Explaining The Orgasm Gap On College Campuses February 21st, 2008

A recent study done by Stanford University sociologists show that during hook-ups (whether they be oral, manual, or sexual intercourse), college women orgasm only 19% of the time, compared to 44% of the time for college men. The discrepancy has been linked to a few factors, but one of the most interesting was the disproportionate percentages of men who strictly receive oral sex compared to women: according to the study,

oral sex was reciprocal less than 40 percent of the time. In 45 percent of the cases, men were the only ones on the receiving end, and women were the sole recipients just 16 percent of the time (Source).

It looks like women really believe in the old saying “it’s better to give than to receive.” But is it fair? That’s a matter of opinion. Many men are intimidated by the intricacies of the vagina. I know it sounds funny, but it’s the truth! It would appear that this “orgasm gap” can be explained by a “communication gap” between men and women, and even with women and themselves.

Sociology Prof. Paula England, who led this study towards the end of 2007, found that “[w]omen reported being more reluctant to receive oral sex or performing oral sex without payback because they thought it was expected.” I can’t understand this finding, because personal experience has shown that women are becoming bolder and bolder every day! It’s not uncommon for women that I know to flat out ask to be pleased. Communication is everything during sex. If you don’t let your partner know what you like and don’t like, it will just turn into a somewhat uncomfortable situation.

However, what if a woman doesn’t know what she likes? That sounds a bit ignorant, but there might be some merit to it. England found that “97 percent of men have masturbated to orgasm, but only 60 percent of women have done the same.” Apparently, many women simply do not fully understand how their bodies work. Society still views women who are in tune with themselves sexually as “sluts”, and therefore women sometimes shy away from learning their own bodies. In order to close the orgasm gap, open communication needs to be stressed. To supplement the communication, women need to explore (on their own), so they can effectively communicate to men exactly what they want.

“Let the men do the talking while your fingers do the walking.”