different women represent different combinations, which may make one highly passionate, another moderately passionate, or place another on a still lower scale. It becomes apparent, too, that the precise combination making up a woman must be thoroughly understood by a man before he can treat her in a manner best suited to arouse and satisfy her to the fullest extent. It is clear, also, that the precise combination can never be determined beforehand, but that if a man is familiar with all the emotional factors which exist with respect to all women, he can recognize those which are absent or present in any specific woman and be able at least to evaluate her emotional make-up. It should be clear, too, that it will require more than one intimacy with a woman before all the factors in her nature can be determined, since on the first intercourse the male, as a rule, is unusually aroused and not able to delay orgasm sufficiently long to study her thoroughly. It is also clear that, unless a man has had these differences thoroughly explained to him or has had a personal experience broad enough to enable him to discover them for himself, he is bound to make mistakes either of omission or commission. Finally, it is obvious that no man with three or four isolated pre-mari-tal affairs, or even a single extended one, is in a position to acquire more than a bare fundamental knowledge of the complicated and varying sexual nature that is a woman's. Neither can these be determined by questioning a woman. Since she does not know what is ordinary or unusual about herself, she does not know what pertinent in- formation to volunteer.

We see, then, just to set down a few combinations, that some women are excited by soul kissing, that others are not; that the breasts of some females are highly responsive, that others are not; that some women with sensitive breasts are passive during intercourse; and that others with the same breast condition are intensely moved. These are just a few of the possibilities, but the women involved, although differently constructed, are in every case perfectly normal.

We reach now the vulva or external genitals. Eliminating those, which have no bearing on sexual excitation, at least so far as male contact is concerned, there remain the clitoris, the small lips, the area surrounding the lips, and the vaginal entrance. Of all these, and by far the most important region and organ of the entire female body for inducing passion and effecting sexual gratification, is the clitoris. It is the most important because, when every other area of the body is insensitive to stimulation, the clitoris will not only induce excitement but will also bring about orgasm in the female. No man is or can be a qualified lover who is not thoroughly familiar with the power and peculiarities of this tiny but powerful organ.

There exists in this matter of the clitoris a strong difference of opinion among medical men themselves. Some regard it as does the writer, as the organ and area most conducive to sexual excitation and orgasm, while others contend that the vaginal entrance and adjacent area and vaginal interior, including the tip of the womb, should properly induce the orgasm. This latter group goes so far as to contend that any woman who is not sensitive about these regions is impotent—incapable of normal orgasm.

We wish to dwell upon this for a moment, because it is possible that women may encounter a text in which this theory is discussed and, as a result, receive the impression that there is something sexually disordered about them and allow it to prey upon their minds. Unfortunately, there is enough of fact to disturb a woman without adding unnecessary fiction to her burden. It will probably be better if the basis of this theory is expounded for all to see. The reader can then conclude for himself on how firm a foundation it stands.

Regarding this opinion, it is contended that in primitive times sexual intercourse was conducted largely from the rear entry position, that is, animal fashion, and that from such a position the principal seat of excitation was the clitoris. This is a mystifying conclusion because the position making clitoral contact with the penis most difficult is the front-to-back position. If anything, it follows that, since the clitoris was in the position to be most ignored, it should not have retained its sensitivity through the millions of years that separate us from primitive man. Like the tail, the clitoris should have become rudimentary.

For argument's sake, let us assume an impossibility: that in primitive days the front-to-back position was the conventional one and, as such, was the one allowing greatest clitoral contact with the penis. Where does this theory venture from there? It continues itself in the elaboration that in the course of development to civilization the front-to-front position become the conventional one and that in this position the clitoris is scarcely touched by the organ.

Stopping here for a moment, it must be clear to everyone that the front-to-front position allows, if anything, the nearest possible clitoral contact, since in some cases an overdeveloped clitoris when erected can touch the male penis. The theory concludes by saying that to meet this change, woman is now presumed to be in a transitional stage in which the nerve centers are being transferred from the ignored clitoris to the vaginal area and that, "anthropologically speaking," it will take a few million years for this transfer to be completed. For the next two or three million years, then, all women who are not sensitive about the vagina must be considered impotent or abnormal!

The reader can draw his own conclusions with respect to the reasonableness of such an explanation. The writer regards it as a far-fetched basis on which to contend that a woman who is sensitive only to clitoral contact is impotent, not sexually normal.

However, this is not the only theory advanced to explain the lack of vaginal sensitivity in women responsive only to clitoral stimulation. Another, even more prevalent, accounts for it in an entirely different manner, but reaches the same conclusion, namely, that the women are not sexually normal. It is well to discuss this, also, and allow the female reader to form an opinion of the extent to which such a theory may be relied upon.

This belief holds that most women have practiced constant clitoral masturbation in their adolescence. As a result, attention has become focused upon the clitoris so that in maturity they experience no sensation elsewhere. However, this view, even if the findings are trustworthy, is hardly convincing.

To begin with, masturbation is practiced far more extensively and with greater frequency by boys than by girls. Hardly a youth escapes it. By the same analogy, then, men should be far more responsive when orgasm is induced by the female hand than by the sex act; we all know that there is no truth to this.

Since those women who respond in greater measure to clitoral than to vaginal contact form the great majority, it is more reasonable to assume that the minority have highly developed nervous systems than that the majority should have underdeveloped systems. Also, the nature of orgasm is of a different character in these two types of women, as is thoroughly explained in a succeeding chapter. It generally follows, too, that when a woman is sensitive about the vagina, her breasts are proportionately sensitive, whereas the breasts of the others are usually unresponsive. Since no woman stimulates herself by fondling her mammae, all breasts should exhibit equal sensitivity, and we know that they definitely do not.

Therefore, it can be accepted without concern by any woman that it is a perfectly normal condition to be sensitive only in the clitoral zone and nowhere else, just as it is also normal, but less usual, to be highly sensitive throughout the entire vaginal area. When the reader also becomes acquainted with the other sexual differences among women which are to be described, he will clearly understand why a difference in sensitivity about the vulva is neither remarkable nor surprising, but should, if anything, be expected in the light of all other varying factors which constitute a woman's individual sexual make-up.

This belief in widespread adolescent female masturbation is subject to doubt. Its reliability depends entirely upon the character of the survey. Figures gathered from hospital records will very probably reveal a high percentage of those addicted to the practice, particularly if the patients are suffering from some form of sexual or nervous disorder. By the same token, a similar investigation based on the habits of college girls should also show a high percentage, because the average female student is more likely to be high-strung than the working daughter of a day laborer. Furthermore, such a breakdown should also take into consideration whether the girl attends a coeducational institution or an all-girl school. A coeducational college should show a lower proportion than the other, because there the girls have a greater opportunity to relieve excess sexual energy. However, since college women form only a fraction of our female population, any figures applying to them exclusively or in large proportion, would hardly justify the conclusion that the majority of women have practiced adolescent masturbation.

In any case, however, the most important figure to be determined in connection with this subject is the age at which masturbation was first indulged in, if we are to make any comparison between male and female incidence. If the average woman started at the age of sixteen, seventeen, or thereafter, this bears no relationship to masturbation as practiced by men, who commence the habit much earlier, at twelve, thirteen, or fourteen—long before they are having any steady association with girls. In other words, boys begin to enter into this form of sex outlet at an age when their adolescence cannot possibly be in question, while girls of sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, or older have a much higher degree of sexual maturity, are nearer the adult stage, and for that matter can be already regarded as sexual adults. Therefore, when one speaks of adolescent female masturbation, the expression should be qualified to avoid forming a picture of twelve, thirteen, and fourteen-year-old girls who engage with themselves with practically the same frequency and in the same proportion as boys.

Since it is generally agreed that an area of high sensitivity exists within the clitoris, let us consider its function in sexual activity. The clitoris is a small neck-like organ, varying in length, but on the average three-quarters of an inch to an inch long. Most of it is buried beneath the surface, leaving only the glans or tip, a knob-like section generally about an eighth of an inch wide, exposed. It is located approximately where the small lips, traveling in the upward direction, merge. When a woman is not aroused, this little organ is limp and insensitive; the tip inclined to recede beneath the skin; unless one knows exactly where it lies, the finger running over the area could very easily overlook it. A surprisingly large number of men and women are completely unaware of its existence, and it is doubtful if many who have heard of it know precisely where to locate it.

As soon as a woman becomes excited, the clitoris erects itself and loses its soft pliability very much as does the male penis under excitation. The tip, then, can be distinctly felt and almost the entire organ can be traced along the surface. Contact can build up in it the most delightful feeling, finally culminating in the most exquisite of all sensations, the orgasm. While the tip of the clitoris usually extends only slightly above the surface, many such organs encountered protrude considerably farther; still others barely protrude at all, and the tip can be detected only by pressure upon the spot. If a husband has difficulty in locating this knob-like organ, it is advisable that his wife undergo an immediate examination. It is possible that adhesions are preventing erection and the emergence of the glans. In fact, this should be one of the precise factors determined in the pre-marital physical examination suggested in the opening chapter.

However, even under normal conditions, it is not difficult to understand why so many men and women are unaware of the existence of this vital organ. Since most men are inclined to approach the genital region of a woman before she is sufficiently aroused by foreplay, the clitoris is not in the erected state, and it feels little different from any of the other tissue about the vaginal area. Also, since its location is considerably above the vagina, it passes unnoticed even when erected, because most men concentrate their attention about or within the vaginal entrance. Furthermore, in spite of its sensitivity, the clitoris frequently requires minutes of gentle massaging not only to bring it to erection but even to develop sensation.

As a result, it is not unnatural that even men who are aware of the precise location and of the abilities of the clitoris, having attempted to stimulate it and not meeting with immediate response, assume that the woman in question is not sensitive there and have permanently abandoned it as an erogenous region. Nor does higher education on the part of an individual necessarily indicate knowledge in this connection. There exist college graduates of both sexes who, far from knowing its peculiarities, have never even heard of the clitoris.

While this organ is the throne upon which orgasm sits for all females, sensation for at least forty per cent of women, if not more, is located exclusively there. These women, we shall refer to in the future as the "lowly sensitive." Regarding this group, the other areas of the vulva, as well as the vaginal interior, are completely insensitive, and where any sensation at all exists there, it is so slight as to be of no consequence. Most unhappily, nature has committed an oversight here, as she occasionally does, and it is this, in addition to the difficulty most men have in delaying orgasm, that contributes almost wholly to sexual incompatibility or lack of sexual satisfaction on the part of the female.

Another third, approximately, to whom we shall refer as the "moderately sensitive," have only a moderate sensitivity about the vulva, exclusive of the clitoris. While this group is capable of orgasm independent of clitoral contact with the finger or penis, it relies largely upon a rapid, violent rhythm which sets up a disturbance in the entire genital area. This violent motion, characterized by deep penetrations into the vagina, also has the power by the force of its drive to bring the area above the penis itself into contact with the clitoris and to create a strong aggravation about the external parts above the vagina which may extend even to the clitoral zone.

Such a woman also characteristically engages in fierce genital wriggling, even meeting the male in his drive, as if to force the clitoris, and perhaps so doing on occasion, against the male organ and causing the penis to bend. If the male orgasm can be delayed, or rather delays itself long enough—this violent type of male makes no effort himself to exercise control, and movement of this kind will not allow a retarded male orgasm—the woman may have her climax, and it will usually occur simultaneously with that of the male. She may miss it, however, if she is slow to respond or if, following his orgasm, the male does not continue the rhythm long enough for her to reach her climax.

Females of this physical temperament usually desire a violent male—a sort of sexual battering ram—and are the strongest in their preferences, evidently having discovered that a penis of average size or less, and a man more reserved in his habits, fails to satisfy her if he allows the clitoris to take care of itself, which most men do. She is, however, a type definitely capable of more than one orgasm if properly handled, but she will frequently be denied them with the kind of man she seeks; this violent type of male concentrates too fully upon his own pleasure to give any deep study to hers. Nevertheless, because they feel the need for such a sexual partner, women of this nature are mentally conditioned to stimulation by a broad chest, knotted arms, and bulging legs. They believe that a man so built is a type of masculinity capable of being a violent lover. He is all of that but, as the partner of many women, he would create a dislike for the sex act.

A great number of women, although definitely the minority, are more fortunate. These will be referred to as the "highly sensitive." Their entire genital surface is a mass of sexual sensitivity, as is the vaginal cavity itself. Quite obviously, these women have nervous systems which are more highly developed sexually than those of the majority, because the nerve mechanism which exists in the clitoral zone does not extend throughout the entire genital area of a woman—as least, not visibly. One may assume that the area operates sympathetically and that it is a matter of nerve development.

At any rate, this minority, in addition to being sensitive at the clitoris, is also highly sensitive about the small lips, the adjacent area, the entrance to the vagina, and the area deep within the vaginal canal at the point where the neck of the womb protrudes; this is known as the "vaginal vault." In fact, wherever contact by either the hand or penis is made anywhere within this area, sensation starts to flow and orgasm can be reached and sustained without any friction with the clitoris whatever.

One might imagine that a woman so sensuously constructed could hardly fail to achieve sexual satisfaction and that to do so would be a relatively simple matter. However, such a woman is not without her problems. Her orgasms may be lengthy and require a longer sustaining period for gratification; should she be married to a man who exercises no orgastic restraint whatever, she suffers intensely. Conversely, her husband, a man of the best intentions, may not be able to delay his orgasm sufficiently long. She may have desires she is inhibiting, such as oral contact with the genitals, which will be discussed in another section, and is fearful of shocking her husband. As a rule, this highly sensitive type leans strongly and practically without exception to oral rhythm. So, regardless of temperament, sexual incompatibility may always exist in some way or another.

These, then, are all the normal erogenous zones and their varying degrees of sensitivity. We are not discussing purely individual zones, peculiar to some women, which have developed as the result of some psychological factor; only those common to all. It is necessary now to discuss the sexual temperament of women with respect to these areas in responding to foreplay.