SEXIS WRONG

some people with lesions in the visual cortex to respond
appropriately to visual stimuli without having any conscious
visual experience. That is, they respond as though they can
see, even though they cannot see. And in
some of the women with SCI, they respond
as though they can feel the genital stimulation,
even though they cannot feel it. So is this female
orgasmic experience the equivalent in the female genital
system of blindsight in the visual system? Moreover, is
it the input of the vagus nerves that produces genital blindsight?
With research into vaginal blindsight still at a very early
stage, perhaps it’s not surprising that the jury is still out on
these questions. Other questions remain to be answered,
too. Vaginal blindsight appears to suggest that the female
genital orgasmic response is particularly robust. Why should
this be so? Is female orgasm or the ability of female genitalia
to respond in a characteristic muscular fashion essential for
evolution or successful sexual reproduction?
Curiously, the human capacity for orgasm is not limited to
arousal stemming from stimulation of genital nerves, be it
the pudendal, pelvic, hypogastric, or vagus nerves. Orgasm
can also be triggered as a result of stimulation of non-genital
nerves, too. Non-genital orgasms—orgasms resulting from
erotic and rhythmic stimulation of the breasts, mouth, knees,
ears, shoulder, chin, and chest—all these have been recorded
in a research setting. Pioneering sex researchers Masters and
Johnson observed back-of-the-neck, small-of-the-back, bottom-of-the-foot,
and palm-of-the-hand orgasms, and chose
to view the whole body as a poten tially erotic organ. Both
The woman added how her “whole
body feels like it’s in my vagina.”
women and men with spinal cord injuries anecdotally report
that stimulation of the hypersensitive skin zone that develops
at or near the level of the injury to the spinal cord is capable
of eliciting orgasm.
Laboratory investigations of these orgasmic episodes reveal
that orgasm is indeed occurring. In one case, use of a vibrator
on a woman’s hypersensitive skin zone at her neck and
shoulder resulted within several minutes in a characteristic
increase in blood pressure, and an orgasm described as a
“tingling and rush.” The woman added how her “whole body
feels like it’s in my vagina.” And while such non-genital phenomena
demonstrate that orgasms can be produced by sensory
stimulation of the rest of the human body, as well as the
genitalia, other studies involving women show how, incredibly,
imagery alone can be sufficient to trigger orgasm. For
this group of women, physical stimulation was not needed
to induce orgasm; their minds alone, thanks to fantasy, could
take them there—despite being in a laboratory.
VAGINAS, LES CONS, WEATHER-MAKERS, AND PALACES OF DELIGHT 273