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More than 70% of women have orgasms as a result of direct clitoral stimulation – and, unlike men, we can enjoy multiples. “Women are not as quick to come down from their aroused state as men are, post-sex,” says US sexologist Dr Yvonne K Fulbright. “Many can get straight back into it and experience it all over again.”
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The world record for the longest time spent masturbating to orgasm is 6 hours 30 minutes for a woman, and 8 hours 30 minutes for a man. You can’t help thinking it would’ve been a lot quicker if they’d just got together…
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Forty-seven per cent of women have their first orgasm through masturbation, according to sex expert Dr David Devlin – and the average age to experience it is 18.
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“I’d never been able to orgasm – not even by myself – until I met my current partner. Then one night I climbed on top and caressed my clitoris while he was inside me – something to do with the angle of his penis and clitoral stimulation pushed me over the edge and I had the most amazing orgasm.”
5
A recent study found that 48% of regular headache sufferers had their pain cured by orgasm. Not only that, but it actually worked much faster than painkillers. Altogether now, “Tonight please, darling, I’ve got a headache…”
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Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud claimed that women can have two types of orgasm – clitoral and vaginal – but in 1966, sex researchers Masters and Johnson revealed their studies had proved there’s only one female orgasm; just more than one way of reaching it.
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Women who feel insecure about their relationship are less likely to orgasm, says Seymour Fisher, author of /The Female Orgasm/. So, stop checking up on him and get sexy instead.
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Some women faint when they come and, in very rare cases, have had heart failure and died – which might explain why the French refer to orgasm as ‘/le petit mort/’ (the little death).
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“An old boyfriend once fixed a huge mirror to the ceiling above his bed, then went down on me. As he gently stroked me with his fingers and tongue, it not only felt amazing, but looked amazing, too. Seeing everything in the mirror was such a buzz that I came within minutes.”
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At the start of the 20th Century, the first electric home vibrators hit the market before many other household ‘essentials’ – people had to wait nine more years for the vacuum cleaner and 10 years for the electric iron.
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When men orgasm, their brains release chemicals (including prolactin) that can bring on tiredness. So it really isn’t his fault when he rolls over and starts snoring, honest.
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The average female orgasm lasts between six and 10 seconds – although for some lucky girls it can last up to 20 seconds.
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Sex researchers Cauthery and Cole, authors of /The Fundamentals Of Sex/, have claimed that it’s possible for some women to orgasm up to 100 times in an hour.
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“Some women say it’s not essential to climax during sex but, I must admit, if she doesn’t I feel like I haven’t done my job properly.”
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About 0.06% of men can come through fantasising alone, without touching their penis or any other part of their body. We’d love to know what they’re thinking about…
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Bit of an exhibitionist? Why not sign up for the next annual charity masturbate-a-thon, organised by San Francisco’s Centre For Sex & Culture? The, ahem, ‘wankers’ meet at the centre and masturbate for charity while others can watch the fun unfold (and join in) via their computers. Only in America…
17
Hate the wet patch? Be glad you’re not a lady whale. Male whales generate the highest volume of semen in the animal kingdom – about 20 litres a pop!
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“I’d been with my boyfriend for six months when he first made me orgasm. We had about an hour’s foreplay, where he kissed my neck while at the same time stroking my clitoris really gently. It was so fantastic that when I came, I couldn’t help but let out a scream. Unfortunately we were staying at his parents’ house and, in the morning, his dad said, ‘Had a good night, did you?’ I was mortified.”
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The most female orgasms achieved in a single masturbation session was allegedly 49, from a London woman in 2006. Makes your last duvet day look a bit tame, no?
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A 2007 study found that straight women were aroused by watching films of both men and women having sex. Straight men, however, were only turned on by images of women – so researchers concluded that women are more easily stimulated.
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At the moment of orgasm, certain areas of your brain that control emotion shut down. The area that processes fear is deactivated, and your ‘vigilance for danger’ switch also turns off momentarily
22
Men’s orgasms have the same impact on them as heroin on an addict’s brain. A neuroscientist in the Netherlands carried out brain scans on men as they ejaculated (“Nice day at work, dear?”). He found that activity in the male brain’s ‘reward’ hub went wild at orgasm – proving sex really can be addictive
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When the researchers repeated the experiment with women, they found that our levels of self-control decrease during orgasm, while the area of our brain related to ‘moral reasoning’ also dipped – which would explain why you still scream even when the bedroom walls are paper-thin
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“Girls are always self-conscious about making a noise or pulling a face when they orgasm, but for me there’s nothing sexier. The most disappointing thing a girl can do is fake an orgasm – it’s so demoralising and would definitely puts me off.”
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When you orgasm, your body produces quadruple the usual amount of the bonding hormone oxytocin. So much for /SATC/’s Samantha – turns out we’re all Charlottes, deep down
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An effective ‘female Viagra’ is currently being developed, although there are concerns over possible side effects. Who needs a pill anyway – we’d rather reach orgasm ‘au naturel’, thanks very much
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Seventy per cent of women have faked an orgasm. Surefire ways he can tell it’s real include retraction of the clitoral hood just before orgasm, a racing heart, dilated pupils, vaginal muscle spasms, arched feet and stiffened nipples. Makes you wonder how we’ve got away with it for so long
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Less than a third of all women regularly orgasm during sex, while three-quarters of men always do. But if their partners spend more than 21 minutes on foreplay, the stats zoom up to produce nine out of 10 fully satisfied women. Funny that
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“One night my boyfriend and I were out with friends when he put his hand up my skirt under the dinner table. He got me so worked up, I ended up letting out a long, deep moan in front of everyone. I had to pretend to choke on a breadstick to disguise my outburst.”
30
Good sex isn’t just about being able to orgasm every time. Dr Rosemary Basson of The University of British Columbia believes reaching climax is just the third stage on the ‘circle of desire’ (arousal, plateau and recovery are the others), and that for women it’s possible to feel sexually satisfied at any stage – not just when you orgasm
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For a supercharged experience, experts recommend the ‘extended sexual orgasm’, which can keep you coming for up to 20 minutes! Get your man to stroke your labia for five minutes before touching your clitoris. Breathing deeply, do pelvic-floor squeezes and when he feels two-second contractions as you near orgasm, get him to move his fingers to stroke inside your vagina. After you’ve come, he should move his fingers between your vagina and clitoris and, stroking gently, launch another wave of orgasms
32
Italian scientists recently discovered that the G-spot, an area of thicker vaginal tissue, can be located with ultrasound. Unfortunately, not every lover comes with his own built-in G-spot radar, so you’ll need to show him where it is…
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If you have a G-spot (according to those Italian scientists, not everyone does), it’s about one to two inches up on the inside front wall of your vagina. It’s usually pea-sized but, when stimulated, it can grow to the size of a walnut
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“I once dated a guy who had the most amazing oral sex technique. He’d lick ever so lightly around the outside of the clitoris, gradually moving inwards in a spiral motion. The pressure built up so much that by the time he reached the middle I was able to come within seconds.”
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‘Sex educators’ Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller, who run the ‘I ♥ Female
Orgasm’ sex education programme on US college campuses, say that around 1% of women can orgasm from breast stimulation alone… lucky them!
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A recent study found that men who have two or more orgasms a week are likely to live longer. As for us women, another study found there is a slight benefit, but it’s less obvious. Oh well, we’ll just have to orgasm for orgasms’ sake
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According to tantric-sex guru Shree Rajneesh, orgasms come (so to speak) in more ways than one. ‘Relaxation’ orgasms are different from the building-to-a-peak sort most of us have. Instead, they come from deep muscle relaxation combined with slow stimulation, and are known as ‘valley orgasms’. These ‘slow burners’ lead to a more gentle climax and won’t result in a ‘mood crash’ afterwards
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“A guy I fancied at work had a reputation for being great in bed, so when I got together with him after an office party, I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, after five minutes of squeezing my boobs too hard and rubbing my clitoris energetically with the palm of his hand, he came. It certainly didn’t work for me, but it goes to show that we’re all different!”
40
It’s now possible to implant a neuro stimulation device in a woman that delivers remote-controlled orgasms – but it costs a whopping £7,500. Still, that hasn’t put off 59% of US women, who claimed they’d love a push-button orgasm
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Your ability to reach orgasm could be genetic, according to a recent study at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital. Could they be right? Well, we’ll never know – it’s not really the kind of thing you can ask your mum…
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An Australian study found that 56% of women orgasm every time through masturbation, while only 24% manage it every time with a partner
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It’s still unproven whether female animals have orgasms – but according to a researcher at The Kinsey Institute, rabbits and ferrets do. Apparently a film of two ferrets mating showed, “by the expression on the face that an orgasm did occur.” Must have been some grin
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“I think the longer you’re with someone, the easier it is to make them orgasm – but every girl is completely different. When you sleep with someone new, you have to learn how their body responds, so it’s a constant learning curve.”
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Want more orgasms? Then switch stimulation techniques. If you’ve just reached orgasm through clitoral stimulation, try penetration to continue the sensations. Often, the first orgasm is sharper and quicker, but the second could be longer
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Some ancient Egyptians believed that the god Atum created the world by masturbating – and that the Tigris river was also formed by the semen of a god. No wonder men are so delighted with themselves, eh?
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Stimulation of the G-spot can raise your pain threshold by 107% at orgasm. Some experts believe the same area helps to manage the pain of childbirth (although plenty of mothers might not agree)
48
According to sex researcher Dr Gary Schubach, up to 60% of women have experienced some form of ejaculation, with around 10% claiming they regularly ejaculate ‘forcefully’ at orgasm. He believes that most women could ejaculate “if trained properly”. But do we really want another wet patch?
49
Is struggling for that first-class degree really worth it? A German study found that 62% of women who’d been to university said they sometimes had trouble reaching orgasm, while only 38% of those who hadn’t been experienced problems
50
“I had amazing oral sex with a guy I’d only met in a bar that night. The combination of being a bit tipsy and his excellent tongue work made my orgasm so intense that I accidentally passed wind. Neither of us mentioned it and I was too embarrassed to see him again after that.”
