LESSON 7: Sex and Senses

 Human Affects the Senses

Learning outcomes:
 Discuss the human senses in the context of sexual response; and
 Show appreciation of how the sensorium contributes
to our experience of human sexuality

Topic Discussion:

Introduction

When we were children, we were taught that there are five bodily organs, which corresponds to our
primary senses, that we use to explore and experience the world around us. Our eyes enable our sense of
sight (visual), so that we are able to see visual stimuli (color, size, shape) in the environment. Our nose
enables sense of smell (olfaction), so that we are able to experience scent. Our ears allow us sense of
hearing (audition), so that we are able to experience sounds of varying tones, pitches, and volume. Our
tongue is covered with taste buds that allow us sense of taste (gustation), so that we are able to experience
the taste (e.g., saltness, sweetness, bitterness, etc.) of our food and other objects we put in our mouth.
Then, we have sensory reception in our skin, muscles and joints which allow us the sense of touch/feeling
so that we are able to have tactile experiences, e.g., heat or its absence, various texture, various physical
pressure.

These five senses comprise our sensorium—the totality of our sensory experiences and
perception. While we receive information from our environment through the senses, our brain has the ability
to organize and interpret these numerous stimuli into meaningful ideas that are useful for our choices
(behavior).
c

HUMAN AFFECT AND THE SENSES

Interestingly, while human beings are hailed as rational beings who are constantly making choices
and are behaving through a set of rational choices made from higher order thinking (e.g., evaluating,
judging), it is hypothesized that our affect (emotions and feelings) actually play a major role in our
behaviors.
 Affective Primacy Hypothesis (Zajonc 1980) postulates that in many cases, cognitive processing
(i.e., higher order thinking) plays a lesser role compared to our emotional responses in eliciting behavior.
By virtue of this hypothesis, by default, our emotions take precedent primarily because these are only
processed and modulated by the limbic system—the emotional part of our brain which is more primitive
compared to the ones responsible for higher order thinking (e.g., neocortex).

This is where the sensorium and the human affect meets. Here it will help us to think of a particular
case: Imagine walking in the woods with your friends when all of a sudden, a venomous snake drops down
in front of you. How will you respond to the situation?

As part of our mechanisms for evolution, humans like us have three primary emotional responses:
fight, flight, or freeze. A fight response is when we face adverse or dangerous stimuli squarely. This would
mean grabbing the nearest solid object in the environment and throwing it to the snake to "shooo" the
snake away. A flight response is when we away from the adverse or dangerous stimuli. This would mean
running away from the place' finding a new route where the snake cannot find you• A freeze response' on
the Other hand, is when you are startled and are unable to make a choice' thus' are unable to move.
Sometimes, the freeze response can also be used to buy time so you can calculate the advantages and
disadvantages of your choice: shall you fight the snake or fly away from the scene.

In all three basic emotional response, there is a requirement: We should be able to sense the
environment, organize the stimuli we receive, and interpret these stimuli, so we can make a choice and
corresponding action. We will not be able to arrive at the behavior if not through our senses. This makes
our sensorium a necessary component of the emotional response arc.
SENSES AND SEXUALITY

Having provided an overview on how human affect, the sensorium, and the brain's limbic system
coordinate, we are now ready to discuss how the various senses play in the human sexual response.

Visual Experience

Humans are predominantly visual. Our societies highly rely on visual culture to co-create meaning
and convey information. For instance, our language has a visual component,as observed from our writing
systems. Walking down the streets, you will see a lot of signs which directs you what to do or not do. You
will see placed on business establishments to tell you where to buy your groceries, ask for medical help, or
go to school. These only show that visual culture is an essential element of our society. It is only
appropriate to utilize these visual cues since visual memory is deemed superior to other forms (Cohen et. al
2008). It is assumed that, at the average, when realities are presented visually, we tend to remember them
and easily retrieve them from our memory.

In the context of human sexuality, some studies have explored gender differences in visual stimuli
and sexual arousal. For instance, the study of Rupp and Wallen (2007) found that men respond more to
visual sexual stimuli and tend to be influenced by the sex of the actors in a sexual scenario. This means
that when confronted by an intimate interaction, men would tend to be rather influenced by visual cues,;
e.g., how the other person looks physically or what the other person is wearing. In the same study, on the
other hand, women were found to be more influenced by context, although they, too, are responsive to the
sexual content of a visual stimuli. This means that when confronted by an intimate interaction, women tend
to be rather influenced by the nature Of relationship they have with another person, e.g., is the other person
someone they know and can trust

Other studies explored how heterosexual men and women would respond to femalefilmed and
male-filmed videos (Lann 1994) and to female-chosen and male-chosen videos (Peterson and Janssen
2007). These studies established that either gender respond moreintensely on materials filmed and chosen
by people of similar gender.

What can we glean from these studies? Women and men differ in strategies of viewing sexual
stimuli. Women tend to pay more attention to contextual and nonsexual cues than men (Lann and Everaerd
1995), and thus are putting prime on subjective valuing ofcircumstances.

Olfactory Experience

Olfaction in non-human animals, which are believed to be microsmatic organism, or organisms

For instance, in a study by Muscarella, Arantes, andKoncsol (2011) explored on the preferred
scent among heterosexual and homosexual males and females. The study found that heterosexual
females who participated in their study tend to like wearing floral-sweet but want musky-spicy scent to be
worn by their partners. Heterosexual males and homosexual females in their study preferred wearing
musky-spicy scent and liked their partners to Wear floral-sweet scent. On other hand, homosexual males
who joined the study wanted muskyspicy for themselves and their partner.

Scientists have tried to explain how human olfaction influence sexuality• They identified through
possibilities: first, through what is referred to as signature odor (the unique way that each individual smells)
which is associated with the Major Histocompatibility Complex, a set of proteins signaling our immune
system the presence of foreign substances, and second, through what is referred to as pheromones
substances putatively excreted by our glands which signals mood and affects social behaviors.

One of the famous studies about Ml-ICs is the "sweaty T-shirt experiment" (Wedekind and Füri
1997; Wedekind et al. 1995). In these experiments, it was found that individuals tend to be attracted to
other people with a different set of MHC genes.

Humans' interest in pheromones, on the other hand, has been present since the early 1930s when
an entomologist Bethe (1932) suggested that there are hormones emitted outwards the body. These are
called ectohormones. In a few decades, the term was replaced with the word pheromones, and eventually,
the concept was generalized to be true also to mammals. In the 1970s for instance, the McClintock effect
(1971) or menstrual synchrony—the observation that females in the same dormitory usually would have
their menstruation at nearly the same time—was thought to be due to pheromones. This culminated in the
1980s when the presence of a human pheromone was hypothesized (Cutler and Preti 1986).

What do scientists think human pheromones do? First, it is thought to act as attractants (of the
opposite sex), repellants (of the same sex), stabilizer of mother-infant bond, and modulators of menstrual
cycle (Cutler 1999). Some chemicals thought to be human hormones are: (1) androstadienone (AND), a
testosterone-like Substance found in male sweat, saliva, and urine; (2) estratetraenol (EST), an estrogen-
like found in female urine, and (3) 1-pyrroline, a substance found in human semen, pubic sweat, and
smegma.

However, there are those who dispute the presence of human pheromones because modern
studies could not replicate what has been believed to be the effect of putative pheromones on social
behaviors (Wessel 2017). Hence' it is an interesting area of research to really explore if, pheromones truly
exist as they are believed to be.
Tactile Experiences

Touch is observed to be an element of intimacy Our body is covered in skin, often referred to as
the largest bodily organ. Our skin totally accounts for 16 to 20% of our body weight. It is sensitive organ as
every square inch of it houses more than a thousand nerve endings. Hence, in social interactions,
particularly intimate ones, touch holds meaning. There are only people who we allow to touch us. There are
only parts of our bodies we allow people to touch. Touching, just like any other behavior, may also be
governed by social norms.

As a sensation, touch has some elements. Tactile element pertains to the experience relative to
the object being felt: Is it rough? Is it smooth? Is the surface hard or soft? Then there is thermal element: Is
it warm or cold? Finally, there is vibrational element: Is the pressure of the touch strong or weak? Is the
sensation moving and pulsating or steady and stationary?

Different parts of the human body also have different threshold of tactile experience. Areas such as
the mouth, anus, genitals, and nipples are referred to as primary erogenous zones—as they are very
sensitive to touch. The back, cheek, neck, and buttocks are secondary erogenous zones—as they are also
sensitive to touch, but only supportive of the primary zones in eliciting response. Often, these erogenous
zones are areas of the body involved in the reproductive and sexual act.

Human touch is essential in social bonds. Often, we only give people we trust the right to have
tactile contact with us. It is always a consensual act to touch and be touched. When we touch, our body
produces a hormone called oxytocin—it is referred to as the love hormone because it is believed to
influence tribal behaviors and maternal bonding. Oxytocin is observed to be produced in vast amounts
during nipple stimulation, such as for instance when a mother suckles her newly-born.

In intimate relationships, touch is suggested to be one of the love languages. A person whose love
language is touch tend to give and receive tactile stimulation to and from others through holding, hugging,
and other forms of physical connections.

Auditory Experience

Social interactions are not only visual, but are also auditory processes. Our human language often
have a verbal counterpart to the written language. In fact, historically, much of our culture are passed on
through oral traditions, even before the writing system was developed.
Sexual activities are also a verbal communication process. Sounds give additional context to sexual
situations. For instance, in sexual interactions, couples may give verbal erotic encourage—words that
triggers sexual response or verbal expression of affection— words that manifests feelings (e.g., I love you, I
miss you). A survey of popular music will show that love and sex are among the common themes of songs
nowadays. This only emphasize the value of sound in human sexuality.