Sex is ever-present in our society, it’s talked about, joked about, thought about and written about constantly. Every adult is almost expected to be doing it, and be doing it well. Yet, we’re never actually taught that much about it, especially when it comes to the female orgasm. There is a general absence of accurate detail about what happens to women’s bodies during and after an orgasm.
In fact, one study in the journal Plos One states: “The female orgasm represents one of the most complex functions in the field of human sexuality.
“The conjunction of the anatomical, physiological, psycho-relational and socio-cultural components contributes to making the female orgasm still partly unclear. The female orgasmic experience, its correlation and the relation with sexual desire, arousal and lubrication as predictors are highly debated in the scientific community.”
However, thousands of TV shows and movies have no problem portraying female orgasms on screen.
From When Harry Met Sally to Sex and the City, women in the throes of passion aren’t just shouting their ecstasy from the rooftops, they’re moaning with pleasure. Loudly.
Read: Can orgasms extend your life?
But is this just cinematic licence, or can you gauge pleasure on moans alone?
According to a new study, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, audible moaning should not technically be considered a part of the female orgasm.
Scientists have called for a re-evaluation of the scales used to assess the subjective experience of the female orgasm after studying the responses of more than 600 women and finding that noise does not usefully correlate to pleasure.
Describing the female orgasm, “particularly in older women”, as “an under-investigated and poorly understood aspect of the female sexual response”, the researchers from the University of Ottawa asked women aged 18 to 82 to describe their experience. They did so with reference to two existing scales, the orgasm rating scale and the bodily sensations of orgasm scale.
The orgasm scales are an attempt to put the discipline on a firmer footing, looking at variables such as “pleasurable satisfaction, ecstasy, emotional intimacy, relaxation, building sensations, flooding sensations, flushing sensations, shooting sensations, throbbing sensations, and general spasms” and “goosebumps, clitoral pulsation, facial tingling and reddening of the skin”.
Read: Older women and sexuality – the times are changing
But the variables are not all equally important. As sex scenes in movies prove, moans and groans can be manufactured. Or, as the researchers write, “copulatory vocalisations” are likely to be “under women’s conscious control”.
And it’s not just that the female orgasm is far more variable than the male orgasm, it’s also considerably harder to document reliably.
Sex researchers have found that on half of the occasions when women reported orgasms in the laboratory, their equipment did not pick up the accompanying physiological signs. There is no such ambiguity for men.
Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Leila Frodsham says about a third of women easily have orgasms from penetrative sex, a third sometimes do and a third never do. “I have never seen anything that could be a G-spot,” she says. “But the clitoris is much larger than many people may assume. The clitoris actually surrounds the vagina. The protuberance is only 5 per cent of the clitoris.”
Much of the existing research on the female orgasm focuses on women who are unable to experience it. This has understandably been a focus of both sex researchers and society, but Dr Frodsham thinks we should be better educated about it. She’s even supported the opening of the Vagina Museum in London – after all, there is a Penis Museum in Iceland.
She believes more readily available information could make us happier and healthier
Read: Seven aphrodisiacs that boost your libido
This latest study found that many of the variables in the existing scales correlated well with women’s experiences of orgasm, suggesting that they are suitable for the job. Some variables, on the other hand, are not so suitable.
In conclusion, what you should not rely on when it comes to the female orgasm, is the frequency or volume of moaning.
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