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Tracey Cox

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Why Do We Cling on to Sex Myths That Just Aren't True?

Posted: 28/04/2012 00:00

The amount of press the recent G-spot 'discovery' generated was mind-bogglingly excessive - anyone would think the guy had found a cure for cancer, for God's sake.

For those of you who didn't notice the dozens of headlines shouting "We've found the G-spot!", a new study claims to have found 'evidence' of the elusive pleasure zone in the cadaver of an 83-year-old woman. It's hailed as ground-breaking research.

It's not.

Adam Ostrzenski, a gynacologist in Florida, dissected the anatomical structure, describing it as a "well delineated sac" (translation: it looks a bit like a grape), measuring between 8.1 and 33 millimetres. He claims this confirms the existence of the G-spot "which may lead to a better understanding and improvement of female sexual function."

Oh really? How exactly?

Just because he found something (what?) in the spot where the G-spot is supposed to be, doesn't mean that is the G-spot. As Debbie Herbenick from the Kinsey Institute said: "It's not like body parts come with pre-labelled signs indicating what they are - and calling this structure the 'G-spot' doesn't make it so."

How do we know that area felt pleasurable when stimulated? For all we know, it's a button that connects to the earlobe! (Joking - but you get my point!) Far more helpful had this all magically occurred within an episode of Six Feet Under where corpses frequently came to life and had conversations with the undertaker. Then they could have asked helpful questions like: "Did you enjoy it doggy style?" (People who have G-spot orgasms often report having them this way.) "Have you ever ejaculated?" (Again, there's a link). Or "Do you mind if we insert this specially designed toy and wiggle it around a bit to see if you like it?" The woman was dead and sadly remained dead so we have no idea whether the structure that was found generates sexual pleasure.

There's no doubt there's an area on the front vaginal wall that is ultrasensitive to stimulation, but we still don't know if there's a particular 'spot'. Does it really matter? Why do we feel the need to label things and give them catchy names?

The most fascinating thing for me about the whole G-spot 'breakthrough' (not) is that it highlights once again, how we cling onto myths about sex and refuse to let go, even when there is no evidence to support them.

Before you all go onto my website and search for whether I include a G-spot vibe in my product range or talk about the G-spot in my books, let me save you the trouble. I do! But that's because if I write "Front Vaginal Wall Stimulator" no-one will buy it. It sounds, well, off-putting, albeit more accurate.

I'm not denying that stimulating the area where the G-spot is reputed to be (one to two inches along the front wall of the vagina) is highly pleasurable for some women. That's why I talk about this area in my books and created a toy specifically to stimulate it. I'm forced to call it a 'G-spot' and call the toy a 'G-spot vibe' because otherwise no-one would know what the hell I'm talking about.

And none of you would care.

Mention 'G-spot', however, and ears prick up. People are full of opinions about it! "Yes, there is one. I have one, so it's true!" "No, there isn't one. So therefore there is no such thing." "My ex-girlfriend had several." "Mine is above my clitoris." Want to liven up a boring dinner party? Throw in that you went searching for your G-spot and everyone perks up instantly.

We want to believe there's a G-spot because it's a 'fact' about sex that all of us have heard of and therefore know about.

We cling onto other sex myths just as tenaciously. The one that says women orgasm easily and frequently through intercourse alone. We knew 2000 YEARS AGO thanks to ancient texts this wasn't true, and that women needed clitoral stimulation. But most people still believe this is true today.

I write the same old sentence over and over, "Only 20-30% of women orgasm purely through penetration" and no-one says a word to refute it but the average person doesn't truly believe it. Men still mutter about exes or current lovers who "seem to have no problem." Women blush (when men are near) and look evasive to imply they are definitely in the 20-30% category. (Good God guys, orgasms are so easy to fake, most men wouldn't know a real one if it tapped them on the shoulder. Not that it's your fault: women fake them so often, it's no wonder you don't have a clue what's real and what's not.)

Another myth that's still presented as 'fact': The average couple has sex 2.5 times a week. Why is this wrong? Well, there is no such thing as an average couple. This statistic is calculated by making one big sexual melting pot and chucking in the sex life of Bob and Dorothy, 85-years-old and living in a nursing home, with Tod and Sara, 19-years-old and going at it like rabbits, and everyone in between and coming up with an average number. It's utterly pointless. Frequency is (obviously) far more useful (if you must compare yourself with an 'average') if you take into account age, the length of time the couple are together and whether they have small children.

Why do we cling onto sex myths so tightly when they're so blatantly not true? Could it be because most of the general population are still sexually illiterate, despite the sexually saturated society we live in? We have sexualized teens, porn coming out our earholes, sex on telly, sexy ads on billboards and still we know nothing about the basics.

And they say there's no need for sex education in schools. Go figure!

Tracy Cox has her own range of sex toys at www.lovehoney.co.uk

 

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The amount of press the recent G-spot 'discovery' generated was mind-bogglingly excessive - anyone would think the guy had found a cure for cancer, for God's sake. For those of you who didn't notice...
The amount of press the recent G-spot 'discovery' generated was mind-bogglingly excessive - anyone would think the guy had found a cure for cancer, for God's sake. For those of you who didn't notice...
 
 
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08:38 PM on 04/29/2012
I agree entirely with Tracey(is Cox really your surname) anyway seriously. We still pretend to know everything and know nothing about the important elements that make for a full and satisfying sex life and its not only the young ignorance has no age restrictions, I don't want to talk about sex , but....
http://cupofteaandachat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/i-dont-want-to-talk-about-sex-but.html
07:35 PM on 04/29/2012
I think that is the first time I have every read anyone blast an idea to pieces while at the same time promoting a product they are producing using that same idea. Well done. Bravura is one thing you have bags of.
06:41 PM on 04/29/2012
Who are you to say that this "grape" that they found is not the "G-spot"?? This RESEARCH may in fact "lead to a better understanding and improvement of female sexual function." Just because you are a so called "expert" in international relationships, sex and body language, it does not give you the authority to debunk a scientific finding based on your own opinions.

At many stages throughout SCIENTIFIC research there has been many people, where research was "hailed as ground-breaking research" and there were plenty of ignorant people like you to say they were wrong....
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jf12
Esta vez saldré como las otras y me escaparé.
02:08 PM on 04/29/2012
The reason for myths is to keep men guessing.
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waldopepper
I'd tell you all about me if you were my friend.
10:18 AM on 04/29/2012
"The amount of press the recent G-spot 'discovery' generated was mind-bogglingly excessive..."

Perhaps. But I see the overreaction as a reflection of how desperate people (more properly the men of the world) are to learn the secrets of what makes a woman tick. This news offers a chance to more effectively please their partners. Sadly to the majority of men - women stubbornly remain ineffably mysterious and any insight that offers hope is priceless.
06:03 PM on 04/28/2012
here's the real myth 'do we need sex education in schools? Go figure' - well you go figure. If we know nothing about sex, then who's actually going to do the educating? This is the biggest load of nonsense I've had the misfortune to read on AOL. Spend a whole chapter telling us no one knows anything and then deduce we need to teach it in schools. Maybe we're all better off knowing nothing,that way we can enjoy it without some idiot telling us we don't know enough about it, just cause you want to be the 'expert'.
05:47 PM on 04/28/2012
I have always liked to be 'average', so I have always made sure that I have sex 2.5 times per week.
The 2.0 times are pretty good, but the 0.5 leaves me and my partner feeling strangely unsatisfied. What are we doing wrong?
04:10 PM on 04/28/2012
Passion is fun (I can just about remember); but have they come up with any solutions regarding that awkward time after making love? You know - it's over and you're both lying beside one another. You suddenly think: "I don't know what to say." "should I say something?"
"now that we have done the nasty - what the hell happens to the rest of the day."?

Maybe if you are truly in love those things don't even come to mind. Still want to be in love - maybe. Also zealously guard my private choices to do what I want with the day.
Makalha
Opinions are not facts.
10:56 PM on 04/28/2012
Are you serious ? No wonder you can just about remember .
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NJP1
12:35 PM on 04/28/2012
As a mere bloke, I'm amazed that a so called sex expert (or whatever) doesn't know that a woman's g-spot is somewhere between her ears. Once a man discovers that, (and a lot of women for that matter) everything else is window dressing, and the female orgasm will fire off like a machine gun. and no, she won't fake it or need toys.
Makalha
Opinions are not facts.
10:53 PM on 04/28/2012
:-) A mere bloke ? I think not !