Body Language of Sex Flush
Cue: Sex Flush.
Synonym(s): Sex Blush.
Description: A measles-like rash appearing on the breast and chest usually in women (and sometime men) nearing orgasm.
In One Sentence: The sex flush is a nonverbal signal that says an orgasm is near.
How To Use it: Women can use reddening to appear artificially sexually aroused by applying make-up to the cheeks and even the upper chest. This is an artificial likening to sexual arousal which men will find alluring. Otherwise, the cue is not something that can be consciously controlled making it not something that is readily used as a voluntary nonverbal cue.
Context: Dating.
Verbal Translation: “I’m having an orgasm and the flow of blood is increasing to my skin.”
Variant: Blushing.
Cue In Action: Her heart was racing as she panted heavily; she arched her back forced her legs together and went into an erotic tremble. Her skin turned bright pink, glistening, and she couldn’t catch her breath.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The sex flush is found in nearly seventy-five percent of women and twenty-five percent of men and does not occur at any other time and is not a direct reaction to temperature, but tends not to occur in colder climates.
The sex flush, or vasocongestion is an increase of blood flood throughout the skin. In women, the skin turns pinkish under the breast, which spreads to the torso, face, hands and feet. In some cases, the entire body might flush. In men, the skin turns pink in the abdomen, then chest, neck, face, forehead, and occasionally the shoulders and forearms. The sex flush typically subsides quickly after orgasm but can last up to two or more hours and result in increased perspiration.
Cue Cluster: During orgasm breathing often becomes heavy, muscular contractions of the pelvic area including the vagina, uterus and anus, the feet may curl, the legs press together.
Body Language Category: Arousal, Autonomic signal, Physiological signals.
Resources:
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Henson, Claudia ; Rubin, H. ; Henson, Donald. Women’s sexual arousal concurrently assessed by three genital measures. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 1979. 8(6): 459-469.
Heiman, J R ; Rowland, D L ; Hatch, J P ; Gladue, B A. Psychophysiological and endocrine responses to sexual arousal in women. Archives of sexual behavior. 1991. 20(2): 171-86.
Licht, Peter B. ; Pilegaard, Hans K. ; Ladegaard, Lars. Sympathicotomy for Isolated Facial Blushing: A Randomized Clinical Trial. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2012. 94(2): 401-405.
Pelissolo, Antoine ; Moukheiber, Albert ; Lobjoie, Corine ; Valla, Jean ; Lambrey, Simon. Is there a place for fear of blushing in social anxiety spectrum? Depression and Anxiety. 2012. 29(1): 62-70.
Prause, Nicole ; Barela, James ; Roberts, Verena ; Graham, Cynthia. Instructions to Rate Genital Vasocongestion Increases Genital and Self-Reported Sexual Arousal but not Coherence Between Genital and Self‐Reported Sexual Arousal. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2013. 10(9): 2219-2231.
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