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A common finding in psychophysiological research is that correlations between sexual feelings and genital responses are lower in women than in men. Measurement issues, anatomical differences, factors influencing self-report, and the role of attention have all been considered but do not seem sufficient to explain this gender difference. Providing women with feedback about their genital response, or asking them to focus on genital sensations, does not seem to increase response concordance, suggesting that women are less accurate in detecting genital responses. It is proposed that in both men and women, automatic cognitive processing of sexual meaning activates the genital response. Men and women are believed to differ in the degree to which genital feedback contributes to their subjective experience, and in the likelihood that they process other than sexual meanings. For women, more than men, sexual stimuli convey multiple meanings, and their subjective experience seems more strongly influenced by social and situational cues relevant to, for example, physical and emotional safety, intimacy, and commitment.