<p>Well, for starters &quot;sexual arousal&quot; is both a physical and cultural phenomenon. Pheromones play a huge role in arousal. Men are known to lean toward the physical attractiveness of a woman, whilst a woman typically leans more towards getting &quot;wooed&quot; in order to open herself up to men; but both sexes do both of those things.
The cultural aspects of being sexually aroused can be just as influential as the physical. For example, in a culture that idealizes blonde women, there are more men who will be turned on by blonde women. If society tells you men with dark hair are attractive, women will probably look for arousal in those men. If you live in a society that idealizes white or black skin, then that's probably what you will see on the billboards and on tv, and hence they become symbols of beauty. If you live in a society where finding the same gender is attractive, you will probably start looking for attractiveness in the same gender. The mind is a powerful thing, but in the end and to answer the question straightly: different people are turned on by different things because of how they have been influenced as well as how their hormones are sitting at that time and place, therefore to SCIENTIFICALLY answer your question, we have to separate cultural and physical influences and study each and figure out the natural magnetism that humans have instilled in them to continue their seed.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T11:13:36.400Z
Welcome to Psychology.SE. Please visit our site [tour]. There are a lot of bold claims in your answer without corroborated evidence. We work differently to many SE sites, where we have a strict policy that [all answers should be backed up with reliable references](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/q/201/7604) so that the answer can be independently verified, regardless of the reader's/answerer's background.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T11:13:52.977Z
*"If you live in a society that idealizes white or black skin, then that's probably what you will see on the billboards and on tv, and hence they become symbols of beauty. If you live in a society where finding the same gender is attractive, you will probably start looking for attractiveness in the same gender."* These and other claims you made need references cited to back them.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T11:14:28.103Z
[This meta answer will help with reliable sources](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2441/7604). Unreferenced claims can be challenged and lead to deletion of your answer.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T21:53:00.567Z
https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-history-of-white-skin-beauty-standards-in-asia-bf8bbf60016a
Chance Watkins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T21:54:13.700Z
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts#cite_note-137 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts#Gender_and_sexual_norms
Chance Watkins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T21:55:04.357Z
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987372/ 
@ChrisRogers
Chance Watkins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T21:58:45.163Z
There's also trends on Google Images and adult websites, which show that people search for the type of people that they live nearest to (for example, if you live in Miami (a place where there are many Hispanic people), there are more search results for Hispanic men/women). 
 There is no other way to explain why different parts of the world have different tastes regarding such things. Please look up pornographic demographics to verify (I am not posting the link here).
Chance Watkins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T22:51:31.457Z
@ChanceWatkins You should [edit] the answer to reference sources; it's best to format your arguments as "statement in your own words (source)" or as "summarizing statement in your own words, 'brief quote' - source" the way you'd do in a school assignment or scientific publication. As-is, though, it doesn't seem like your answer addresses the question asked, which was about differences between men and women and particularly brain activation - it's looking for a neuroscience answer; your answer seems focused on cultural differences and a bit of psychology.
Bryan Krause
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-03T08:54:07.710Z
2022-02-03T08:54:07.710Z
Chance Watkins
<p>I was watching <a href="https://youtube.com/c/AsapSCIENCE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ASAPScience</a> video on the <a href="https://youtu.be/5ioQ8a7o3Mo?t=105s" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Male vs Female Orgasms</a>.</p>
<p>At 1:45 they say that PET scans of brain show that arousal of men and women are different.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/yV6gP.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/yV6gP.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>How exactly are these different, as in what part of the brain is activated and how is arousal interpreted by brains of different sexes of cis straight people?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-02T08:56:02.680Z
The second part of your question relating to *"arousal of Transgenders and Homosexuals"* needs some clarity. You can be both transgender and homosexual at the same time, just as you can be transgender and straight. Are you including these gender expansive individuals? If so, that to me is a broad question which needs focus. Don't forget there are others like biromantic and pansexuals. Or are you not needing to know about any possible differences with them?
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-02T11:01:59.963Z
The question on *"whether orientation and trans status influence these activity or not"* is a third question in its own right.  I think you need to start with asking about cis straight people, then ask a separate question regarding differences with homosexuality (gay or lesbian) and if you are interested in bisexuality, that's a separate question. **Then** look at **one** transgender group (trans homosexual **or** trans straight **or** trans bisexual **or** ...). You see how broad your question is now and how it would lead to a book size answer?
Chris Rogers
<brain><neurology><neuroscience>
How is sexual arousal different in men and women?
Profile name
# How is sexual arousal different in men and women?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-01-01)

I was watching [ASAPScience](https://youtube.com/c/AsapSCIENCE) video on the [Male vs Female Orgasms](https://youtu.be/5ioQ8a7o3Mo?t=105s).

At 1:45 they say that PET scans of brain show that arousal of men and women are different.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/yV6gP.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/yV6gP.jpg)

How exactly are these different, as in what part of the brain is activated and how is arousal interpreted by brains of different sexes of cis straight people?

**Tags:** brain, neurology, neuroscience

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The second part of your question relating to *"arousal of Transgenders and Homosexuals"* needs some clarity. You can be both transgender and homosexual at the same time, just as you can be transgender and straight. Are you including these gender expansive individuals? If so, that to me is a broad question which needs focus. Don't forget there are others like biromantic and pansexuals. Or are you not needing to know about any possible differences with them?  
> **username_1**: The question on *"whether orientation and trans status influence these activity or not"* is a third question in its own right.  I think you need to start with asking about cis straight people, then ask a separate question regarding differences with homosexuality (gay or lesbian) and if you are interested in bisexuality, that's a separate question. **Then** look at **one** transgender group (trans homosexual **or** trans straight **or** trans bisexual **or** ...). You see how broad your question is now and how it would lead to a book size answer?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-02-03. Score: -1

Well, for starters "sexual arousal" is both a physical and cultural phenomenon. Pheromones play a huge role in arousal. Men are known to lean toward the physical attractiveness of a woman, whilst a woman typically leans more towards getting "wooed" in order to open herself up to men; but both sexes do both of those things.
The cultural aspects of being sexually aroused can be just as influential as the physical. For example, in a culture that idealizes blonde women, there are more men who will be turned on by blonde women. If society tells you men with dark hair are attractive, women will probably look for arousal in those men. If you live in a society that idealizes white or black skin, then that's probably what you will see on the billboards and on tv, and hence they become symbols of beauty. If you live in a society where finding the same gender is attractive, you will probably start looking for attractiveness in the same gender. The mind is a powerful thing, but in the end and to answer the question straightly: different people are turned on by different things because of how they have been influenced as well as how their hormones are sitting at that time and place, therefore to SCIENTIFICALLY answer your question, we have to separate cultural and physical influences and study each and figure out the natural magnetism that humans have instilled in them to continue their seed.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to Psychology.SE. Please visit our site [tour]. There are a lot of bold claims in your answer without corroborated evidence. We work differently to many SE sites, where we have a strict policy that [all answers should be backed up with reliable references](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/q/201/7604) so that the answer can be independently verified, regardless of the reader's/answerer's background.  
> **username_1**: *"If you live in a society that idealizes white or black skin, then that's probably what you will see on the billboards and on tv, and hence they become symbols of beauty. If you live in a society where finding the same gender is attractive, you will probably start looking for attractiveness in the same gender."* These and other claims you made need references cited to back them.  
> **username_1**: [This meta answer will help with reliable sources](https://psychology.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2441/7604). Unreferenced claims can be challenged and lead to deletion of your answer.  
> **username_2**: https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-history-of-white-skin-beauty-standards-in-asia-bf8bbf60016a  
> **username_2**: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts#cite_note-137  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts#Gender_and_sexual_norms  
> **username_2**: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987372/  @ChrisRogers  
> **username_2**: There's also trends on Google Images and adult websites, which show that people search for the type of people that they live nearest to (for example, if you live in Miami (a place where there are many Hispanic people), there are more search results for Hispanic men/women).   There is no other way to explain why different parts of the world have different tastes regarding such things. Please look up pornographic demographics to verify (I am not posting the link here).  
> **username_3**: @ChanceWatkins You should [edit] the answer to reference sources; it's best to format your arguments as "statement in your own words (source)" or as "summarizing statement in your own words, 'brief quote' - source" the way you'd do in a school assignment or scientific publication. As-is, though, it doesn't seem like your answer addresses the question asked, which was about differences between men and women and particularly brain activation - it's looking for a neuroscience answer; your answer seems focused on cultural differences and a bit of psychology.  

---

