2. Women can get erect, too.
Just as a man’s penis swells with blood when he’s aroused, women — or, rather, their clitoris — can become erect, too.
When a woman is turned on, blood flows to her clitoris, the small, round nub just above where the two inner lips meet. This causes the clitoris to swell and become sensitive to the touch. Be careful, though: The head of the clitoris can become overly sensitive and may retract underneath the hood to avoid further stimulation.
3. The clitoris is a powerhouse for pleasure.
With an estimated 8,000 nerve endings, the clitoris serves one purpose and one purpose only: to make a woman feel good. In fact, it’s the only human organ that exists solely for pleasure, according to Dr. Hilda Hutcherson, a gynecologist with Columbia University and author of Pleasure: A Woman’s Guide To Getting The Sex You Want, Need and Deserve.
And there’s more to that beacon of pleasure than the little nub that peeks out. The clitoris has a body and two legs that extend within the body and run alongside the pubic bone.
These parts can be “very sensitive,” Hutcherson told The Huffington Post. “I usually tell women and their partners to move around and try different positions [during foreplay and intercourse] to stimulate all the clitoral tissue and not just the head.”
4. Just because a woman’s vagina isn’t lubricated, that doesn’t mean she’s not aroused.
While women are capable of lubricating naturally, Hutcherson says there are circumstances that can make it more difficult. For example, women may have a harder time lubricating naturally after menstruation. Certain medications and antihistamines also make lubrication more difficult, as do changes in hormones, birth control and age.
“Vaginal lubrication is one of those things that are really misunderstood by men,” Hutcherson said, adding that most men don’t realize that a woman can be aroused without having any wetness.
Some women may even take longer to become aroused and lubricated if they’ve been in a relationship for a long time. “In the beginning of a relationship, you lubricate very well and really quickly [because of all] the chemicals and hormones that are rushing through your body,” Hutcherson explained. “Over time, those chemicals start to decrease after you’ve been with the same person for a while.”
In either case, Hutcherson suggests that men should be patient and spend more time on foreplay if a woman isn’t lubricated enough. “Sometimes it just takes a lot longer for a woman to get aroused,” Hutcherson said. “Men don’t understand why that happens.”