Social Representations of Female Orgasm

Abstract

This study examines women's social representations of female orgasm. Fifty semi-structured interviews were conducted with British women. The data were thematically analysed and compared with the content of female orgasm-related writing in two women's magazines over a 30-year period. The results indicate that orgasm is deemed the goal of sex with emphasis on its physiological dimension. However, the women and the magazines graft onto this scientifically driven representation the importance of relational and emotive aspects of orgasm. For the women, particularly those who experience themselves as having problems with orgasm, the scientifically driven representations induce feelings of failure, but are also resisted. The findings highlight the role played by the social context in women's subjective experience of their sexual health.

“It Feels So Good It Almost Hurts”: Young Adults' Experiences of Orgasm and Sexual Pleasure

“…The meanings and experiences young (British) adults -women and mendescribe in relation to orgasm and sexual pleasure remain very similar to the experiences reported in previous qualitative research on orgasm. Orgasm is predominantly understood as an ultimate pleasure, and the 'goal' (and end) of sex, but also something that produces happiness, love, intimacy and closeness within relationships (Béjin, 1986;Fahs, 2011;Lavie & Willig, 2005;Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009;Nicholson & Burr, 2003;Potts, 2000). Our data show that our participants' experiences, the ways they interpret those experiences, and the meanings they attribute to orgasm and sexual pleasure, are already strongly socially-patterned, and are underpinned by dominant systems of meaning related to sex, heterosex and orgasm.…”

“…Qualitative research into the experience and meaning of orgasm -typically focusing on women -has demonstrated complex and nuanced, yet patterned, meanings and experiences related to orgasm (e.g., Cacchione, 2007;Fahs, 2011;Hite, 2000;Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009;Nicholson & Burr, 2003;Potts, 2000). Given the sociocultural context noted above, orgasm has often unsurprisingly been identified as the peak sexual experience, the desired outcome (goal) of sex, the end and measure of successful sex (Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009;Potts, 2000).…”

“…Given the sociocultural context noted above, orgasm has often unsurprisingly been identified as the peak sexual experience, the desired outcome (goal) of sex, the end and measure of successful sex (Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009;Potts, 2000). Women often report that it is important to 'give' their male partners pleasure and orgasm, possibly at the expense of their own pleasure (Nicholson & Burr, 2003).…”

“…Women often report that it is important to 'give' their male partners pleasure and orgasm, possibly at the expense of their own pleasure (Nicholson & Burr, 2003). Linked into both Freudian ideas of vaginal orgasmic superiority (e.g., Koedt, 1996), and the coital imperative, women have been found to differentiate between 'clitoral' orgasm (often achieved through masturbation) and 'vaginal' orgasm (achieved through 'sex' with a man), and see 'vaginal' orgasms as superior (Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009). And it appears that the meaning of orgasm cannot be divorced from the context it is experienced in.…”

“…Women who viewed themselves as having problems with orgasm have reported anxiety, a sense of anger, of frustration, of sadness, of missing out, of being a failure, and of decreased sexual satisfaction and desire, or that sex has not been completed and their ability to express their sexuality has been hindered (Lavie-Ajayi, 2005;Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009;Potts, 2000). Some women felt the absence of orgasm impacted their relationships, with pressure and tension building-up as their partners wished for them to experience orgasm and were disappointed when it did not happen (Lavie-Ajayi, 2005;Lavie-Ajayi & Joffe, 2009;Lavie & Willig, 2005).…”