Unraveling the Mystery of “The Specificity of Women’s Sexual Response and Its Relationship with Sexual Orientations”: The Social Construction of Sex and Sexual Identities

In a critical review and of research examining women’s sexual response across a range of sexual orientations, Chivers (2017) draws a number of conclusions. Heterosexual women, whom she describes as‘‘androphilic,’’respond in equal measure to sexual representations of both men and women, characterized as a‘‘gender-nonspecific pattern of sexual response.’’Lesbian women, described as‘‘gynephilic,’’ respond primarily to imagesofwomen,a‘‘gender-specific response.’’Thefewstudiesof bisexual or‘‘ambiphilic’’women suggest greater response to images of women, but Chivers concludes that there are insufficientdataforfirmconclusionstobedrawn.Bothheterosexual and gay men report a gender-specific sexual response commensurate with their declared sexual orientation, the former responding to representations of women and the latter to men.