# Interplay between arousal and disgust



## CraigBesuden (Jun 20, 2019)

Whether women find certain acts to be disgusting is a function of how aroused she feels

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The Surprising Things Turned-On Women Will Do


The Surprising Things Turned-On Women Will Do




www.huffpost.com





_ How Arousal Overrides Disgust During Sex: Study

The Surprising Things Turned-On Women Will Do _

A small Dutch study, released Wednesday, set out to identify the psychology that leads women to willingly, and even enthusiastically, engage in sexual activities despite the ick factor.

The results, published online in the journal PLoS ONE, indicate that arousal overrides feelings of disgust and facilitates a woman's desire to do something that a woman who is not aroused might find flat-out repulsive.

"Women [who] were sexually aroused were more willing to touch and do initially disgusting tasks," study co-author Charmaine Borg, a researcher in the department of clinical psychology and experimental psychopathology at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, told The Huffington Post.

* * *

David Buss, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas Austin and author of "Why Women Have Sex," called disgust a "huge issue for women."

"Women show far more disgust and especially sexual disgust, than men," he said.

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https://www.livescience.com/23136-sexual-arousal-dampens-disgust.html



_ That's Not Gross! Sexual Arousal Lessens Disgust
By Charles Q. Choi published September 12, 2012 _

Feeling disgusted? For women, chasing away the stomach-churning emotion may be as easy as seeking sexual arousal.

Disgust is a powerful feeling that helps defend people from potentially sickening circumstances. Objectively, sexual intercourse could be seen as one of those circumstances, involving, as it does, saliva and other bodily fluids. But new research raises the interesting question of how a vital but potentially icky activity such as sex can seem pleasant and doable.Perhaps it's because sexual arousal somehow dampens the natural disgust response.

To delve into the mysteries of disgust and sex, investigators asked 90 heterosexual female volunteers to complete 16 different tasks that seemed revolting, such as drinking juice from a cup with a large insect in it, wiping their hands with a used tissue, or sticking their fingers in a bowl of used condoms. The women were not aware that the insect was actually made of plastic, the tissue was only colored with yellowish-brown ink to make it appear used, and the condoms were new and only covered in lubricant.

The scientists also had a third of the women watch female-friendly erotica — "de Gast" (Dutch for "The Guest") by Christine le Duc. Another third of the women watched adrenaline-inducing films about sports such as rafting or skydiving. The last third, the control group, just saw footage of a train ride.

"From a clinical angle, these findings give us insight into important problems of sexual arousal and sexual pain disorders — for example, vaginismus and dyspareunia," researcher Charmaine Borg, a psychologist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, told LiveScience. "These are two disorders that make penile-vaginal penetration either completely impossible or possible but with pain."

——

Link to the study itself:









Feelings of Disgust and Disgust-Induced Avoidance Weaken following Induced Sexual Arousal in Women


Background Sex and disgust are basic, evolutionary relevant functions that are often construed as paradoxical. In general the stimuli involved in sexual encounters are, at least out of context strongly perceived to hold high disgust qualities. Saliva, sweat, semen and body odours are among the...




journals.plos.org





This study has investigated how sexual arousal interplays with disgust and disgust eliciting properties in women, and has demonstrated that this relationship goes beyond subjective report by affecting the actual approach to disgusting stimuli. Hence, this could explain how we still manage to engage in pleasurable sexual activity. Moreover, these findings suggest that low sexual arousal might be a key feature in the maintenance of particular sexual dysfunctions.


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## Personal (Jan 16, 2014)

This is nothing new (even back in 2012 when the study you refer to was published), especially for people who are sexually experienced, and this applies to men just as much as it does women.

“A man, who will kiss a pretty girl’s mouth passionately, may perhaps be disgusted by the idea of using her tooth-brush.” Sigmund Freud.


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## Mr.Married (Feb 21, 2018)

Kind of like saying: Recent study reveals that the sky is blue.


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## gameopoly5 (5 mo ago)

CraigBesuden said:


> Whether women find certain acts to be disgusting is a function of how aroused she feels
> 
> —-
> 
> ...


Very interesting indeed.
Something I have wondered about for years, what can override disgust and repulsion in women?


CraigBesuden said:


> Whether women find certain acts to be disgusting is a function of how aroused she feels
> 
> —-
> 
> ...


This is very interesting indeed and something I`ve wondered about for years.
I know from experience that one of the best aphrodisiacs for women is alcohol.
I`ve known women that have had low sexual libidos when sober and after a few drinks lost all their inhibitions and quickly became sexually aroused, similar can be said if women take certain drugs.
Then there are prostitutes that can have sex with any guys for payments.
So does this mean that as regards women alcohol or money can override disgust and repulsion? Or is it that women have a biological knack whereas they can switch themselves off from acts that maybe repulsive or even get turned on by it? For example a 20 something woman who can have S with a 60 or 70 odd year old man.
Society does frown more upon promiscuity among women than men because S for women is internal, meaning involves taking bodily fluids inside their bodies and why this may appear disgusting to non promiscuous women and men.
And as regards how far to the extremes turned on women will go, nothing would surprise me.


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## Ragnar Ragnasson (Mar 4, 2018)

gameopoly5 said:


> Very interesting indeed.
> Something I have wondered about for years, what can override disgust and repulsion in women?
> 
> This is very interesting indeed and something I`ve wondered about for years.
> ...


Love, and of course money, surroundings, social power, geography, real estate, services, cars, jets, friends. If all are on the mega high end of course. 
Not the other way around. 😘🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


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## oldshirt (Apr 1, 2017)

I think there are a number of moving parts here.

yes one’s state of arousal will have a major factor on what things they will find sexy or pleasurable vs gross and disgusting.

men and women both will do things in a state of high arousal that they would normally think of as gross in a normal, in aroused state.

But I think what also often happens is women find most men sexually disgusting and it’s not so much the act they find gross, but rather the thought of those acts with the common man is disgusting to them.

If Brad Pitt were schmoozing them up, things that they would normally think of as gross, now suddenly appears quite appealing. 

Men too will have a different scale if comparing what sounds good with Margot Robbie vs Roseann Barr.

The big difference between men and women however is most men find most healthy women of adult reproductive age reasonably attractive where as most women find only a small percentage of men sexually attractive.


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## gameopoly5 (5 mo ago)

Ragnar Ragnasson said:


> Love, and of course money, surroundings, social power, geography, real estate, services, cars, jets, friends. If all are on the mega high end of course.
> Not the other way around. 😘🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


My old dad used to say as regards women; if the money`s gone love flies out of the window.
Rarely will men want to get into relationships with women because they have money, status and wealth.
Also men will find it extremely difficult to get sexually aroused with women they don`t find attractive, even if drunk or high on drugs and unlike women they can`t fake an orgasm and why men cannot override disgust and repulsion as well as women or bluff it out for gain.
Men see every part of a woman`s body as sexual and an attractive woman can make achievements on her looks alone, whereas men have to work a lot harder, meaning they need to get established, be fit and need to have much more to offer women other than their charm and personality. Fact.


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## oldshirt (Apr 1, 2017)

gameopoly5 said:


> Very interesting indeed.
> Something I have wondered about for years, what can override disgust and repulsion in women?
> 
> This is very interesting indeed and something I`ve wondered about for years.
> ...


Alcohol is not an aphrodisiac per se as it does not increase one’s sexual desire.

rather it decrease’s one’s inhibitions, impulse control and judgment.

in other words, it does not press the sexual accelerator, it releases the sexual brakes.

The horniness and pervyness and sexual capacity were already there, the alcohol just reduced the sexual inhibitions, hang ups and impulse control.


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## oldshirt (Apr 1, 2017)

Regardless of what I said above, I do think men and women both will find certain things appealing and sexy when in an aroused state that they would normally find gross or at least not appealing when in a sexually inert state. 

let’s take PIV intercourse itself as an example.

it takes both of them to be in an aroused state to make it the least bit appealing or even comfortable.

if not aroused, both will be awkward, uncomfortable and even painful to try make it happen.


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## gameopoly5 (5 mo ago)

oldshirt said:


> Alcohol is not an aphrodisiac per se as it does not increase one’s sexual desire.
> 
> rather it decrease’s one’s inhibitions, impulse control and judgment.
> 
> ...


Well, yes and no.
With men alcohol can cause what with used to describe as brewers droop. With women it can have an opposite effect of making them feel more horny. Seen it myself. But I do agree that alcohol just reduces the sexual inhibitions, hang ups and impulse control, especially on women.


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## gameopoly5 (5 mo ago)

My friend Jason. True story.

Back in 1982 not long after my divorce from my first wife, I met a guy at a social club and we became friends.

But Jason although intelligent was somewhat of a nerd and girls were not attracted to him.

He met a girl (Linda) who worked at a local store and they dated. He clung onto to her for over 2 years, lavished the girl with money, gifts, jewellery and if she asked for something Jason got it for her.

During that time all Jason ever received from the girl in intimacy was a kiss on his cheek but Jason still hung in there.

On one Saturday evening a mutual friend invited us to his new home house warming party. Jason took the girl and I went on my own.

Not long after we arrived I noticed Linda sitting on a sofa next to some scruffy looking guy with tattoos, greasy hair with a pony tail, ear studs and a nose piercing.

About 25 minutes later Jason asked me if I’d seen Linda, I looked at the sofa no sign of the girl or that guy. No, I told him.

Then Jason went searching for her in the house. He went upstairs and heard moaning and groaning sounds coming from the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar and Jason opened the door some more and saw Linda bent over the wash basin, her underwear done to her ankles and the guy bent over her from behind. I won’t go into explicit detail; you can use your own imagination as to what was happening.

Jason silently walked back downstairs, I could see he looked upset, and then he got into his car and drove home.

So for 2 years this girl had placed Jason into the friend zone, used him and lead him on that it might lead to a relationship, but she went and done the deed with some guy she’d only met about 30 minutes previously.

This relates to the OP`s thread, women’s arousal overrides disgust. This girl was so sexually aroused that she was oblivious to what was going on around her and didn’t even care the door was open. After only 30 minutes she certainly wasn`t drunk.
I could not date a girl for over 2 years who I was not particularly sexually attracted to and doubt if most guys could because I don`t believe young men and women of similar age groups can just be friends without one of them becoming emotionally involved.
So as I said previously, something I have always wondered about, guess I could describe it as trying to understand the psychology of women, because they are of a whole different mindset from men.


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## oldshirt (Apr 1, 2017)

gameopoly5 said:


> My friend Jason. True story.
> 
> Back in 1982 not long after my divorce from my first wife, I met a guy at a social club and we became friends.
> 
> ...


I’m not sure I agree with your interpretations and conclusions.

i think her sexual disgust was with Jason.

Her true sexual self was with Tattoo Man and she found him sexually desirable and the opportunity presented itself. 

women are obviously different than men but I think the primary difference is women find much fewer men sexually attractive than men find women attractive.

when women do encounter a man that trips their trigger, the gap between men and women narrows significantly.


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## CraigBesuden (Jun 20, 2019)

Perhaps the greater the woman’s arousal for a particular man, the greater her willingness to engage in more “disgusting” sexual acts? The greater the menu of sexual contact she will offer to such a man?


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## gameopoly5 (5 mo ago)

CraigBesuden said:


> *Perhaps the greater the woman’s arousal for a particular man, the greater her willingness to engage in more “disgusting” sexual acts?* The greater the menu of sexual contact she will offer to such a man?


Well, that can work both ways because for a woman to engage in a disgusting sexual act, unless lesbian, requires a participating male sexual partner.
I guess the opinions of oldshirt, you and myself, there are no rights or wrongs and it *MAYBE *down to the difference perceptions regarding sex between men and women.
As regards women wanting to engage in disgusting sexual acts, unfortunately I have never found any women willing to do anything like this with me, chance would be a fine thing.


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## OnTheFly (Mar 12, 2015)

Has a study been done on how fast the disgust returns after completion of disgusting sex act?

Any correlation to the use of baby wipes compared to Lysol wipes?


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## DownByTheRiver (Jul 2, 2020)

gameopoly5 said:


> Very interesting indeed.
> Something I have wondered about for years, what can override disgust and repulsion in women?


Not being disgusting and revolting.


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## Rus47 (Apr 1, 2021)

gameopoly5 said:


> During that time all Jason ever received from the girl in intimacy was a kiss on his cheek but Jason still hung in there.


Jason victimized himself. Linda did nothing but accept gifts offered. She wasnt attracted to Jason, as he should have realized the first time he met her. The “greaser” knew how to romance Linda and she was attracted to him to the point she couldnt wait to have him. Maybe she noticed he was hugely attracted to her, which in turn aroused her.

BTW, nothing Linda was doing was disgusting in any way. The possibility of being discovered just raised the arousal by a lot.

Jason wasnt “victimized” by Linda. If he didnt change his approach, he may have been “victimized” his entire life.


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## ConanHub (Aug 9, 2013)

I'm disgusted.....


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## RandomDude (Dec 18, 2010)

Well, I keep my pecker clean and pristine and always had BJs on tap, with swallowers, so maybe it's both arousal and minimising any disgusting turn offs that can started to be associated with your sex life, or pecker!

Just a thought 
What else is really there to discuss?


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## Mybabysgotit (Jul 1, 2019)

gameopoly5 said:


> My friend Jason. True story.
> 
> Back in 1982 not long after my divorce from my first wife, I met a guy at a social club and we became friends.
> 
> ...


Similar story of how and when I met my wife. We were all camping and I have never met her before that night. There were a few guys there as well, one who had a crush on her for over a year. That guy would have done anything for her and told me as much. He was not happy that she went back to my cabin that night and told me the next day. I tried to be nice as possible but the reality is that she wouldn't of screwed him anyways no matter what he did for her.


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## Ragnar Ragnasson (Mar 4, 2018)

DownByTheRiver said:


> Not being disgusting and revolting.


Durn simply put. Well done!


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## sokillme (Jun 10, 2016)

Go get some therapy dude. You need it.


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## ConanHub (Aug 9, 2013)

CraigBesuden said:


> Perhaps the greater the woman’s arousal for a particular man, the greater her willingness to engage in more “disgusting” sexual acts? The greater the menu of sexual contact she will offer to such a man?


Ok. Here's a little sex talk 101.

The more aroused someone is, the greater pool of pleasure that someone has available.

Obviously if someone is not very highly aroused, they will not have as great an experience as someone who is very aroused.

The mindset behind this post is revealing.

Here's a clue. If someone is aroused, sex isn't actually disgusting.

If sex is disgusting, you are doing it wrong.🙄


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## CraigBesuden (Jun 20, 2019)

Study: Arousal in women doesn’t override disgust in men with a disgusting appearance

The study of 91 female psychology undergraduates examined whether sexual arousal could suppress women’s disgust towards potential mates with a visually-noticeable disease.

The women were shown either an erotic video or a hiking video before rating the attractiveness of photographs of men’s faces. The faces varied in attractiveness, and some had blemishes.

* * *

“To some extent the finding answers the question ‘How do we manage to have sex without being grossed out?’ by saying: ‘Because we pick partners we are less easily disgusted by’.”









Sexual arousal in women doesn't overcome disgust, study finds


New research suggests that sexual arousal doesn't do much to overcome feelings of disgust. "My interest for the topic came from my broader interest in ...



www.psypost.org






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## CraigBesuden (Jun 20, 2019)

Why Women Find Risky Sex More 'Disgusting' Than Men
It's evolutionary, says science.

By Blake Bakkila Published on June 5, 2018

* * *

After the study authors analyzed the results, they found that across all the scenarios, women were more disgusted by them than men. Most notably, there were significant differences in how grossed out men and women viewed sex-related situations.

Why did these scenarios elicit so much revulsion in general? The researchers suggested that humans evolved to be disgusted by things that could pose an infectious disease threat—such as spoiled food, an open wound, and yep, bad sexual hygiene or promiscuous behavior. What we find disgusting could also be driven by social norms, the researchers wrote.



https://www.health.com/condition/sexual-health/women-find-sex-disgusting-study




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## GoodDad5 (9 mo ago)

The Dead Bedroom Fix book describes this scenario. I believe the author found his wife with another dude and she was doing acts that she refused to do with her husband and said they were disgusting to her. There’s something that some women find as a turn on in certain guys even if they would never be with them as a partner. 

I’ve often wondered this about my wife. She’s not sexually aroused by me until she’s really into it. I’ve heard it as responsive desire but I still wonder if I’m just not her type sexually like I am everywhere else in our marriage. She finds oral sex revolting no matter if it’s giving or receiving, anal is a non starter, and she doesn’t like bodily fluids anywhere on her body. She hardly ever initiates and if she does it’s because she feels I need a release. 

But I wonder with the right guy, would she feel otherwise?


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## CraigBesuden (Jun 20, 2019)

GoodDad5 said:


> I wonder with the right guy, would she feel otherwise?


Perhaps. But in some cases, I think the extreme arousal from the other guy might come from the excitement of sneaking around and cheating, and getting attention and validation. Not necessarily the hotness of the guy.


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## umbluu (Jan 24, 2020)

Craig, please do not get me wrong. I am a nerd myself, so I did spend some significant amount of time exploring statistics, and research and what not. Eventually I concluded that these have relatively limited utility. Yes it is fine to explore these things to some extent to avoid having some completely unrealistic expectations... But for the most part - you are not going to have relationships with all 3 billion adult women. You will not have a relationship with some "statistically average woman". You most probably are not going to have relationship with large enough sample of women so their average would approach population average. Nor will you be able to read all possible scientific and not so scientific papers dealing with correlations and cause and effect relations between all imaginable factors in relationships. After some point it would be much more meaningful activity to explore how it all works with the woman you are actually with.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

GoodDad5 said:


> I’ve often wondered this about my wife. She’s not sexually aroused by me until she’s really into it. I’ve heard it as responsive desire but I still wonder if I’m just not her type sexually like I am everywhere else in our marriage. She finds oral sex revolting no matter if it’s giving or receiving, anal is a non starter, and she doesn’t like bodily fluids anywhere on her body.


Mine is the same way, but I really don't think it's just a matter of who's under the sheets with her. I've seen her squirm (not in the good way) on the couch when a scene in a movie gets too steamy. Not once, ever, in any state of arousal, has she even remotely hinted at anything she finds disgusting or uninteresting about sex that might be on the table. 



> But I wonder with the right guy, would she feel otherwise?


I don't think flogging my internal insecurities on something that has been amply demonstrated is very productive. There is zero chance of my becoming every woman's fantasy, even if that were my goal. Not only do I not have the raw genetic material, it would make me not-me. I might just as well be bitter that Einstein was smarter than me. 

Besides, believing that every woman must love blowjobs, anal, and facials just because she has a pulse if only you elevate it enough is to be completely ignorant about how human tastes are distributed.


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## GoodDad5 (9 mo ago)

Cletus said:


> Besides, believing that every woman must love blowjobs, anal, and facials just because she has a pulse if only you elevate it enough is to be completely ignorant about how human tastes are distributed.


I definitely don’t believe every woman loves those things. I would think the majority would be okay with oral either giving or receiving. Definitely think anal and facials would be in the minority. 

I get that everyone’s tastes are different as they should be.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

GoodDad5 said:


> I definitely don’t believe every woman loves those things. I would think the majority would be okay with oral either giving or receiving. Definitely think anal and facials would be in the minority.


Even oral is very generational. My wife was born in 1962. I think, from memory, that the majority of women born in that era do not care for it. That change has happened in my lifetime, to the point that Dan Savage claims that today it should be considered standard equipment, and any model lacking it should be returned to the manufacturer.


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## happyhusband0005 (May 4, 2018)

CraigBesuden said:


> Study: Arousal in women doesn’t override disgust in men with a disgusting appearance
> 
> The study of 91 female psychology undergraduates examined whether sexual arousal could suppress women’s disgust towards potential mates with a visually-noticeable disease.
> 
> ...


Why would someone have sex with someone they are or could be disgusted by?


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