New study reveals why some women can’t reach orgasm during sex

A new study has suggested that a woman's anatomy plays an important part in her ability to orgasm 

Kashmira Gander
Friday 08 April 2016 05:33 EDT
Comments
(Rex/Shutterstock)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A new study has tackled the myth that some women cannot achieve orgasms because of their attitude towards sex, by highlighting that anatomy plays and important role.

The ability of a man to experience an orgasm comes down to a balancing act between the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls the body when it is resting, and the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the “fight or flight” mechanism, according to researchers.

But for females, the composition of her body and how the penis, or other stimulant, enters the body is more important, explains Dr Elizabeth Emhardt, based at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and lead author of the study published in the journal ‘Clinical Anatomy’.

“Sexual experiences are assumed to be in your control based on your attitude: your confidence, your ability to trust, your openness,” she argued.

Instead, the study showed that differences in sexual anatomy are the “foundation for differences in sexual experience."

Dr Emhardt went on to suggest that people may not be “control of our sexual experiences as much as we once thought.”

She concluded: “Orgasms are complex phenomena involving psychological, physiological, and anatomic variation."

Further research is now needed to investigate how such issues can be treated, she added.

The team from the Indiana University and the Mayo Clinic made their findings by reviewing existing research on the sexual anatomy.

The research follows a recent study which highlighted gender inequality in attitudes towards oral sex.

Young women are more likely than men to perform oral sex on their partner even if they don't want to, according to researchers.

Despite many of the 71 teenagers they interviewed saying that there was equality in giving and receiving oral sex, both groups agreed it was more distasteful and a “bigger deal” for men to perform oral sex than women.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in