ABSTRACT
Making sexual pleasure does not read like a recipe for making a pie, complete with ingre-
dients and instructions. The parts might be in place, the people in the correct combination,
and the directions followed exactly, but after tasting your final product, you are left wanting a
different piece. Pleasure is not guaranteed with the experience. You may order an interesting
item from the restaurant menu, but after consuming the dish you find yourself displeased or
unfulfilled. Money is not returned and substitutions are not provided. Society does not
guarantee pleasure in its many entertainment forms. People have sex hoping for a good time,
but only after the event takes place will they know if they succeeded. Just like the gambler
rolling the dice, he or she wins based on statistical formulations. Having sex may bring
sexual pleasure, but, for some, hitting the sexual jackpot is rare. Pleasurable sex requires
many elements, including feelings of attraction, techniques used with skill, and positively
labeled bodies that fit well together. Once these diverse factors align, pleasure results. I
submit that sexual desire, interest in sex, and sexual behavior mix together to yield pleasure,
but, depending on the formula used, produce different versions of pleasure. The answers to
the ‘‘what,’’ ‘‘how,’’ and ‘‘who’’ questions determine the ‘‘how good’’ answer. Explaining
sexual pleasure requires the disentangling of its components.
