Understanding why women fake orgasms: insights from new research
Recent studies show that during heterosexual intercourse, men reach orgasm almost twice as often as women. Many women also fake pleasure during sex, leading to what the researchers call the "orgasm gap". This article explores the reasons behind these findings.
8:42 PM EDT, November 2, 2023
Successful sexual intimacy usually entails pleasure and the accomplishment of orgasms. However, this is often not as straightforward in practice. For women, achieving orgasm during intercourse is often more challenging, and they tend to fake it more frequently compared to men. This discrepancy results in a phenomenon termed the "orgasm gap".
The disparity in orgasms between men and women is substantial
The subject has been analyzed extensively. Beducated, a website dedicated to sex education, published an article, which features a survey revealing numerous women report inadequate sexual satisfaction.
The study found that during heterosexual sex, men climax nearly twice as often as women. The numbers show it's 85 percent of men versus 46 percent of women. Interestingly, the gap almost disappears when it comes to masturbation, with rates of 86 percent for men and 88 percent for women. It was also observed that thrice as many women as men admit to faking orgasms, with 58 percent of the surveyed women and 23 percent of men confessing to doing so.
The reasons why women fake orgasms
The most common explanation for such behavior among women is their fear of offending their partner's feelings (23 percent). The responses also included reasons like "I'm tired and want to end the sexual act" (14 percent) and "I constantly feel pressured to achieve orgasm due to societal expectations and/or my partner" (13 percent).
According to Julia Svirid, a sex coach quoted by Beducated, the lack of communication between partners significantly contributes to the "orgasm gap". "The common theme here is lack of communication. Thanks to adult material, Hollywood and a lack of pleasure-based sex education, sex is constantly equated with penetration. Most women report needing more than just penetration during intercourse to reach orgasm", she says, as quoted by the "Daily Star".
