4.1 Sensitive parts of the body

Our first activity starts gently by exploring the sensitive parts of the body. It aims to help young people to understand that sexual pleasure comes from more than just the genitals.

Activity 4.1: Body parts

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes to do this activity

Draw two gender-neutral bodies on a whiteboard, chalkboard or sheet of paper, one from the front, one from the side, like this:

Figure 4.2 Body outlines, from the front and side

Now ask the group ‘What parts of the body are involved in sex, desire and pleasure? If no one mentions the brain (where much sexual response actually starts), you can add it and ask what they think you mean.

Make sure that all the areas with lines shown in the pictures below are mentioned. If not, you can point to an area and ask ‘what about this part?’ You can explain that different parts of the body are more or less sensitive or pleasurable for different people.

Figure 4.3 Body outlines, from the front and side with lines for labels

The next two sections focus on the sexual organs but the points made by this activity are really important as well: that many parts of the body can be sexually sensitive; that different people find different parts of the body sexual; and that the brain and emotions play a vital role in sexual arousal.

Introduction

4.2 Different words for different contexts