Article Review Example on Closing the Orgasm Gap in Heterosexual Relationships

Introduction

The article by Compton (2019) describes the orgasm gap between males and females and how it can be corrected. The author claims that in heterosexual relationships, on average, women have fewer orgasms than men, a problem referred to as the orgasm gap by professor Lauri Mintz. There have been campaigns by sexuality professors on promoting orgasm equality and proposing ways of balancing it amongst the genders. Compton (2019) describes a study conducted in 2016, found in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, that interviewed more than 52,000 adults. The study collectively interviewed all people, including lesbians, gays, and bisexuals, to note that approximately 95% of the heterosexual men claimed to orgasm during sex. Contrastingly, only 65% of the heterosexual women who experienced an orgasm. Therefore, there is a huge gap between male and female perspectives regarding the attainment of orgasm during sex.

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The author further claims that the differences between the two genders regarding orgasm are attributed to the cultural ignorance of the role of the clitoris. The author further describes various concepts of orgasm, including the anatomy of the clitoris, inequality in the bedroom, dispelling of the g-spot, and the various strategies that could be used to improve the arousal of women entirely. The description of the clitoris includes the bulbs surrounding the vagina. As such, the engagement of the clitoris is the primary source of the arousal. Hence, whenever it is not engaged during intercourse, women are not likely to orgasm, although penetration alone causes pleasure.

Inequality in the bedroom is depicted as the media images of sex and cultural over-privileging of male sexuality and continued devaluing of female sexuality. Most women need clitoris stimulation, a case that does not happen to most men during sex. Notably, a survey conducted in 2015 involving 1000 women found out that 36% of women reported that clitoris stimulation helped them orgasm. Additionally, the g-spot, a mysterious area inside the vagina, has a high sensitivity for orgasm stimulation. G-spot constitutes many structures, including the wall of the vagina, female prostate glands, and legs of the clitoris. Although the external clitoris is much preferred for stimulation during sex, the g-spot cannot also be ignored.

Compton (2019) holds that women need to be aroused during sexual activity, marking the beginning of an orgasm. They need to be aroused before penetration in the same way a penis becomes erect, the cervix won’t pull back out, and the vagina won’t lubricate. In such a scenario, women will find it painful. Although the bodies of women are different, they all deserve arousal before penetration. The author also claims that sex doesn’t necessarily need to last long, 3-5 minutes are considered adequate. However, the media has depicted it to last for long, which is also great. The author concludes with the recommendation that mixing up things during sex would help bridge the gap in orgasm between men and women. Both genders enjoy greater pleasure whenever they receive a mix of acts from their partners. Some of the recommended acts include oral sex or touching during, before, or after penetration. Hence, people should adopt a different approach to doing sex and not dwelling on the same act to achieve orgasm for a long time.

Research Article

Shirazi, Renfro, Lloyd, and Wallen (2017) conducted a study about orgasm between genders to note that only a smaller proportion of women who experience orgasm from intercourse. Surprisingly, a majority of women experience orgasm from masturbation. The authors suggest that research notes that concurrent clitoral stimulation during intercourse increases the likelihood of orgasm. However, a majority of orgasm surveys during intercourse do not offer to specify whether vaginal intercourse should include clitoral stimulation, whether assisted or unassisted. The authors noted that orgasm in women was higher (51-60%) in assisted intercourse and the second-highest (31-40%) with clitoral stimulation. However, in unassisted intercourse, it recorded the lowest (21-30%).

The authors found that orgasm in men for assisted in intercourse achieved the highest percentage of 61 to 70, and the lowest unassisted intercourse recorded 41-50%. In both genders, men performed significantly better than women by reporting higher response rates to orgasm for assisted and unassisted intercourse. Further, women are likely to experience orgasm when there is concurrent stimulation, although both genders differ in their interpretation of orgasm. The occurrence of orgasm during sex differs from men and women, with the former recording almost 100% experience of orgasm during intercourse or most of the acts related to orgasm. Research suggests that women experience a much lower and more variable percentage of individuals experiencing orgasm during intercourse and only a smaller percentage that orgasms from sex only. Shirazi et al. (2017) explain this potential difference by stating, “stimulation during intercourse mirrors the stimulation men most frequently use during masturbation, but not for women.” However, there is a general understanding that men have a higher orgasm percentage than women.

Critique

The claims made by Compton (2019) significantly aligns with the peer-reviewed journal regarding the orgasm gap between men and women. The author’s claim that men experience a significantly higher orgasm percentage than women is true. In her article, 95% of men are thought to experience orgasm during intercourse, while Shirazi et al. (2017) stated that almost all men (100%) experience orgasm. Additionally, for both the assisted and unassisted intercourse, men performed significantly higher in orgasms than women. Both the articles regard women to experience reduced instances of orgasm compared to men who almost everyone orgasms. A striking difference between the two articles is that Compton (2019) believes that men have created a culture of ignoring the role of the clitoris in making a woman orgasm while Shirazi et al. (2019) ties higher orgasm of men to penile stimulation. Hence, men are likely to orgasm faster than women due to the penile stimulation that is much exposed than clitoral stimulation.

These findings are relevant to another study conducted by Wade (2015). The author found that whenever a woman gets an orgasm during intercourse, men most have already experienced three times. The difference in orgasm is commonly referred to as the orgasm gap where males have a higher frequency than females for heterosexual sex. The author rejects the hypothesis that women are usually bad at orgasms and provides explanations for differences in gendered asymmetry. Wade (2015) attributes many factors to the orgasm gap between men and women with a critical focus on women. A woman is likely to experience orgasm based on the relationship she has with the partner and even the activities they engage in. Under normal circumstances, a woman has almost the same chance of orgasm to that of a man. Additionally, Holland, Ramazanoglu, Sharpe and Thomson (1998) found that women lag behind in orgasm since only a small proportion of people (both males and females) understand the importance of clitoris in intercourse. Hence, biology is not the sole determinant in orgasms but also the decisions couples and individuals make during sex, including clitoral stimulation during intercourse.

Conclusion

Compton (2019) explores the concept of an orgasm gap between males and females and recommends how it can be corrected. The author attributes the difference to cultural ignorance of clitoris stimulation and bedroom inequalities while citing previous studies. A comparison of these claims to Shirazi et al. (2017) confirms the argument that men experience a higher percentage of orgasm than women, although the causes of the differences are different. A study by Wade (2015) explains the similarities and differences between the two articles.

References

Compton, J. (2019). The ‘orgasm gap’: Why it exists and what women can do about it. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/orgasm-gap-why-it-exists-what-women-can-do-about-ncna983311

Holland, J., Ramazanoglu, C., & Sharpe, S. S. and Thomson, R.(1998) The Male in the Head: Young People, Heterosexuality and Power.

Shirazi, T., Renfro, K. J., Lloyd, E., & Wallen, K. (2018). Women’s experience of orgasm during intercourse: Question semantics affect women’s reports and men’s estimates of orgasm occurrence. Archives of sexual behavior, 47(3), 605-613. doi: 10.1007/s10508-017-1114-2

Wade, L. (2015). Are women bad at orgasms? Understanding the gender gap. Gender, sex, and politics: In the streets and between the sheets in the 21st century, 227-237. doi: 10.31235/osf.io/q2h8a