Heterosexual and bisexual women display a curious pattern of sexual arousal: When shown explicit videos, they will display equal sexual arousal to videos featuring sexy men or sexy women. Lesbians, however, constitute a notable exception to this pattern: They show a marked preference for women in their sexual responses. This pattern has been found in a wide range of studies involving genital arousal, pupil dilation, viewing time, and even brain activation patterns.
Despite decades of research into sexual arousal, no satisfying explanation for this pattern has yet been found. A new research program taking place in the SexLab at the University of Essex hopes to shed some light on this matter by measuring the genital response and pupil dilation patterns of a cohort of exclusively lesbian participants, as they watch explicit videos featuring men or women.
To help achieve this, our research program seeks women who identify as exclusively lesbian, living in London or the East of England to measure their genital arousal to erotic videos of men and women. Participation lasts roughly 90 minutes, and takes place in the SexLab at the University of Essex’s Colchester campus. The experiment takes place in complete privacy in a sealed booth, and communication with the experimenter is done via intercom.
Our main measure is genital arousal – this is measured via a sterilized vaginal probe, shown below. You will be asked to insert the measured top end of the device into your vagina. This will happen in complete privacy and only with your written consent.
In return for helping us with our research on female sexuality, we can offer you £50 for your time, as well as negotiable travel costs. Timeslots are available any day of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays, as well as evenings.
If you are interested in taking part, please fill out the form located at goo.gl/JC3AZtand our research team will be in touch with you as soon as possible. For further information or for any questions, please feel free to drop us a line atsexlab@essex.ac.uk.
We hope to hear from you soon!
University of Essex SexLab
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