The expectation that women can and should orgasm from vaginal penetration alone during heterosexual intercourse has been proposed as an important contributor to the discrepancy in orgasm frequency between men and women (i.e., the orgasm gap). This descriptive study assessed heterosexual young women’s self-reported capacity for orgasm and most reliable route to orgasm, during both partnered sex and masturbation, across three clearly differentiated routes: vaginal penetration only, clitoral stimulation only, and simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation. We assessed men’s perceptions in addition to women’s reports. The final sample consisted of 199 heterosexual, cisgender, sexually active young adults enrolled at an undergraduate institution (59.8% women; Mage = 19.44 years). Descriptive findings show that while only 22% of heterosexual women are certain they have experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone, even fewer women report vaginal penetration alone as their most reliable route to orgasm (6.6% for partnered sex and 1% for masturbation), and a disproportionate amount report some level of uncertainty about this orgasm experience (41.5%). Additionally, the current study finds that young women experience a discrepancy in their most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex (75.8% report simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation) compared to masturbation (82.5% report clitoral stimulation alone). Young men recognize that the incorporation of clitoral stimulation is important for women’s orgasm, but overestimate the percentage of women who have experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. The current findings reinforce the principal nature of clitoral stimulation for women’s orgasm.

• Female orgasm; Orgasm gap; Intercourse; Clitoral stimulation; Masturbation

Wetzel GM, Sanchez DT (2021) Heterosexual Women’s Most Reliable Route to Orgasm during Partnered Sex Versus Masturbation. JSM Sexual Med 5(2): 1069.

Heterosexual women’s most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex versus masturbation

Orgasm frequency is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of sexual satisfaction for both men and women [1-3]. However, in heterosexual partnered sex, a reliable and substantial orgasm gap exists, with men having significantly more orgasms than women do [4-8]. The “coital imperative”, or prioritization of penile-vaginal penetrative intercourse over other kinds of sexual activity [9,10], has been proposed as an important sociocultural contributor to this discrepancy [11,12]. Vaginal intercourse is the most frequently engaged in and valued sexual activity within a heterosexual context and is typically regarded, over other sex acts, as “real” sex [8,10,13. While vaginal intercourse is a reliable source of orgasm for men [8,13,14], women are not likely to orgasm from vaginal intercourse alone [4,15-18]. Research has found that the vast majority of men masturbate using penile stimulation, the same kind of stimulation experienced during penile-vaginal intercourse [18,19]. However, the vast majority of women masturbate using external stimulation of the clitoral glans, which is not experienced during penile-vaginal intercourse unless intentionally incorporated [18,20,21].

Women are more likely to orgasm from non-penetrative sexual activity that stimulates the external clitoris than from intercourse, and are more likely to orgasm from intercourse when stimulation of the clitoral glans is included [17,18,22-24]. Women are more likely to orgasm when their sexual encounters last longer and include a greater variety of sexual activities, particularly clitorally-focused activities such as oral sex and manual stimulation [12,25]. In fact, women’s orgasm rates are lowest in sexual encounters that include only penile-vaginal intercourse [25]. In sum, this body of research shows that women experience a much greater likelihood of orgasm when their sexual encounters incorporate external clitoral stimulation and, as such, do not strictly adhere to the coital imperative [12].

However, a consequence of the coital imperative is the pressure and expectation for women to orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. Media, including pornography, often encourage the idea that women’s orgasm can and should be achieved through vaginal penetration [26-28], and many women fake orgasms because they believe they should be having orgasms from vaginal penetration [17,29]. Feminist scholars have long attempted to dispel the “myth of the vaginal orgasm” [30], and sexuality researchers have explored women’s ability to reach orgasm this way.

While women’s greater frequency and likelihood of orgasm from clitoral stimulation as opposed to vaginal penetration is well-established, the reports of women’s capacity to orgasm from vaginal penetration are inconsistent [14,16,18,19,23,25,31]. This variability functions in part because questions about women’s orgasm have generally failed to be sufficiently specific regarding the sexual activities involved [16,18]. Questions about orgasm during “sex” are likely to default to intercourse if not otherwise clarified, because heterosexual participants define intercourse as “sex” more so than other sexual activities [13,32,33]. Additionally, questions about orgasm during vaginal intercourse are interpreted differently between women [12,18]. For example, Shirazi and colleagues (2018) [18] found that women’s reports of orgasm during intercourse varied substantially based on whether concurrent clitoral stimulation was specified or unspecified. Women in this sample reported experiencing orgasm an average of 21-30% of the time during intercourse without concurrent clitoral stimulation and 51-60% of the time during intercourse with concurrent clitoral stimulation. Herbenick and colleagues [15] found that only around 18% of women reported that vaginal intercourse alone was enough to have an orgasm during intercourse. Mintz [11] expanded this work by instead measuring women’s “most reliable route” to orgasm, and found that only 4% of women in a convenience sample reported vaginal penetration alone. As Mintz argues, the more important statistic is not the proportion of women who have ever experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone, but the proportion that reliably experience orgasm this way. The goal of the current research is to assess women’s varied experiences with orgasm through these different routes of stimulation, while making the distinction between women’s experience with orgasm and women’s most reliable route to orgasm.

Present Study

The current descriptive study aims to provide clearer measurement of women’s experience with orgasm across three routes of stimulation: vaginal penetration alone, clitoral stimulation alone, and simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation. We predict that, consistent with past research, around 20% of women will report ever having experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone [15,18], but a majority of women will report having experienced orgasm through clitoral stimulation alone and through simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation [11,18,25]. We also assess women’s “most reliable route” to orgasm [11], both in partnered sex and during masturbation. Based on Mintz’s preliminary work, we predict that only around 5% of women will report vaginal penetration alone as their most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex. We expect that a large proportion of women will choose both clitoral stimulation alone and simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation as their most reliable route to orgasm [11]. During masturbation, we predict that the majority of women will report clitoral stimulation alone [21]. Consistent with existing work, we also expect that 10-20% of young women will report that they have never experienced orgasm [11,16].

In the hopes of further extending prior findings, we also assess men’s perceptions of women’s orgasm occurrence via the three routes, and their perception of women’s most reliable route to orgasm. Previous work has found that men overestimate women’s orgasm frequency generally, compared to women’s reports, and overestimate women’s orgasm frequency from vaginal penetration to an even greater extent [18]. However, men typically recognize that women orgasm more frequently when clitoral stimulation is incorporated [17,18]. Given this information, we predict that men will acknowledge the importance of clitoral stimulation for women’s orgasm, yet will over report women’s experience with vaginal orgasm as compared to women’s reports.

Participants

Undergraduate participants enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course chose to participate in a study titled “Sex and Relationships Study”, which was administered online, from an assortment of available studies. Students earned research credit in exchange for their participation. Only cisgender, heterosexual women and men at least 18 years old, who had been sexually active in their lifetime, had the option to view and participate in the study. Data were collected in two waves, from November 24 – December 10, 2020 and from February 10 – March 21, 2021. Prior to starting the survey, all participants were presented with a consent form outlining the nature of the study and provided electronic consent, and 224 undergraduate students chose to complete the full study. Twenty-five were removed for failing one or more attention checks (11.2% of the sample). The final sample consisted of 199 participants (59.8% women; 44.7% White). The mean age of participants was 19.44 years (SDage = 2.90 years). The current descriptive study is based on a subset of measures presented to participants.

Procedure

Orgasm Experience: Heterosexual women were asked to reflect on their certainty regarding whether they have ever experienced orgasm from each route of stimulation. Specifically, they were asked, “Have you ever experienced orgasm from” with the following three prompts: “stimulation of your clitoris (without penetration)?”, “penetration of your vagina (without clitoral stimulation)?”, and “clitoral stimulation and penetration of your vagina at the same time?”. These questions were asked on five-point scales ranging from “Definitely have not” to “Definitely have” to assess certainty.

Heterosexual men were similarly asked to report on their certainty regarding whether or not any of their sexual partners had experienced orgasm from each route of stimulation. They were asked, “Have you ever been with a woman who experienced orgasm with you from” with the same three prompts as above, posed on the same five-point scale.

Most Reliable Route to Orgasm: Women in our sample were asked about their “most reliable route” to orgasm during partnered sex and during masturbation. Participants were given clarification that “most reliable route” meant the method that most easily and effectively results in an orgasm for them, and that these questions focused on areas of stimulation (e.g., clitoris, vagina), rather than specific methods of stimulation (e.g., oral sex, intercourse). Participants were then given the following prompt: “Please indicate your most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex. This means the method that most effectively results in an orgasm for you when engaging in any kind of sexual activity with a partner”, with the following options: “Vaginal penetration only”, “Clitoral stimulation only”, “Vaginal penetration and clitoral stimulation at the same time”, “Not listed above” (with a text box to specify), and “I have never had an orgasm during partnered sex”. The first three answer options were randomized. Women were then given another prompt, with masturbation substituted for partnered sex, and presented with the same five answer choices.

Men were also asked about their perception of women’s most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex and masturbation, with the same definitional clarifications and the following prompt: “From your perspective, please indicate women’s most reliable route to orgasm” both during partnered sex and during masturbation. Men were given the same answer choices as women, with the exception of the “never had an orgasm” option, because they were asked to report their perception of women’s most reliable route to orgasm generally, regardless of whether any of their partner(s) had experienced orgasm.

Analytic Strategy

This study was descriptive. Frequencies were used to calculate percentages for all results.

Orgasm Experience

In our undergraduate sample, 22% of women indicated that they “definitely have” experienced orgasm from penetration of the vagina (without clitoral stimulation), while 36.4% of women reported that they definitely have not, and 41.5% of women selected a middle choice on the scale (probably have, might or might not have, or probably have not), indicating some level of uncertainty. For clitoral stimulation, 65.3% of women indicated that they “definitely have” experienced orgasm from this method, while 15.3% of women indicated that they definitely have not, and 19.5% of women expressed uncertainty by selecting a middle scale point. For simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation, 51.7% of women reported that they definitely had experienced orgasm, while 22.9% of women reported that they definitely had not, and 25.4% expressed uncertainty. See Table 1 for a breakdown of women’s responses to these questions.

Men were similarly asked to identify whether they had ever been with a woman who experienced orgasm with them through each of the three routes. For men, 43.8% reported that they had definitely been with a woman who experienced orgasm with them from penetration of the vagina (without clitoral stimulation), 18.8% reported that they definitely had not, while 37.6% expressed uncertainty. Additionally, 56.3% of men indicated that they had definitely been with a woman who experienced orgasm with them from stimulation of the clitoris (without penetration), 15% of men reported that they definitely had not, and 28.8% of men expressed uncertainty. Finally, 61.3% of men reported that they had definitely been with a woman who experienced orgasm with them from simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation, 13.8% of men reported that they definitely had not, and 25% expressed uncertainty. See Table 1 for a breakdown of men’s responses to these questions.

Most Reliable Route to Orgasm

Over a fifth of the young women in our sample indicated that they had never had an orgasm during partnered sex (22.9%; n = 27). Of the women who had experienced orgasm during partnered sex (n = 91), 6.6% indicated vaginal penetration alone as their most reliable route to orgasm, 17.6% indicated clitoral stimulation alone, and 75.8% indicated simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation (Table 2).

Similarly, 17.8% (n = 21) of women in our sample indicated that they had never experienced orgasm from masturbation. Of those who had (n = 97), 1.0% indicated vaginal penetration alone as their most reliable route to orgasm, 82.5% indicated clitoral stimulation alone, and 14.4% indicated simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation (Table 2). An additional two participants (2.1%) selected “Not listed above,” with one specifying “I’ve never masturbated” in the text box.

In terms of men’s perceptions of women’s most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex (n = 80), 3.8% of men selected vaginal penetration alone, 10% selected clitoral stimulation alone, and 86.3% selected simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation (Table 2). For masturbation, 3.8% of men chose vaginal penetration alone as women’s most reliable route to orgasm, while 42.5% of men selected clitoral stimulation alone, and 52.5% selected simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation (Table 2). An additional participant (1.3%) selected “Not listed above,” writing “I have no clue” in the text box.

Orgasm Experience

As predicted, the majority of women reported that they had definitely experienced orgasm from clitoral stimulation alone (65.3%) and from concurrent vaginal and clitoral stimulation (51.7%). Only about a fifth of women in our sample reported certainty that they had experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone (22%), a statistic that replicates past research [15,18]. On the other hand, 36% of women reported they definitely had not ever experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone, which conceptually replicates a similar finding that around 40% of women never experience orgasm during unassisted intercourse [18].

The clitoris is both an internal and external structure, and vaginal penetration likely provides stimulation of the internal clitoris, while the act of intercourse can also indirectly stimulate the external clitoris [11,18,20,21,34]. A shorter distance between the clitoris and urethral meatus (CUMD) has been associated with greater likelihood of experiencing orgasm from intercourse alone, either due to greater external penile-clitoral contact or increased stimulation of the internal clitoris [31]. As such, clitoral stimulation is still likely involved in orgasms resulting from vaginal penetration. This stimulation to the internal and/or external clitoris provided during intercourse may be sufficient for a minority of women to reach orgasm. More research is needed on the experience of orgasm resulting from vaginal penetration to further understand these women’s experiences.

We also found that the young women in our sample reported a greater degree of uncertainty regarding orgasm from vaginal penetration alone (41.5%) than from the other two routes (19.5% and 25.4%; Table 2). In fact, more women reported 

uncertainty about experiencing orgasm from vaginal penetration alone than certainty they had or had not experienced it (22.0% and 36.4%, respectively). As discussed previously, there is often an expectation placed on women to orgasm via vaginal penetration [26-28]. Many women believe they should be having orgasms this way, and that other women are [17,29,30]. While women’s uncertainty about orgasm via vaginal penetration has not been well studied, messages pushing for orgasm from vaginal penetration may contribute to confusion. Intense feelings of pleasure resulting from vaginal penetration may be interpreted as orgasm for some women, or women may be unsure how to interpret these sensations. The current study provides initial evidence of women’s heightened uncertainty when interpreting pleasure and orgasm during vaginal penetration as compared to other methods of stimulation. However, participants in our sample are very young (Mage = 19.44) and are likely at early stages of sexual experience. More research is needed to replicate women’s uncertainty with orgasm from vaginal penetration, particularly at later stages of sexual development and experience.

Most Reliable Route to Orgasm

Of heterosexual young women who have experienced orgasm, the most reliable route to orgasm involved clitoral stimulation for 93.4% of women during partnered sex and 99.0% of women during masturbation. In other words, sexual encounters that do not include clitoral stimulation are not the most reliable source of orgasm for over 93% of heterosexual women. These findings contribute further support to research and education that advocates the essential nature of clitoral stimulation for women’s orgasm [11,18,22,25,35].

Interestingly, the current work also finds that heterosexual women experience a substantial discrepancy in their most reliable route to orgasm between partnered sex and masturbation (Figure 1). While the majority of heterosexual women (75.8%) utilize concurrent vaginal and clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm most reliably during partnered sex, the vast majority (82.5%) do not employ the same strategy during masturbation, electing instead to focus solely on external clitoral stimulation. This discrepancy indicates that heterosexual women use different strategies to reliably achieve orgasm in partnered versus solo sex, whereas men typically experience orgasm from the same route for both [8,13,18,19,20]. Because vaginal intercourse is often prioritized in the heterosexual context as the most valued and commonly performed sex act [8,10,13], this discrepancy in women’s routes to orgasm may be an adaptation by which women incorporate the clitoral stimulation they need for orgasm into a dominant sexual script where their orgasm is not otherwise likely [10,29,35,36]. Additionally, this discrepancy may be a mechanism by which women experience pleasure and foster intimacy by achieving orgasm through the same sex act as their partner. Future research should explore motivations behind this shift in women’s most reliable route to orgasm between partnered sex and masturbation.

Men’s Perceptions

Young men were relatively accurate in their perceptions of women’s most reliable route to orgasm during partnered sex, recognizing that very few women reliably experience orgasm from vaginal penetration alone, and that the majority use concurrent vaginal and clitoral stimulation (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Women’s reports of their most reliable route to orgasm, and men’s perceptions of women’s most reliable route to orgasm, during partnered sex (Nwomen = 91, Nmen = 80) and masturbation (Nwomen = 95; Nmen = 79). Two women and one man who selected “Not listed above” for Masturbation were removed for visualization purposes.

This finding supports previous work that men acknowledge the importance of incorporating clitoral stimulation for women’s orgasm during partnered sex [17,18]. However, men overestimated the extent to which women incorporate vaginal penetration into masturbation. Men perceived that the majority of women (52.5%) used concurrent vaginal and clitoral stimulation as their most reliable route to orgasm during masturbation, while less than 15% of women reported the same. Generally, people tend to assume that others have similar experiences to themselves [37] (i.e., the “false consensus effect”. As such, men’s over-perception may be due to an assumption that women should orgasm most reliably through the same route in masturbation as they do in partnered sex, as men do [18,19], although this does not appear to be the case for women.

While men did not overestimate vaginal penetration alone as women’s most reliable route to orgasm, men did overestimate whether any of their partners had ever experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration. A substantial percentage of men (44%) reported certainty that they had been with a partner who experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone, which was twice the proportion of women who reported the same. Though this is not a dyadic sample, these results suggest an overestimation. Men’s overestimation of women’s orgasm via vaginal penetration alone as compared to women’s reports may be, in part, reinforced by women faking orgasms. The majority of women have faked an orgasm, and many cite the pressure to orgasm from vaginal penetration as one reason for doing so [17,29,38,39]. Assuming that women are convincing at faking orgasms during intercourse, a greater proportion of men may assume that their partners have experienced orgasm this way.

Limitations

The young adult participants in this research come from a convenience sample of undergraduate students from one university, and are likely in early stages of sexual experience, so generalizations should not be made beyond this context. However, undergraduate samples have been commonly used in studies of women’s sexuality and orgasm frequency [7,22,40]. The next steps of this research should be to replicate these findings with additional samples (e.g., nationally representative samples, older samples, non-heterosexual samples).

Additionally, this data was collected during the novel coronavirus global pandemic. There is potential that this unique circumstance influenced participants’ responses to the survey, due to the varied impact of the pandemic on sexual well-being [40]. However, our questions asked participants to reflect on their sexual experiences historically and generally, which should mitigate the impact of potential COVID-related changes in sexual experience.

The current descriptive study replicates evidence that only about one-fifth of heterosexual women have ever experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. An even smaller fraction of women report vaginal penetration alone as their most reliable route to orgasm (6.6% of women during partnered sex and 1% during masturbation). Women also report a disproportionate amount of uncertainty about their experience with orgasm through vaginal penetration alone as compared to other routes. Additionally, the current work finds that young women experience a substantial discrepancy in their most reliable route to orgasm during masturbation (clitoral stimulation only) as opposed to partnered sex (simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation). As for men’s perceptions, young men appear to recognize the importance of incorporating clitoral stimulation for women to experience orgasm, but overestimate the proportion of women who have experienced orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. Men also overestimate women’s use of simultaneous vaginal and clitoral stimulation during masturbation. Ultimately, the current descriptive findings emphasize the importance of clitoral stimulation for women’s orgasm, whether alone or partnered with vaginal penetration.

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