Heather Little-White, Ph.D.Contributor

Pleasure is one of the functions of human sexual behaviour. When two persons get together in an intimate setting, there are three main forms of conscious sexual expressions, on a continuum from masturbation to copulation of sexual intercourse.

The primary biological function of sex is reproduction, but the experience of sexual pleasure does not have to result in reproduction. An understanding of the forms of sexual expressions will help couples delay or abstain from an activity for reproduction.

Masturbation is very erotic, but is usually autosexual, which is, it involves no one else but the individual. Petting is also an erotic activity which involves physical, but not necessarily genital contact between two or more individuals with stimulation eithe or mutual. Copulation is viewed as the ultimate of erotic behaviour and involves penis-vagina intromission and is mutually stimulation for both persons in a heterosexual relationship.

Masturbation and petting are solely for pleasuring while copulation may lead to reproduction. However, since masturbation and petting precede intercourse, they may be considered indirectly involved in reproduction.

Anatomy

For the average person, his or her first acquaintance with sex is usually through masturbation, especially in the premarital stage of a relationship. It acquaints the person with the anatomy of the body and the physiology of erotic response and leads to other forms of sexual expression such as petting and copulation. Males manipulate the shaft or glans of their penis until orgasm occurs. Females massage the clitoris and the lips of the vagina, with masturbatory techniques differing among females.

According to a Masters and Johnson study, no two women will masturbate in an identical fashion. This finding is very critical to understanding sexual harmony in marriage. A husband should be aware of the individual requirements of his wife and use strategies for her physical satisfaction.

Caressing

Petting is for sexual arousal, but does not usually include sexual penetration. In many instances, the male genitalia are placed directly against the female’s genitalia without any attempt to penetrate the vagina. Petting techniques are diverse and creative and may include kissing, biting, caressing manipulating and massaging all parts of the body.

The erogenous zones are given the most attention in petting - the ears, mouth, neck, breasts, the thighs, the feet and the genitals - but the whole body is generally responsive to erotic arousal.

Techniques for petting are usually acquired gradually as courtship starts. The techniques begin from hand-holding and simple kissing to deep kissing, breast and genital contact.

Attraction

The individual responses to petting will differ with each person depending of the degree of attraction to each other, past experiences and acceptance of sociosexual taboos. Petting may be brief and casual, or it may be lengthy and deliberate. According to noted sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey, “petting not infrequently begins at a high level of erotic arousal and reaches orgasm within a minute or two”. He adds that “it may be more deliberate and carried on for hours or through a whole night”.

After petting, the anticipated moment arrives – time of intercourse, sexual penetration when an erect penis is inserted into the vagina. The in-and-out thrusting of the penis creates friction on the walls of the vagina leading to orgasm and ejaculation by males. The movement of the penis against sensitive external genitalia and the clitoris of the female may also arouse her to orgasm. Several females experience difficulty in reaching orgasm without preliminary petting or masturbation. The size of the penis and the depth of the vaginal penetration have little erotic sensitivity and the external areas of the female genitalia will be stimulated regardless of penis size.

Sexual positions

The length of intercourse may vary from a few seconds to hour the length of time is almost always dependent on the male’s willingness and ability to delay his orgasm. Most men will lose their erection for a varying period of time (the refractory period) after the initial orgasm and ejaculation and some women are capable of multiple orgasms, both factors influencing the length of time for intercourse. Sexual positions als sexual pleasure during intercourse. During copulation, the most common position among humans is the female the missionary position with the female supine and the male face-to face on top. The Hindu love manual, the Kama Sutra, shows thirty basic positions and many more variations to intimacy.

Sexual intercourse is universally accepted as the sexual mode for reproduction. It is also of the most significant pleasures in the animal kingdom experience. However, masturbation and petting are pleasurable modes of sexual expressions.