Inequality at the Finish Line:

A Brief Account of the Orgasm Gap in America

Annie Labrie
History
The reality that American women orgasm about once for every three times a man does something we call the orgasm gap - penetrates deep into the history of Western sexual politics.
Beginning with Freudian analyses of the so-called vaginal orgasm, women have been
reprimanded for their bodies inability to finish during traditional, acceptable, heterosexual sex
(aka penis-in-vagina). Beginning in the 1900s, womens bodies were medicalized as being
frigid or hysterical when they experienced a consistent inability to experience vaginal
orgasm during sex with their husband. The idea was that the penis - and only the penis - was the
necessary tool for sexual pleasure and conception. In other words, the man was the sex doer
while the woman was the one onto which the sex was done. In this unequal exchange,
housewives repeatedly experienced feelings of sexual deprivation and inadequacy, their bodies
never being good enough.
Eventually, feminists and certain sexologists discovered that perhaps it was not the
womans fault (or her vaginas), but in fact, they had just been doing it wrong! A long-standing
historical lack of scientific research on female sexual anatomy, alongside dominating patriarchal
and heteronormative thought continually prevented the development of a broader and more equal
understanding of sexuality. Indeed, sexuality was much more complex than 20th century
hegemonic Western society believed. As Jane Gerhard notes in her Revisiting the Myth of the
Vaginal Orgasm: The Female Orgasm in American Sexual Thought and Second Wave
Feminism, the 1960s and 70s (finally) brought the clitoris into the scope of science and
sociology, noting that this magical button was unbelievably more sensitive than the vagina
itself. Perhaps the route to female orgasm was not located deep inside her, and did not (gasp!)
require the friction of a penis.
The discovery of the clitoris - although only half-baked at the time - greatly disrupted
mainstream thought surrounding heterosexual sex and female pleasure. Lesbian feminists
argued that the only way to keep the patriarchy from entering ones bedroom was to avoid men
altogether; that other women were the key to female empowerment and orgasm equality. The
politics of female sexual freedom and pleasure were acknowledged by the public eye for the first
time, and many women began to reject the medicalization of their bodies, demanding that this
was yet another extension of patriarchy and the emphasis on mens pleasure over womens.
Current Condition
Not surprisingly, much of Western hegemonic thought of the 20th century has managed to
thrust itself into sexual politics of today. Heteronormativity and the myth of the vaginal orgasm
are still alive and well, female anatomy is still largely neglected in biology, and womens bodies
are still blamed for sexual inadequacy. As aforementioned, women have about one orgasm for
every three a man has, meaning that Americans still cannot seem to figure out how to operate the
clitoris - in straight sex at least. This varies depending on relationship status, however. In2012,
authorsElizabethArmstrong,PaulaEngland,andAlisonFogartyconductedaquantitativestudy
onfemaleundergraduatesat21U.S.collegesanduniversity,concludingthatwomenexperience
greatersexualsatisfactionandorgasmincommittedheterosexualrelationshipsthanhookups.

Whilewomenstillexperiencefarfewerorgasmsinheterosexualsexoverall,thestudy
pointstothedisconcertingthemethatbothmenandwomenquestionwomens(butnotmens)
entitlementtopleasureinhookupsbutbelievestronglyinwomens(aswellasmens)
entitlementtopleasureinrelationships(2012:435).Thisappearstobeastepintheright
directionforsexualequality,butalsorevealstheoverarchingpatriarchalidealsthatinvadethe
mindsofbothmenandwomen.Whilemenarereservedtherighttofinish,theirfemalepartners
arenot.Again,heteronormativesexisviewedasthesexersandthesexed,wheretheendof
intercourseisdefinedbymaleejaculation.
Plus,justliketheolddays,womensbodiesaremedicalizedfortheirlackoforgasm
duringpenetrativestraightsex.Todaythephenomenoniscalledfemaleorgasmicdysfunction,
definedbysextherapistDr.StanleyDucharmeasa persistent or recurring difficulty, delay or
inability to attain orgasm following sufficient stimulation and arousal (2003). Thedisorderis
foundtobearesultofpsychologicalissuesorabuse,aswellaspotentialbiologicaldefects.Just
asinpastcenturies,however,themedicalizationoftheorgasmgapdirectlyunderminesthereal
sociopoliticalpowersatplay.Ifitistruethatsomanywomenarephysicallyunabletoreach
orgasm,whyisitthatwomenandmencomeatthesamerate(aboutfourminutes,ifyoure
curious)duringmasturbation?Whyisitthatwomenwhosleepwithotherwomenreporthaving
almostasmanyorgasmsasmenwhosleepwithwomen?
AnIssueofInjustice
Theorgasmgapisnotaresultofbiology;itisanissueofAmericanpatriarchyand
heteronormativity.Itismensdisregardforfemalesexualautonomyandpleasure.Itisthe
internalizationthatwomensbodiesarenaturallymoredifficultthanmens.Anditisthe
constantsocializationofwomentobemoreconcernedformalepleasurethantheirown.Gender
inequalityisoftenviewedasamatterofeducation,income,andpolitics,butwhatabout
sexuality?Patriarchyfollowsusintoeventhemostprivatespaces,andthelackofthefemale
orgasminheterosexualsexshouldbeviewedasanothervaliddiscussionofinjustice.Assexis
sointegraltosociety,itisinevitablethatwomenandothersubordinategroupsexperience
inequalityinthesackjustasmuchasinthepublicworld.Unfortunately,Americansarestill
afraidtotalkaboutsex,despitebeingsurroundedbyitatalltimes.Evenwhilethemediaforces
(unrealistic)imagesofsexdownourthroats,womenandmenarestillhesitanttoidentifythe
orgasmgapasalegitimatesocialissue;onewhichisdismissedbymaledominatedsciencesasa
problemwiththefemalebodyandmind,ratherthanstrictgenderrolesand,ofcourse,theirbest
keptsecret:thatthevaginalorgasmisrealandtheclitorisisadistantmystery.
WhatNow
ThereareafewspecificsolutionstoserveasstepsinclosingtheorgasmgapintheU.S.
First,Americansexeducationisdisturbinglyineffective.Itreinforcesadichotomybetweenjust
twogenders,neglectsqueersexandmasturbation,andteacheskidsatayoungagetoeither
abstaincompletely(yeah,right),orthatsexisforboystodoandgirlstodealwith.Afterall,
girlsarewholesomebeingsdespitetheirdamnedperiodswhoserveaswarmpleasuredomes
forthepenis,right?PerhapsweshouldtrytobemoreliketheNetherlands,wheresexedbegins
asearlyasagefourandpresentsadistinctlymoreegalitarianapproach.Next,wereallyhaveto
workonfixingthemisrepresentationsofsexandgenderinthemedia.Beingfedphotoshopped

ideasofwhatitmeanstobeawomanversusamanasexualobjectversussubjectisneither
healthynorrealistic.Finally,inordertosolveanyissueofgenderinequality,Americansmust
worktodestroythepatriarchyaltogether.Theperceptionthatmalepleasureisinherentlymore
importantthanthatofwomenisunfortunateforeveryone.Additionally,heteronormative
assertionsthatqueerpeopleandqueersexaresomehowinexistentorlesslegitimateisextremely
problematic.Imean,ifallwomenweregay,theorgasmgapwouldvirtuallycloseitself!Its
timeforAmericanstoquitmedicalizingwomensoppressiontoopenthediscussionofwhat
trulyliesbehindthelackoffemaleorgasminheterosexualsex.Thismaybeyetanotherstepin
theprocessofeliminatinggenderinequalityinAmerica,butitisanimportantone;onethat
wouldimprovethesexlivesofeverygender.