Health & Medicine

Achieving Orgasm: Women in Relationships have more Luck

Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Nov 12, 2013 12:35 PM EST

A recent study shows that women are far less likely than men to orgasm during casual sex. (Statistics from a previous study also show that only 25 percent of women consistently orgasm during vaginal intercourse, according to Psychology Today.)

Lead study author Justin R. Garcia, an evolutionary biologist at the Kinsey Institute of Indiana University and colleagues, found that women in serious relationships were twice as likely to reach an orgasm when compared to those in short-term flings. Research also showed that the desire to reach orgasm was lower in both partners when it came to one-nighters.

"We've been sold this bill of goods that we're in an era where people can be sexually free and participate equally in the hookup culture," Justin Garcia, an assistant research scientist at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction said, via The New York Times. "The fact is that not everyone's having a good time."

Paula England from New York University had lead a previous study that discussed how only 40 percent of women in a casual fling reached orgasm when compared to 80 percent of men. The study also noted, similar to this one, that more satisfying sex was found in stable relationships. The study was based on information from 24,000 college-aged women, according to a report from The New York Times.

But whether you're having a one-nighter or in a long-term relationship, for some, it might not matter how comfortable you get during intercourse. Yes--vaginal orgasm does occur. There's no myth about that. But there's also a very important organ missing from the mix when it comes to sexual stimulation

The book "The Case of the Female Orgasm" notes that it's normal for many women not to orgasm during intercourse as some need a healthy dose of direct clitoral stimulation to experience such a feeling. As the clitoris is located outside the vagina and a few inches above the top junction of the vaginal lips, vaginal intercourse might not be enough. 

And as New York City sex educator Betty Dodson, Ph.D., writes "Intercourse is okay. But I much prefer a talented tongue on my clitoris." (Who could say it better? Amen, sister.)

More information regarding the study can be found via the Association for Psychological Science. 

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