title: The sexual vocabularies of heterosexual and homosexual males and females for communicating erotically with a sexual partner.
abstract: This study explored what terminology constitutes an erotic or arousing language for male and female, heterosexual and homosexual, and the extent to which that language is used with a sexual partner. Five sexual references were included: male genitalia, female genitalia, lovemaking/coitus, oral-genital contact, and hand-genital contact. Respondents consisted of 120 urban midwestern university students, 30 in each gender and sexual orientation category. Sexual orientation was as powerful a predictor as gender for language that was considered erotic. Lesbians and gay males more often than heterosexual females and males used erotic or arousing vocabulary with a spouse or lover. Gay males more often used slang with a spouse or lover than did heterosexual males and heterosexual females. Implications for sexual arousal based upon communication are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Home Economics-Family Studies, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls 50614-0442.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D004882:Erotica / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014825:Vocabulary