The Incidental Orgasm: The Presence of Clitoral Knowledge and the Absence of Orgasm for Women

Abstract

Women report anorgasmia and other difficulties achieving orgasm. One approach to alleviating this problem is to teach women about the clitoris. This assumes that women lack information about the clitoris and that knowledge about the clitoris is correlated with orgasm. Using a non-random sample of 833 undergraduate students, our study investigates both assumptions. First, we test the amount of knowledge about the clitoris, the reported sources of this knowledge, and the correlation between citing a source and actual knowledge. Second, we measure the correlation between clitoral knowledge and orgasm in both masturbation and partnered sex. Among a sample of undergraduate students, the most frequently cited sources of clitoral knowledge (school and friends) were associated with the least amount of tested knowledge. The source most likely to correlate with clitoral knowledge (self-exploration) was among the most rarely cited. Despite this, respondents correctly answered, on average, three of the five clitoral knowledge measures. Knowledge correlated significantly with the frequency of women's orgasm in masturbation but not partnered sex. Our results are discussed in light of gender inequality and a social construction of sexuality, endorsed by both men and women, that privileges men's sexual pleasure over women's, such that orgasm for women is pleasing, but ultimately incidental.

The Sexual Acceptability of Intrauterine Contraception: A Qualitative Study of Young Adult Women

“…This finding supports previous feminist sexuality research, which has described how women are socialized to be more partner‐oriented in sex than men, as well as how women are less likely than men to be encouraged to develop their own sexual subjectivity or perceived right to sexual pleasure . For example, in many heterosexual couples, female orgasm is pleasing, but ultimately incidental compared with male orgasm . We argue that practitioners and researchers could do far more to document and address contraceptives’ sexual acceptability; however, larger cultural shifts are also needed to increase women's own claim to sexually acceptable methods, as well as their inherent right to sexual well‐being and not merely the absence of disease or dysfunction…”

The Role of Masturbation in Healthy Sexual Development: Perceptions of Young Adults

“…Traditional gendered sexuality scripts usually leave initiation and pleasure seeking to men, while women tend to have more passive or gate-keeping roles (Gagnon & Simon, 1973). Such sexual scripts and gender ideologies emerge from a culture in which vaginal intercourse is emphasized, women are taught to be caretakers, women's pleasure is considered incidental, women's genitalia are often considered dirty or unclean compared to men's, and women tend to lack substantial knowledge about theirownbody (Breen,1993;Douglas, 1966;Schwartz, 2007;Wade, Kremer, & Brown, 2005). Such views and tendencies can have consequences for women's body image, feeling comfortable with one's own body, and experiencing sexual pleasure (Wade et al, 2005).…”

Hook-Up Culture: Setting a New Research Agenda

“…Internet access accelerated starting in the mid-1990s as personal computer ownership became more affordable. Today, over 90% of teens have access to Internet pornography (Schmitt and Wadsworth 2002), and it has emerged as a primary influence on young people's, especially men's, attitudes towards sex and their own sexuality (e.g., Wade et al 2005). Pornography both challenges the idea that "good sex" involves monogamous relationships and, in the last 10 years, has rewritten the sexual script to include fellatio, cunnilingus (to a lesser extent), and anal sex (Jensen 2007;Paasonen et al 2007).…”