A recent research brings on the reasons on rates at which women orgasms more with their fellow women and how these differ by sexual orientation, revealing that women experience higher rates of orgasm when partnered with another woman compared to when with a man.
The research highlights the influence of sexual fantasies, socially learned in ways of responding in sexual situations which differ significantly based on the gender of one’s partner.
Previously, researchers had consistently shows a significant disparity in orgasm rates between men and women, particularly in heterosexual relationships.
Lesbianism, the tendency and orientation of a human female to be emotionally and usually sexually attracted to other females, or the state of being so attracted. As it was first used in the late 16th century, the word Lesbian was the capitalized adjectival term referring to the Greek island of Lesbos.
This phenomenon, termed the “orgasm gap,” sees 95% of men typically reaching orgasm during partnered sexual encounters compared to only 65% of women.
Women who have sex with men tend to have less orgasms than women who have sex with women.
However, this gap narrows considerably down in lesbian relationships, where approximately 86% of lesbian women report regularly achieving orgasm.
The researchers aimed to explore this disparity by examining expectations and sexual practices in encounters involving women partnered with other women versus those partnered with men.
“The orgasm gap as a cultural phenomenon has become a hot topic in recent years. We wanted to investigate why women who have sex with men tend to have less orgasms than women who have sex with women.
This research helps us to understand why women tend to face worse sexual outcomes when having sex with men,” said study author Grace Wetzel, a PhD candidate in social psychology at Rutgers University.
The researchers recruited a diverse sample of 476 women who identified as either heterosexual (59.5%) or lesbian (40.5%). Participants were sourced from two online recruitment platforms, ResearchMatch and Prolific. Participants eligible for the study were required to be at least 18 years old and to have been sexually active within the past year.
The integrity of responses was ensured through attention checks, resulting in the exclusion of 27 participants who failed these checks. The remaining participants completed a series of questionnaires designed to gather detailed information about their sexual behaviors and experiences with their current or most recent sexual partner.
The researchers found no significant differences in the importance placed on orgasm between the two groups, indicating that both heterosexual and lesbian women equally valued orgasm as part of their sexual satisfaction. However, the actual experiences and outcomes differed markedly.
Lesbian women reported higher levels of clitoral stimulation during sexual encounters compared to their heterosexual counterparts.
This increase in clitoral stimulation was closely linked to higher expectations for achieving orgasm, as well as more active pursuit of orgasm goals. These factors contributed to a higher frequency of orgasms reported by lesbian women.
The relationship between sexual orientation and orgasm goal pursuit was statistically mediated by the levels of clitoral stimulation and orgasm expectations.
This means that the differences in orgasm frequency between heterosexual and lesbian women could largely be attributed to the variations in how much they expected to be stimulated and their proactive efforts to achieve orgasm.
“We find that sexual scripts, or our pre-existing expectations for how a sexual encounter will typically go, play an important role in orgasm differences when women have sex with other women versus men,” Wetzel told PsyPost. “When women have sex with other women, they expect more clitoral stimulation, expect orgasm, and pursue their own orgasm more as a result. These are all potential mechanisms that can explain the orgasm differences we see between lesbian and heterosexual women.”
“In other words, women experience and expect more clitoral stimulation when they have sex with other women than when they have sex with men, which helps to explain the orgasm gap between these two groups of women.”
The findings offer important insights into the sexual experiences of women across different sexual orientations. But as with all research, there are some limitations to consider. One limitation is the correlational nature of the first study.
While the researchers were able to identify associations between sexual orientation, clitoral stimulation, orgasm expectations, and orgasm pursuit, they cannot definitively claim causality from these relationships.
“While this study focuses on orgasm as an important sexual outcome and a useful marker of inequity, it is important to note that this is not the only sexual outcome that matters for couples and does not mean that orgasm is necessary for ‘good sex,'” Wetzel noted.
“In pursuing a partner’s orgasm, it’s essential to never put pressure on a partner to orgasm, as this coercion can make orgasm less likely, less pleasurable, and can lead to negative relationship outcomes.”
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