Lesbian couples offer clues to shrink 'orgasm gap' among heterosexuals: Study
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Lesbian couples offer clues to shrink 'orgasm gap' among heterosexuals: Study Back to video
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That seems to be the lesson from a study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, which shows that the “orgasm gap” between sexual partners is smaller among lesbian couples than heterosexual couples, according to the New York Post.
But take heart, guys, it isn’t all bad news.
“These results could be interpreted to mean that sex with men is inherently worse or that men are ‘bad lovers,’ but that is not necessarily true,” study author and Rutgers University PhD candidate Grace Wetzel told PsyPost, via the New York Post.
The New York Post said research showed that 95% of men hit the high note during sex, compared to 65% of women. However, women reported regular orgasms at an 86% rate when their intimate partner was female.
The difference may come down to an inequity in the sexual “script,” the Post reported, which was described as “our pre-existing expectations for how a sexual encounter will typically go.” Taking notes from the “script” of lesbian couples could help heterosexual lovers come up with a better ending.
“The orgasm gap as a cultural phenomenon has become a hot topic in recent years,” Wetzel said, via the Post. “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.”
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The study was divided into two parts, the Post reported, and the first recruited 449 sexually active women — 59.5% heterosexual and 40.5% lesbian — ages 18 and up, polling them about their sex lives.
Another Rutgers experiment, the Post said, asked 481 cisgender bisexual women to imagine a romantic dinner leading to a sexual encounter with either a man or woman.
A common recipe for success, in both cases, was clitoral stimulation.
“The problem here is the dominant sexual script associated with heterosexual sex, which does not include sufficient clitoral stimulation or sufficient focus on women’s pleasure,” Wetzel said, via the Post.
“Heterosexual couples can create their own sexual scripts that work for the people involved. Couples can include more clitoral stimulation in their sexual encounters to create sexual relationships that are fulfilling for all partners.”
Researchers, however, also noted that study participants’ opinions may reflect what they believe should happen during a sexual encounter.
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