Female vaginal response is psychophysiological and requires elaborated nervous-system preparation that may never form

Evidence

Yet it is beyond doubt that vaginal pleasure exists; and even vaginal masturbation—for adult women—seems to be more widespread than Kinsey says. But what is certain is that the vaginal reaction is very complex and can be qualified as psychophysiological because it not only concerns the entire nervous system but also depends on the whole situation lived by the subject: it requires profound consent of the individual as a whole; to establish itself, the new erotic cycle launched by the first coitus demands a kind of “preparation” of the nervous system, the elaboration of a totally new form that has to include the clitoral system as well; it takes a long time to be put in place, and sometimes it never succeeds in being created. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 946

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘psychophysiological’ character of vaginal response and its dependence on the subject’s whole situation — a core analytical concept.
• XREF: Connects to the immanence/transcendence and body-as-situation themes that organize the whole book; also sits against Kinsey’s empirical survey data. — connects to: Most of the vagina lacks nerve endings, undermining vaginal orgasm doctrine — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 945; Female erotic development is psychological, not anatomically determined. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1033; Girls lack precise bodily signs linking sexual agitation to genitals, unlike males — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 773 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Female erotic development is psychological, not anatomically determined. #expands (0.82) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1033
• Girls lack precise bodily signs linking sexual agitation to genitals, unlike males #corroborates (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 773
• A new feminine self-conception is prerequisite to any healthy sexual regulation #expands (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1101