Why Do Women Need Orgasms (from an Evolutionary Perspective)?
Even now, in the 21st century, when spacecraft are already navigating the expanses of the Universe, the most honest answer is "Who the hell knows". Ideally, it should play some role in the reproductive process — nature is not inclined to give pleasures for nothing, and usually pleasant sensations imply the encouragement of certain behaviors. Nevertheless, as we mentioned, it is possible to conceive a child without an orgasm. So why the prize?
Earlier, scientists believed that the contractions of the vaginal muscles contribute to the "suction" of sperm, but this hypothesis was disproven by Masters and Johnson — even if they do contribute, it is only slightly.
And using orgasm as motivation for women to even engage in sexual relationships is a very complex tactic: the overwhelming majority of mammals manage perfectly well without it. However, unlike most mammals, humans have difficult, painful, and dangerous childbirth, and also possess a mind that allows them to notice the connection between sex and childbirth. Therefore, women of Homo sapiens might have needed additional motivation.
In 2016, a new theory emerged: female orgasm is not an evolutionary adaptation, but, on the contrary, in some way an atavism (like the appendix).
The thing is that regular and circumstances-independent ovulation is a relatively recent invention of nature, and in females of some mammals, this process is still linked to copulation or at least to the presence of a male nearby Puts D., Dawood K., Welling L. Why Women Have Orgasms: An Evolutionary Analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2012; 41(5): 1127–1143. .
Then it turns out that female orgasm could originally have been a "bell" for the maturation of the egg, and then, having lost this function, persisted as a pleasant bonus. Here, of course, the question arises: why only a few species were granted this bonus, but in any case, we should be grateful.
Do Men Always Experience Orgasm?
Almost. For those who love precise numbers, American scientists recently found out from a large sample that 65% of heterosexual women, 66% of bisexual women, 86% of lesbians, 88% of bisexual men, 89% of gay men, and 95% of heterosexual men regularly experience orgasm Frederick D., St. John K., Garcia J., Lloyd E. Differences in Orgasm Frequency Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men and Women in a U.S. National Sample. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2018; 47(1): 273–288. .
Heterosexual women and gay men rarely ask the question "Did he finish?" — it is assumed that this is unmistakable.
Actually, these are two different processes — simply sweet spasms in the genital area, and then their abrupt cessation leads to the expansion of the seminal ducts and most often triggers ejaculation.
But one can experience orgasm without it (usually as a result of spinal injuries or after prostate surgery, such an effect is promised by tantric practices), and one can also ejaculate without orgasm (for example, if a man has had too much alcohol, or simply the sex is not very good).
Why Don't Men Have Multiple Orgasms?
From an evolutionary perspective, this would be meaningless — repeated orgasm does not lead to repeated ejaculation ("the charge" does not recover that quickly), and thus does not increase reproductive chances. However, since, as we have already noted, female orgasm is even less useful in this regard, this answer sounds unconvincing.
Perhaps the difference is again in psychology — and here the word goes to Canadian psychologists from McGill University. They asked 38 men and 38 women to masturbate in the laboratory and measured the genital temperature and psychological state of participants at the very beginning, just before orgasm, during the process, and 15 minutes after.
In fact, interesting data emerged in the last case, allowing for a hypothetical answer:
Men demonstrated more subjective sexual satisfaction and a rapid loss of interest in the process (and judging by the genital temperature, arousal also decreased). In women, temperature decreased, but psychological arousal and desire persisted.
The scientists suggested that it is this readiness to continue that gives women the superpower to experience multiple orgasms Paterson L., Jin E., Amsel R., Binik Y. Gender similarities and differences in sexual arousal, desire, and orgasmic pleasure in the laboratory. Journal of Sex Research. 2014; 51(7): 801–813. . However, to achieve them, it may be necessary to act more diversely — according to research by the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (orgasms of 2,000 women were studied over three years), the chances of the next orgasm increase if one changes the approach to stimulation after the first (for example, the rhythm and pressure applied to the clitoris).
But people have been looking for ways to overcome annoying physiological limitations for centuries — and tantric sex gurus assure that they can teach men to experience multiple orgasms. The trick is to learn with special exercises to "delay" ejaculation as orgasm approaches and thus separate these processes over time.
We honestly tried to find clinical studies on this topic but failed. Nevertheless, one can listen to the gurus and sign up for tantric courses — who knows, it might really work?
What is Female Ejaculation?
Some women (from 10 to 60%, according to various studies) are indeed capable of ejaculating — releasing a certain amount of fluid from the glands surrounding the urethra (the so-called Skene's glands).
Its composition is still debated, but biochemical analyses show that it is not urine or, at least, not entirely urine (the problem is that Skene's gland is too close to the urethra to guarantee the absence of urine in the ejaculate. But some scientists lean towards the idea that it is closer to male seminal fluid, of course, without sperm).
Usually, this fluid is small — a teaspoon or less, but some women have much more. Some of them can be observed on porn sites in the section "Squirt".
How Many Types of Orgasm Do Women Have? And Do They Differ?
Spears mainly break around two types of orgasm — clitoral and vaginal. It all started with Freud, who determined that the ability to experience only clitoral orgasm indicates a woman's psychological immaturity.
After that, many women, to rid themselves of feelings of inferiority, tried to learn to experience vaginal orgasm or at least convincingly simulate it. However, in the end, two interesting things emerged:
- firstly, about one third of women are capable of experiencing the so-called vaginal orgasm, that is, orgasm during the penetration of the penis, fingers, or dildo into the vagina
- secondly, vaginal orgasm has well earned the label "so-called," because it still arises due to clitoral stimulation, which is arranged somewhat more complexly than it seems at first glance Oakley S. et al. Clitoral Size and Location in Relation to Sexual Function Using Pelvic MRI. Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2014; 11(4): 1013–1022. .
With purely clitoral orgasm, everything is simple — it occurs with stimulation of the outer part of the clitoris (until recently, it was thought that this is the entire clitoris, but according to recent data, this organ is something like an iceberg: its invisible part is much larger).
Stimulation can be both targeted (with the hand or tongue) and indirect, taking the most suitable positions during coitus for stimulating the desired spot with the movements of the penis. The likelihood of achieving release in this way is closely related to the anatomical features — the smaller the distance between the clitoris's tip and the entrance to the vagina, the greater the chances Wallen K., Lloyd E. Female Sexual Arousal: Genital Anatomy and Orgasm in Intercourse. Hormones and Behavior. 2011; 59(5): 780–792. .
The so-called vaginal, but in essence, the same clitoral orgasm is achieved when pressing the tip of the penis (or dildo) against the front wall of the vagina or stimulating it with shallow friction. Individual features are significant here too. But what difference does it make how one receives pleasure?
There is also another variant, not noted in studies but periodically mentioned in popular scientific articles by sexologists and celebrated by magazines like Cosmopolitan — uterine or cervical orgasm. It occurs (or at least is supposed to occur) when the penis irritates the cervix and, accordingly, it is suggested that the pleasant spasms in this case are uterine contractions.
This is the only type of orgasm where the size of the penis matters, but even here, life hacks are possible — there are positions that shorten the vagina (for example, woman on top in a squat or if in missionary position, pull legs to the belly).
The problem is that, unlike the two aforementioned types of orgasm, which are more or less studied by researchers, information about uterine orgasm mostly comes from "eyewitness accounts". This does not necessarily mean that it does not exist, but the information on this topic should be treated critically (however, this is useful with regard to any information).
Regarding reports of orgasm from anal sex, there is an opinion that even here the ubiquitous clitoris may be involved, to the hidden areas of which one can reach in such a non-trivial way Komisaruk B., Whipple B., Nasserzadeh S., Beyer-Flores C. The Orgasm Answer Guide. (2009). Johns Hopkins University Press. . Orgasm arising from the irritation of erogenous zones distant from the genitals, such as nipples, in essence, is also clitoral: it also leads to the arousal of this organ and causes the same pelvic floor muscle spasms Komisaruk B., Wise N., Frangos E., Liu W., Allen K., Brody S. Women's Clitoris, Vagina, and Cervix Mapped on the Sensory Cortex: fMRI Evidence. Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2011; 8(10): 2822–2830. .
There are much more interesting cases with orgasm from stimulation of body parts not considered erogenous zones.
For example, one 40-year-old woman, who caught the attention of researchers, orgasmed while brushing her teeth — agree, an unexpected bonus Chuang Y., Lin T., Lui C., Chen S., Chang CS. Tooth-brushing epilepsy with ictal orgasms. Seizure. 2004; 13(3): 179–182. !
Some people experience spontaneous sexual release out of nowhere, for example, on the way to the store. In general, clinically studied cases of "small deaths" from nowhere are linked to manifestations of epilepsy Chuang Y., Lin T., Lui C., Chen S., Chang CS. Tooth-brushing epilepsy with ictal orgasms. Seizure. 2004; 13(3): 179–182. . The second option is a rare and lucky side effect of new-generation antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, it should be noted that SSRIs often cause a decrease in libido and problems with orgasm (though not necessarily).
Is There Any Sense in Searching for the G-Spot?
Give it a try, but keep in mind that scientists have not found it yet. Moreover, they do not even agree on whether it exists in nature Greenberg J., Bruess C., Oswalt S. Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality. (2013). Jones & Bartlett Learning. .
In the 1980s, German gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg wrote about the connection between female erogenous zones and the location of the paraurethral glands. It was supposed that the sought-after point is located at a depth of 5–8 cm on the anterior wall of the vagina. In general, stimulating different areas on this wall and listening to sensations is indeed useful — many women enjoy it.
Problems arise when trying to draw an accurate map — in various empirical studies, the point appeared and disappeared, appeared in different places, turned out not to be a point but rather a fairly large area, or it was discovered that there are several such points.
Furthermore, it is not fact that it deserves a separate name at all — as we already mentioned, women mainly owe their happy sex life to the clitoris (or, as some scientists now like to generalize, to the "clitoral-urethral-vaginal complex"), however they receive pleasure. So do not treat the G-spot as the coveted Holy Grail — the process of searching here is clearly more important than the result.
So Did She Finish or Not?!
Neither the volume of moans, nor facial expression, nor the perceptible contraction (or absence thereof) of the vaginal muscles are accurate indicators. Today, you have only two ways to answer this question with scientific accuracy.
- The first is a positron emission tomography scanner: it is designed to scan only the woman's head while you do something interesting with other parts of her body, and at the same time provide sufficiently clear images (it would be good if the woman does not move too much during this).
- The second option is a pressure-sensitive anal plug that measures the contractions of the pelvic floor muscles. You can write to Groningen (Netherlands) or Minnesota University, ask where they get such plugs, and buy a couple for yourself. Curious, did the male scientists use these devices for personal interests?
What is Anorgasmia and How is it Treated?
About 4% of women suffer from the absence of orgasm even during masturbation.
Anorgasmia can be caused by various reasons — psychological and medical issues, taking antidepressants, heroin addiction, hormonal imbalance, and much more.
Additionally, there is so-called situational anorgasmia — when a person can achieve release only under a specific and very narrow set of conditions. But currently, such a variant is not considered a sexual disorder — it is simply one of the manifestations of the diversity of human reactions.
When making a differential diagnosis, the patient's (much more often the female patient's) psychological issues are checked first. Then a therapist is brought in and various tests are prescribed (complete blood count, liver function tests, hormone tests, etc.).
And with all this, one must go to a sexologist, who interprets the results and, if necessary, conducts further empirical investigations. Among possible pharmaceutical solutions are psychoactive substances, dopamine receptor agonists.
Where Can I Read More About Sex?
In the book by Daria Varlamova and Elena Foer “Sex. From Neurobiology of Libido to Virtual Porn ”.
This is a popular science guide to human sexuality. The book will appeal to those who want to learn more about everything related to sex: from the biological mechanisms of attraction to the socio-cultural factors that influence how, with whom, and how often we make love.
Buy
