The truth about the G-spot: Why its

time to put this sex myth to bed

New research suggests that our ideas about orgasms
are missing the mark
ANNA PULLEY, ALTERNET
TOPICS: ALTERNET, G-SPOT, ORGASMS, SEX, INNOVATION NEWS, LIFE NEWS, NEWS

(Credit: conrado via Shutterstock)

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

Take a collective sigh of relief, humanity. If youve been one of the
countless people searching in vain for the elusive Grfenburg spot
(aka the G-spot) or wondering why you arent gushing like Old Faithful each time
someone makes a come hither motion in your vagina, then search and wonder no
more. Once lauded as a magic button and the ultimate female pleasure enhancer, an
Italian scientists recent report claims once and for all that the controversial G-spot is
nothing but a myth (with a really good PR campaign). The study published in the

journal Nature Reviews Urology by Emmanuele Jannini, Professor of Endocrinology and

Medical Sexology at Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy found that, essentially, the
G-spot is just a sensitive area thats part of the larger pleasure center that includes the
vagina, clitoris, and urethra, or as the study sexily put it, the clitourethrovaginal (CUV)
complex.
The G-spots rise to sexual stardom started in the 1950s with German gynecologist
Ernst Grfenberg, who claimed that he discovered (Christopher Columbus style) an
area on the upper side of the vaginal wall that, when touched in the right way, led to
orgasm and sometimes ejaculation. Since then, countless books and articles have been
written on the G, including how to find it, how to master it, and how to orgasm from it.
Of course, it has been documented that women can and do experience heightened
sensitivity when the upper vaginal wall is stimulated, so its not like science is outright
snubbing the walnut-sized spot. Rather, the study points out that female pleasure and
orgasm are more all-encompassing than previously thought, and that sensitivity exists
simultaneously throughout the CUV and not just in one tiny area. Or, if you prefer your
sexual science served with a Facebook analogy, Its complicated.
The intimate area that allows women to experience a heightened sexual pleasure
includes the complete reproductive system, the study notes including tissues,
muscles, glands, and even the uterus. Compared to the male erogenous zones, it is
much more variable and complex, and also varies from woman to woman depending on
the hormonal cycle, Jannini told The Local, Italys English-written news site.
Janninis study is by no means the first to claim the G-spots pleasure capabilities have
been overblown. In 2012, a study by urology resident Dr. Amichai Kilchevsky published
in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found no conclusive evidence of the G-spots
existence. Kilchevsky looked at 96 published studies from the past 60 years, concluding
that science couldnt definitively find the G. Without a doubt, a discrete anatomic entity
called the G-spot does not exist, Kilchevsky said. But he also notes that women who
experience heightened pleasure around the G-spot area arent crazy or making it up.
Indeed, biopsies of vaginal wall tissue have shown that in some women, there are more
nerve endings in the purported G-spot than in surrounding areas, but even those studies
are inconclusive. What theyre likely experiencing is a continuation of the clitoris, he
said, adding that nerve endings alone do not an orgasm make (otherwise far more
people would be studying the virtues of the perineum, aka the loner at your bodys
prom).

What about the G-spots role in vaginal orgasms? A 2008 study (also by Jannini, who,
like the CUV, clearly gets around) exploring the vaginal wall found that a womans ability
to have vaginal orgasms resulted from thicker tissue between the vagina and urethra,
and not the concentrated G-spot area. The study noted that women with thinner vaginal
wall tissue could not orgasm vaginally, disappointing their parents yet again.
The vaginal orgasm as the one true orgasm is a theory started by Freud, who thought
that the clitoral orgasm was juvenile, and that mature, adult ladies only come from p-inthe-v sex. Since only around a quarter of women can come vaginally, this theory would
leave a whole lot of immature ladies futzing about and wondering if they took a wrong
turn at Vaginalbuquerque. Well, with the Gs status taken down to size, now these
women can rest easy. Kilchevsky thinks so, too: Women who cant achieve orgasm
through vaginal penetration dont have anything wrong with them, he said of his 2012
study. Cancel your therapy appointments, ladies. Youre off scot-free.