The Gender Gap in Orgasms: Survey Data from a Mid-sized Canadian City

Nicole Andrejek and Tina Fetner

Published as:

Nicole Andrejek & Tina Fetner. 2019. “The Gender Gap in Orgasms: Survey Data from a Mid-Sized Canadian City.” International Journal of Sexual Health, DOI: 10.1080/19317611.2018.1563014

Abstract

Objective: Previous research has established a gap in orgasm frequency between men and women. This study investigates explanations for the gender gap in orgasm. Methods: Crosstab analysis and logistic regression are used to examine the gender gap in orgasms from one Canadian city: Hamilton, Ontario (N = 194). Results: We find a strong association between women’s orgasms and the type of sexual behavior in which partners engage. Women who receive oral sex are more likely to reach orgasm. Conclusion: Sexual practices focused on clitoral stimulation are important to reducing the gender gap in orgasms. Gender Gap in Orgasms

Research in the field of sexualities finds that men and women experience sexual pleasure, enjoyment, and satisfaction differently. Specifically, there is a growing body of literature that has focused on orgasms as a gendered experience. For instance, research from a large-scale study on sexuality in the United States found that men have three orgasms per every one orgasm a women has (Laumann, 1994). This has led to the assertion that there is an “orgasm gap,” a term used by scholars to analyze the large discrepancy in the frequency between men and women in how often they orgasm during heterosexual, partnered sex (Wade, Kremer, & Brown, 2005; Armstrong, England, & Fogarty, 2012).

A number of explanations have been proposed to understand sexual pleasure and women’s ability to reach orgasm. Research on sexual satisfaction has found that age, ability to communicate, level of education, infidelity, lubrication, and various other elements can impact sexual satisfaction and orgasm (Frederick et al., 2017b; Kelly,

Strassberg, & Turner, 2004; Rowland & Kolba, 2016; Warehime & Bass, 2008). Other research suggests that relationship context impacts orgasm rates and that the orgasm gap is lessened between men and women in committed relationships (Frederick et al. 2017a;

Richters, de Visser, Rissel, & Smith, 2006; Wade, 2017). Other literature suggests that certain types of sexual activities that focus on clitoral stimulation, including oral sex, can improve women’s rates of orgasm (Frederick et al., 2017a; Frederick et al., 2017b).

In this paper, we extend the research on the gender gap in orgasms to the

Canadian context by using survey data from one mid-sized Canadian city: Hamilton,

Ontario. We consider whether the gender gap in orgasms exists in this context, and test several claims about inequality in the frequency of men and women's orgasms. Below,

1 Gender Gap in Orgasms we consider a variety of approaches to understanding gender, sex, and orgasm, from anatomical, relationship-based, and behavioral perspectives.

Understanding the gender gap in orgasms

Within the context of heterosexual sex, the vast majority of men--90% or more--report that they usually or always orgasm during intercourse, whereas the majority of women

(as much as 70% in some studies) do not orgasm during intercourse (Brewer & Hendrie,

2011; Richters, de Visser, Rissel, & Smith, 2006; Salisbury & Fisher, 2014; Wade,

Kremer, & Brown, 2005; Wallen & Lloyd, 2011). Early studies on sexual satisfaction and orgasms found that 27% of women thought their male partners reached orgasm too soon, primarily because it took women 40-80% more time to reach orgasm than their partners

(Darling, Davidson & Cox 1991; Klassen & Wilsnack, 1986). Kinsey’s research on sex in the United States reported that 40% of women experience orgasm in only 10 of every 100 sexual experiences, and that 10% of married and 30% of unmarried sexually active women have never experienced an orgasm (Darling et al., 1991). More recently, in their study of undergraduate students in the United States, Wade and colleagues (2005) found an orgasm gap of 52 percentage points, in which 39% of women compared to 91% of men report usually or always experiencing and orgasm during partnered sex. Similarly, in a large national study of U.S. adults, Frederick and colleagues (2018) found that heterosexual men report that they usually or always orgasm 95% of the time during partnered sex, whereas heterosexual women report having an orgasm 65% of the time during partnered sex.

Research into explanations for the gender orgasm gap falls into three camps. The first focuses on anatomical differences between male and female bodies. The second

2 Gender Gap in Orgasms considers the social relationships between men and women who engage in partnered, heterosexual intercourse. The third body of work emphasizes the types of sexual practices and behaviours that increase sexual pleasure. Each of these bodies of work shows a rather stable orgasm gap, but they imply different underlying reasons for a lower incidence of orgasm for women relative to men. These explanations, of course, are not mutually exclusive; the underlying reasons for the orgasm gap can be both anatomical and social, though each approach implies a different solution to the problem of increasing women's orgasms during partnered sex (Armstrong et al., 2012; Wade, Kremer, & Brown, 2005).

Anatomical Explanations

Anatomical explanations focus on the differences in genitalia of male and female bodies.

These address directly the many social myths that female bodies are naturally or biologically much more difficult to bring to orgasm than male bodies. Some versions of this mythology go so far as to understand women's bodies as entirely asexual (Faderman,

1991; Seidman, 2010). However, despite widespread beliefs that female bodies are anatomically inadequate to orgasm regularly, even early studies on sexual response, such as the seminal research by Masters and Johnson (1966), have found that men and women’s physiological responses during sex are more similar than they are different.

These myths are further dispelled by recent research that finds men and women orgasm at similar rates when masturbating (Shiraz et al., 2017). Bringing oneself to orgasm is understood to be a skill that can be learned through masturbation (Wade, Kremer, &

Brown, 2005). This is certainly the approach that many feminist self-help and sexual help guides have taken for decades (e.g., Boston Women's Health Book Collective, 1973).

This skill can be relevant to partnered sexual practice, as women who are practiced at

3 Gender Gap in Orgasms bringing themselves to orgasm can educate their partners about their bodies and their preferences, increasing the likelihood of orgasm in partnered sexual experiences.

However, some research has argued that gender beliefs shape women’s experiences with masturbation in complicated and diverse ways that can limit their sexual expression even when alone (Fahs & Frank, 2014). For this reason, it is relevant to test the anatomical model.

Relationship-based explanations

A second body of research focuses on the personal relationship between sexual partners.

This work finds that individuals in committed relationships report higher levels of sexual satisfaction (Mark, Garcia & Fisher, 2015) Sex in the context of a committed relationship also leads to higher rates of orgasms than those who are single and/or engaging in hookups or casual sexual encounters (Armstrong et al., 2012; Shiraz et al., 2017; Wait &

Joyner, 2001). There are a number of reasons why this may be the case. For example, the status of one's relationship may affect the sexual communication between partners, with committed relationship having the benefit of repeated practice, both at sex together and at communication. Babin’s (2012) research on the impact of communication during sex on sexual satisfaction finds that non-verbal communication (such as moans and facial expressions) during sex is a strong predictor of sexual satisfaction and that non-verbal forms of communication are more common among people in committed relationships.

This may be because when people feel uncertainty about their relationship, they might limit their sexual expression (Babin, 2012). Women’s experiences with a particular partner, their feelings of commitment, and sense of confidence and entitlement to

4 Gender Gap in Orgasms pleasure in the context of a committed relationship can all impact their sexual enjoyment and ability to reach orgasm (England & Ford, 2014; Shiraz et al., 2017).

Individuals in committed relationships tend to engage in a greater variety of sexual activities than those in casual relationships, which may be why women in committed relationships orgasm more than women engaging in casual sex (Armstrong et al., 2012; Babin, 2012; Herbenick et al., 2010). This is important, as some of the literature that has focused on social explanations for the gendered gap in orgasms suggests that certain types of sexual practices and engaging in a larger variety of sexual practices impacts orgasm rates, which we will elaborate on below.

The gender dynamics of casual sexual encounters may play a role in limiting women's orgasms. For example, Armstrong, England, & Fogarty (2012) find that, in university "hookups," women report making men’s orgasms a priority, while feeling guilty about “subjecting” men to reciprocating. Wade (2017) also finds that there is an expectation that men but not women will orgasm in hookup scenarios. Women’s concern for men’s comfort and reputation in university hookups has been found to be so pronounced that many women do not even identify unwanted sexual intercourse as sexual assault (Khan, et al. 2018), so it follows that women may not feel empowered to ask men to attend to their sexual pleasure. In addition, stigma may play a role. Women tend to be judged more harshly than men for their sexual behaviours, perceived promiscuity, and their bodies; this is called the “sexual double standard” (Reid, Elliot & Webber, 2011;

Rudman, Fetterolf, & Sanchez, 2013). Social patterns that shape, regulate, and reproduce gendered beliefs can produce shame among women, such as about their pubic hair, the shape/size of their bodies, or what their vulvas look like or smell like (Graham, Sanders,

5 Gender Gap in Orgasms

Milhausen, & McBride, 2004; Hamilton & Armstrong, 2009; Opperman et al., 2014).

While some research finds men report feeling responsible for their women partners' orgasms in hookup scenarios, there is a disconnect between wanting their partners to orgasm and engaging the types of sexual practices that will bring them to orgasm

(Salisbury & Fisher, 2014).

Sexual Practices

Some research suggests that the relationship between sexual partners is less important than their sexual practices. Women are less likely to have an orgasm during vaginal intercourse in comparison to manual (use of fingers and hands) or oral sexual stimulation, as clitoral stimulation is important for women’s orgasms (Herbenick et al., 2010;

Laumann et al., 1994; Salisbury & Fisher, 2014; Wade, Kremer, & Brown, 2005). This is supported by Frederick and colleagues (2018), who found that heterosexual women, lesbian women, bisexual women and gay men who receive oral sex orgasm more frequently. In addition, women who reported that they “always” reach orgasm during sex and “always” feel very satisfied during sex are also more likely to receive oral sex during their sexual encounters (Frederick et al., 2017; 2018). For heterosexual women, receiving oral sex alone or alongside vaginal sex was highly related to whether or not a participant reported always reaching orgasm (Frederick et al., 2018). This suggests that oral sex is an important sexual behaviour that might improve women’s rates of orgasm.

In our analysis we test four hypotheses that are central to the current research on the gendered orgasm gap:

H1: We expect that more men than women will report that they had an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter.

6 Gender Gap in Orgasms

H2: We expect that men and women who masturbate more frequently will be more likely to report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter.

H3: We expect that women having sex with marital or common-law partners will be more likely than women having sex with other types of partners to report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter.

H4: We expect that women who receive oral sex will be more likely than those who do not to report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter.

To start, we test (H1) whether our sample supports the past and current research that has found that there is a gendered gap in orgasm. We then investigate the anatomical model

(H2) through assessing whether increased masturbation when individuals are alone influences their orgasm frequency during partner sex, as research found that women orgasm at similar rates to men when masturbating (Shiraz et al., 2017; Wade, Kremer, &

Brown, 2005). Next, we analyze the role of relationship status (H3) on orgasm frequency

(Armstrong, England, & Fogarty, 2012; Frederick et al. 2018; Richters, de Visser, Rissel,

& Smith, 2006). Last, we test whether different sexual practices (H4) are associated with increased likelihood of women’s orgasm (Frederick et al., 2017; Frederick et al., 2018;

Salisbury & Fisher, 2014). By interrogating new data from a Canadian context, we reconsider questions of anatomical, relationship-based, and sexual practices-based explanations for the gender gap in orgasm.

Data and Method

Sample

Data for this study come from the 2015 Survey of Sexual Behaviour, which involved computer-assisted telephone interviews with 195 adults in and around the city of

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Eligible participants were 18 years or older. Surveys were

7 Gender Gap in Orgasms conducted in English, so the sample is limited to those with fluency in the English language. Both landline and cellular telephones were randomly sampled and dialed.

Verbal informed consent was taken and recorded. Although many telephones were not answered, and others hung up without speaking to an interviewer, our response rate among eligible participants who stayed on the phone long enough to learn about the content of the survey was 21.4%. Although low response rates may raise concerns of nonresponse bias, there is no evidence of a biased sample here (see Keeter et al., 2000 for a discussion of response rate and nonresponse bias). The age range of participants is 18 to

90 years old, with a mean of 47 years. 60.5% of the sample is female, and 39.5% is male.

Also, 14.9% of participants identify as a visible minority, compared with 16% in the population of Hamilton, according to the 2011 census (Statistics Canada, 2011).

Table 1 provides descriptive statistics of the data. The majority of participants are women, heterosexual, white, and married. The sample is fairly representative of the adult population of Hamilton, Ontario, based on age and race.

8 Gender Gap in Orgasms

Table 1. Descriptive statistics

Demographics n % Gender Men 76 39% Women 119 61% Sexual Identity Heterosexual/Straight 180 92.3% LGBTQ+ 15 7.7% Age 19-25 26 13.3% 26-46 67 34.4% 46-65 73 37.4% 66+ 29 14.9% Race White 163 83.6% Non-White 32 16.4% Marital Status Single, Never Married 50 25.6% Common-Law 11 5.6% Married 105 53.9% Widowed 13 6.7% Separated 4 2.1% Divorced 10 5.1% Other 2 1.0% N=195

Dependent Variable

Our dependent variable is a self-report of orgasm in the participant's most recent sexual encounter. The question reads, "During this most recent sex act, did you have an orgasm?" The participants were given the option to respond yes, no or "I don't know/don't remember." For the analysis, we combined the "no" and "I don't know/don't remember" responses to distinguish affirmative memories of orgasm from other sexual experiences.

Independent Variables

Gender. Gender is a dummy variable with women coded 1 and men as the reference category. We are unable to consider non-binary gender categories in this analysis.

9 Gender Gap in Orgasms

Masturbation. The Survey of Sexual Behaviour asks two questions on masturbation. The first question screens for those who have ever masturbated, by asking when was the last time (if ever) a participant masturbated. Those who give any affirmative response will be asked a follow-up question: “On average, during the past 12 months, about how often did you masturbate alone?" Possible responses include:

One time per year A few times per year One time per month A few times per month One time per week, A few times per week Almost every day More than one time per day

We collapsed these categories to:

Frequent: weekly or more often Infrequent: less than weekly

Relationship to sexual partner. The participant's relationship to their sexual partner is measured by the question, “what was your relationship to the person you had sex with in your most recent sexual encounter?" Possible responses include:

Spouse/common-law partner1 Boyfriend/girlfriend Someone I am casually dating/hanging out with A friend Someone I just met Someone who paid me or gave me something for sex Someone who I paid or gave something for sex An ex-partner or spouse Other

Oral sex. The Survey of Sexual Behaviour asks a series of yes or no questions related to what sexual activities occurred during the participant's most recent sexual encounter.

These include vaginal sex, anal sex, rubbing genitals/dry sex, and giving and receiving

10 Gender Gap in Orgasms oral sex. The response we use for our analysis asks whether the respondent received oral sex: "My partner gave me oral sex."

Analytic Strategy

From the total participants (N=195), the analysis was restricted to participants who have had sex and responded to the survey question on whether they had an orgasm during their most recent sexual encounter (n=187), including 71 men and 116 women. We drop cases in which the most recent sexual encounter was with a same-sex partner (n=185). Because our dependent variable is a binary measure of whether the respondent experienced and orgasm in their most recent partnered sexual encounter, we use logistic regression analysis to evaluate our hypotheses. We supplement this with cross-tabular analysis of each independent variable, using z-tests, chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests to evaluate hypotheses as appropriate.2

Results

Table 2 provides an overview of our analysis. The experience of having an orgasm is different for women than for men. However, having experience with frequent masturbation is not a significant predictor of having an orgasm. Our logistic regression analysis shows a weakly significant positive association between having sex with a spouse or common-law partner and reporting an orgasm. We find a significant positive association between having received oral sex and reporting an orgasm. We discuss each of these in greater detail below.

11 Gender Gap in Orgasms

Table 2. Logistic regression results

Coef Std. Err. z P>|z| Female -1.24 0.4396 -2.82 0.005 Frequent masturbation 0.23 0.4222 0.58 0.594 Sex with spouse 0.80 0.3960 2.02 0.044 Received oral sex 1.25 0.4060 3.08 0.002 Constant 0.74 0.5301 1.41 0.160 N=185; Chi-square = 27.72, p<0.001; pseudo-R2 = 0.126

Gender and Orgasm Frequency

Table 3 shows the frequency of men's and women's reports of orgasm during their most recent sexual encounter. About three-fourths of participants reported an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter. There are significant differences between men and women.

While over 87% of men report having an orgasm, less than 63% of women do. A 2x2 chi- square test confirms statistical significance (p<0.001). This is consistent with previous literature, which consistently finds an orgasm gap between men and women.

Table 3. Frequency of participants who report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter by gender

Gender No Orgasm Orgasm Men 12.7% 87.3% Women 37.1% 62.9% Total 27.8% 72.2% N=187. Pearson chi-square = 13.054, p<0.001.

Masturbation

Anatomical explanations for the orgasm gap suggest that the problem is technical; female bodies are more difficult to bring to orgasm than male bodies. We consider whether skill-

12 Gender Gap in Orgasms building through frequent masturbation is related to reports of orgasm in the most recent sexual encounter.

Table 4. Frequency of participants who report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter by frequency of masturbation

Masturbation Frequency No Orgasm Orgasm Men n % n % Infrequent 1 4.3% 22 95.7% Frequent 4 11.8% 30 88.2% Total 5 8.8% 52 91.2% Women n % n % Infrequent 16 28.1% 41 71.9% Frequent 4 36.4% 7 63.6% Total 20 29.4% 48 70.6% Total: N=124. Fisher's Exact Test: p=0.816.

Our Fisher's exact test of the relationship between masturbation frequency and reported orgasm is not significant (Table 4). Therefore, our findings do not support the anatomical difference model. For women, our results do not suggest a relationship between women's frequency of masturbation and likelihood of orgasm in partnered sex. For men, regardless of how frequently they masturbate, they consistently report reaching orgasm during their last sexual encounter.

Relationship Context

Previous research has found that women orgasm more in the context of a committed relationship than in other types of sexual encounter. In Table 5, we compare those who had sex with a spouse with those who had sex with a non-spousal partner.

Table 5. Frequency of participants who report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter by relationship to sexual partner

13 Gender Gap in Orgasms

Relationship Type No Orgasm Orgasm Total Men n % n % n Spouse 2 4.9% 39 95.1% 41 Other 5 17.9% 23 82.1% 28 Total 7 10.1% 62 89.9% 69 Women n % n % Spouse 30 36.6% 52 63.4% 82 Other 13 38.2% 21 61.8% 34 Total 43 37.1% 73 62.9% 116 Total: N=185, Fishers Exact Test, p=0.727; chi-square test, p=0.663

In this crosstab analysis, we find only a small, non-significant difference between participants in the “spouse/common law” category and participants whose last sexual partner fall into the “other” category, which includes boyfriend/girlfriend, someone they are casually dating/hanging out with, a friend, someone they just met, someone who paid them or gave them something for sex, someone who they paid or gave something for sex, an ex-partner or spouse, and an other category. For women in particular, a chi-square test on relationship statuses and orgasm is not statistically significant (p=0.867). A Fisher's exact test shows no significant relationship between participants’ relationship status and reaching orgasm (men p=0.111, women p=1.000, and the overall model p=0.727). Given that our logistic regression model showed only a weakly significant association, we argue that this evidence does not offer strong support for relationship-based claims that women orgasm more in the context of committed relationships.

Oral sex

We find the type of sexual activity matters to the frequency of orgasm for women. The

Survey of Sexual Behaviour asks participants about four types of sexual activity: vaginal sex, oral sex, anal sex, and rubbing genitals together (such as dry sex or humping). Most

14 Gender Gap in Orgasms participants report participating in more than one of these activities. For our analysis, we focus on the activity that is the most directly connected to clitoral stimulation: women's receiving oral sex. Table 6 shows the men and women's reports of receiving oral sex and orgasm during the most recent sexual encounter.

We conduct a chi-square test to determine whether oral sex increases the likelihood of participants reporting an orgasm during their most recent sexual encounter.

A chi-square test of the association between oral sex and orgasm is significant overall (p

<0.001). A Fisher's exact test of the relationship between oral sex and orgasm is significant for women, but not for men. Our logistic regression analysis also shows a significant relationship between receiving oral sex and having an orgasm. These findings support the research claims that emphasize direct clitoral stimulation as important for women’s orgasms, which suggests that sexual practices focused on the clitoris are key to reducing the gender gap in orgasms.

Table 6. Frequency of participants who report having an orgasm in their most recent sexual encounter through receiving oral sex

Sexual Practice No Orgasm Orgasm Men n % n % P-Value Did not receive oral sex 6 20.0% 24 80.0% Received oral sex 3 7.3% 38 92.7% 0.154 Women Did not receive oral sex 34 45.9% 40 54.1% Received oral sex 9 21.4% 33 78.6% 0.010

Total: N =187, Men: N=71,Women: N=116. P-value is derived from the Fisher's exact test.

Discussion

Using new data from a mid-sized Canadian city, we examined the orgasm gap between men and women. Consistent with previous research, we found a gender gap in

15 Gender Gap in Orgasms participants who report having an orgasm in their last partnered sexual encounter. This suggests that the gender gap is persistent over both time and place. Recent data reflects a similar gap to previous studies, and Canadian data is consistent with a literature that was largely developed in the United States.

We examined anatomical, relationship-based, and sexual practice-based claims for the gender gap in orgasm. Anatomical explanations suggest that female bodies have more difficulty reaching orgasm than male bodies. However, our results demonstrated that more frequent practice in bringing oneself to orgasm through masturbation did not correspond with a greater likelihood of reporting orgasm in partnered sex. Our mixed results offered only weak support for claims that married women are more likely to orgasm than those having sex outside of marriage.

Our analysis suggests a simple explanation for the orgasm gap: what women do during sex is the most important predictor for women’s orgasms. We found that women who received oral sex are more likely to reach orgasm than those who did not. Our results support claims that clitoral stimulation through oral sex is important to reducing the orgasm gap between men and women. In these data, the orgasm gap is strongly associated with the practical matter of the type of sexual behavior that individuals are having in during partnered sex. This demonstrates that the gender gap in orgasm likely endures over time not because women cannot orgasm or because they need to be in a committed relationship to orgasm, but simply because women and their sexual partners fail to practice the sexual behaviours that bring them to orgasm.

This suggests that sociological underpinnings of the gender dynamics in partnered heterosexual sex are at play here, prioritizing men's orgasms and the sexual practices that

16 Gender Gap in Orgasms bring men to orgasm over women's in a particular sexual encounter. Much of the research on sexual pleasure, enjoyment, and satisfaction demonstrates the ways that orgasms, as a form of sexual pleasure, is a gendered experience. Our findings suggest that the conditions under which men's orgasms are given primacy over women's are quite broad, extending into all relationship types. This suggests that differences in sexual experience are reflective of broader gendered inequalities in heterosexual relationships, which has important implications for how we can understand the relationship between orgasms and sexual pleasure comparatively between men and women.

Limitations of the study include the small sample limited to one Canadian city.

Fine-grained analysis of age, race, and other social predictors were not feasible. Future research should include larger representative samples with more detailed questions about which type of sexual activity produced orgasm. As we have discussed, the three explanations tested in this study are not mutually exclusive, however, due to sample size we were unable to test the relationship between masturbation, relationship status, and oral sex. For instance, we were unable to test whether oral sex is more likely to occur within different relationship contexts. In addition, our study focuses only on male-female sexual encounters; future research should focus on potential differences between heterosexual and same-sex encounters.

Our study contributes to a body of work, which when taken together suggests that the orgasm gap may be explained by historical, cultural, and social pressures that women experience (Rudman, Fetterolf, & Sanchez, 2013; Fahs & Frank, 2014). The finding that the gender gap in orgasm is partially accounted for by sexual practices that fail to bring women to orgasm is at once simple and complex. Our findings suggest that women will

17 Gender Gap in Orgasms have more orgasms when they and their partners simply engage in sexual practices that bring them to orgasm. However, these sexual practices, in the context of heterosexual partnerships, are tied into “dominant systems of meaning related to sex, heterosex and orgasm” (Opperman et al., 2014). For this reason, any analysis of orgasms must be located within social contexts. For instance, Chadwick and van Anders (2017) have found evidence that men view women’s orgasms as validating their masculine prowess and self esteem. Their study highlights that women’s orgasms are connected to men’s feelings of masculinity and suggests that this connection demonstrates how men’s pleasure and needs are prioritized over women’s in heterosexual, partnered sex. Future research should endeavor to understand the orgasm gap in the context of broader social patterns and forces. We assert that these sociological explanations of gender inequality in sexuality are key to understanding the persistence of the gender gap in orgasms. In summation, we find that the gendered gap in orgasm can be attributed to a failure to engage in the types of sexual behavior that increase women’s likelihood of orgasm. In particular, we found that women who receive oral sex are more likely to reach orgasm, leading us to conclude that sexual practices focused on clitoral stimulation are important to reducing the gap in the frequency of orgasms between men and women.

18 Gender Gap in Orgasms

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24 1 In Canada, common-law status is similar to marriage. Although provincial family laws vary, in general common-law status requires that conjugal partners have lived together in the same home for at least one year.

2 To verify results, we supplemented these tests with a set of singular exact logistic regressions, restricting the sample to female respondents. Results were confirmed; supplementary tables are available upon request.