Fake orgasm
Encyclopedia
Faking orgasm refers to the act of pretending to have an orgasm
without actually experiencing one. It usually means simulating or acting out behaviors, such as body movements, vocal sounds, and sequences of apparent intensification followed by apparent release, typically associated with orgasm. It can also include giving verbal indications that orgasm occurred.
usually accompanies orgasm in males.
; it can be caused by a variety of factors, including factors in one's life such as stress, anxiety, depression, or fatigue, as well as factors related to the sex itself, including worry, guilt, fear of painful intercourse, fear of pregnancy, the undesirability of a partner and the undesirability of a setting. It can also be caused by drug use, including alcohol and other drugs, or side effects from prescription drugs.
People can fake orgasms for number of reasons, such as when their partner wants them to orgasm but they are unable, or when they desire to stop having sex but are not comfortable telling their partner directly, avoiding negative consequences, or for pleasing their partner.
That women should fake an orgasm was recommended by the Roman
poet Ovid
in his famous book Ars Amatoria
For women in a heterosexual relationship, faking orgasm is often based on deference to the man, need for his approval, or feelings of shame
or sexual inadequacy.
People can also fake orgasms for reasons of display or presentation, such as during phone sex
or in pornography
.
Women tend to achieve orgasm during sex less readily than men, and thus faking an orgasm is more common among women. Most women require direct clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm. Not all sexual positions provide access to the clitoris, thus making orgasms difficult to achieve for women during sex.
Feminists have pointed to women faking orgasm as a sign of male-centered sexuality; in a society that celebrates only male sexual pleasure, women may feel pressured to engage in acts that bring their male partners to orgasm but that do not provide them physical pleasure. Women in a discussion group in 1967 analyzed their motivations for faking orgasms and decided that faking was a response to pressures placed upon them by men. As such, the urge to fake an orgasm often sits in a broader context of other problems with sexual repression or male-centered sexuality. Many of these women also experienced feelings such as sexual rejection by their partners, or on the other hand, unwanted sexual attention; some were afraid to tell their partners what they wanted, and others said their partners resented being told what they wanted.
Hugo M. Mialon developed a game theoretical
analysis of faking orgasms as a signaling game. Only some of the predictions of his model were consistent with survey data used to check the validity of the model. Among other things, the survey data suggested that both women and men who would be more concerned if their partner were faking are less likely to fake themselves, and that older women and men are more likely to fake than younger ones.
One study of orgasm found that women who fake orgasms were more likely to neglect their partners and flirt with other men at social gatherings; the authors of this study speculated that women who fake orgasms may be more likely to engage in sexual intercourse with men other than their partner, although they recommended caution at interpreting their findings due to a small data set and a large number of variables being studied.
In therapy or counseling, women are more likely to inaccurately portray their sexual behavior (such as by claiming to orgasm when they do not) to a male therapist than to a female one, although women may still withhold the same information from female therapists.
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
without actually experiencing one. It usually means simulating or acting out behaviors, such as body movements, vocal sounds, and sequences of apparent intensification followed by apparent release, typically associated with orgasm. It can also include giving verbal indications that orgasm occurred.
Faking orgasm and gender
Contrary to popular beliefs, women aren't the only gender to fake orgasms. In web surveys 37–50% women and 31–48% of men admitted they faked orgasm at least once. A random-sample telephone poll of 1,501 Americans, have shown that 48% of women and 11% of men faked orgasm. Faking orgasms in men becomes easier while using condoms, since ejaculationEjaculation
Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the male reproductory tract, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. It is usually the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. In rare cases ejaculation occurs because of prostatic disease...
usually accompanies orgasm in males.
Reasons for faking an orgasm
Orgasm is not always achieved easily during sexual activity. In both sexes, the condition of being unable to orgasm during sex is called anorgasmiaAnorgasmia
Anorgasmia, or Coughlan's syndrome, is a type of sexual dysfunction in which a person cannot achieve orgasm, even with adequate stimulation. In males the condition is often related to delayed ejaculation . Anorgasmia can often cause sexual frustration...
; it can be caused by a variety of factors, including factors in one's life such as stress, anxiety, depression, or fatigue, as well as factors related to the sex itself, including worry, guilt, fear of painful intercourse, fear of pregnancy, the undesirability of a partner and the undesirability of a setting. It can also be caused by drug use, including alcohol and other drugs, or side effects from prescription drugs.
People can fake orgasms for number of reasons, such as when their partner wants them to orgasm but they are unable, or when they desire to stop having sex but are not comfortable telling their partner directly, avoiding negative consequences, or for pleasing their partner.
That women should fake an orgasm was recommended by the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
poet Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
in his famous book Ars Amatoria
Ars Amatoria
The Ars amatoria is an instructional love elegy in three books by the Roman poet Ovid, penned around 2 CE. It claims to provide teaching in three areas of general preoccupation: how and where to find women in Rome, how to seduce them, and how to prevent others from stealing them.-Background:After...
For women in a heterosexual relationship, faking orgasm is often based on deference to the man, need for his approval, or feelings of shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
or sexual inadequacy.
People can also fake orgasms for reasons of display or presentation, such as during phone sex
Phone sex
Phone sex is a type of virtual sex that refers to sexually explicit conversation between or other persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy...
or in pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
.
Women tend to achieve orgasm during sex less readily than men, and thus faking an orgasm is more common among women. Most women require direct clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm. Not all sexual positions provide access to the clitoris, thus making orgasms difficult to achieve for women during sex.
Feminists have pointed to women faking orgasm as a sign of male-centered sexuality; in a society that celebrates only male sexual pleasure, women may feel pressured to engage in acts that bring their male partners to orgasm but that do not provide them physical pleasure. Women in a discussion group in 1967 analyzed their motivations for faking orgasms and decided that faking was a response to pressures placed upon them by men. As such, the urge to fake an orgasm often sits in a broader context of other problems with sexual repression or male-centered sexuality. Many of these women also experienced feelings such as sexual rejection by their partners, or on the other hand, unwanted sexual attention; some were afraid to tell their partners what they wanted, and others said their partners resented being told what they wanted.
Hugo M. Mialon developed a game theoretical
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
analysis of faking orgasms as a signaling game. Only some of the predictions of his model were consistent with survey data used to check the validity of the model. Among other things, the survey data suggested that both women and men who would be more concerned if their partner were faking are less likely to fake themselves, and that older women and men are more likely to fake than younger ones.
One study of orgasm found that women who fake orgasms were more likely to neglect their partners and flirt with other men at social gatherings; the authors of this study speculated that women who fake orgasms may be more likely to engage in sexual intercourse with men other than their partner, although they recommended caution at interpreting their findings due to a small data set and a large number of variables being studied.
In therapy or counseling, women are more likely to inaccurately portray their sexual behavior (such as by claiming to orgasm when they do not) to a male therapist than to a female one, although women may still withhold the same information from female therapists.