Sounds like a fair deal: both males and females experience the feeling of pleasure during intercourse. However, the definition above gives no indication of the disparity between the frequency of men's and women’s orgasms when taking part in sexual intimacy.
The Archives of Sexual Behaviour studied over 52,000 sexually active Americans and found that heterosexual men were recorded to orgasm 95% of the time, in comparison to women, who were recorded to have an orgasm frequency of 65%.
Surely women and their bodies are to blame for this division, known as the ‘orgasm gap’, right? It’s just harder for women to orgasm than men, isn’t it?Sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey, found that both men and women take 4 minutes to orgasm; women have more orgasms when they’re alone vs with a partner; and lesbian women have significantly more orgasms during sexual encounters than heterosexual women. So, if women aren’t accountable for this intimacy incongruity, what is? And how can it be prevented?
Only 10% of women are able to orgasm from penetration alone, yet it is often viewed by men as the most effective way to make women orgasm
As with most problems faced by women, the ingrained nature of a patriarchal society is a leading factor in the orgasm gap. For centuries, women have been taught to be passive, with their own needs being placed as inferior to male pleasure. This positions the female orgasm as less important than male sexual satisfaction, leading to ignorance of women’s requirements within sexual encounters.
For example, Dr Laurie Mintz found that only 10% of women are able to orgasm from penetration alone, yet it is often viewed by men as the most effective way to make women orgasm. Thus, ‘foreplay’, and especially clitoral stimulation, is the most powerful way to produce a female orgasm, with Mintz establishing that 99% of women opt to stimulate their clitoris when masturbating. Therefore, the rejection of foreplay in favour of penetration is less likely to produce a female orgasm, leaving women unsatisfied and unimpressed.
The ignorant view of women’s sexual satisfaction is only supplemented by pornography. These outlets place unrealistic expectations upon women and their bodies, which, often, can not be reflected in real-life settings of intimacy. Porn normalises the assumption that women can orgasm from intercourse alone, when in fact, only 10% of women affirm that this is the case (Dr Laurie Mintz). The influence of porn is ingrained into men from a young age, which leads them to disregard women’s needs in the bedroom, and instead place a focus on replicating largely constructed scenes from pornography, which do not showcase a proportionate portrayal of both men’s, and women’s, sexual requirements.
Whilst it is proven that knowing your own body and its points of pleasure can dramatically improve sex life, many women are reluctant to assert dominance over their bodies, due to the taboo nature of female masturbation. Despite a study of 800 college students concluding that 39% of women orgasm through masturbation, compared to 6%, who orgasm with a partner, societal attitudes treat female masturbation with disgust. Women are labelled as ‘sluts’ and ‘whores’ just for trying to achieve the pleasure that sexual penetration with a partner won’t provide.
Women are labelled as ‘sluts’ and ‘whores’ just for trying to achieve the pleasure that sexual penetration with a partner won’t provide
Although recent depictions of sexual encounters in popular culture have become more authentic and accurate to real-life situations, through shows such as ‘Sex Education’ and ‘The Principles of Pleasure’, the education people receive regarding sexual intimacy, and especially women’s pleasure, needs to be more extensive. Rather than expecting less from sexual encounters, we should educate and empower more.