Fascinating and kinky sex facts to update, inform, reassure – and even make you smile…
Sex facts you’ll be interested to know:
1. Ithyphallophobia is worse than claustrophobia. Why? Because it’s a morbid fear of seeing, thinking about or having an erect penis.
2. Humans and dolphins do it for fun, making us the only two species that have sex for pleasure. And interestingly, while the penis has three purposes (urination, sexual intercourse and ejaculation), the clitoris is the only human organ that has no other function, bar pure gratification. That’s why we love it.
3. Shopping is sexy. According to the 2005 Carte Blanche Sex Survey, 75% of heterosexual men have popped into a strip club, but only 29% of women have done the same. However, when it comes to sexy shopping sprees, more than double the number of women are willing to get involved. A sizeable 63% of women admit to having visited an adult shop – although guys do still top that at about 80%.
4. Gee whiz, it’s a cool spot. The ever-elusive G-spot actually has a biological basis. It’s a slightly raised, 1cm patch along the vagina’s front wall that’s cellularly unique. According to Women’s Bodies: A User’s Manual by Kerry Rogers (Two Dogs) these cells are in fact similarly structured to those in the male prostate gland. When stimulated, the blood vessels and tissue in the spot swell, doubling in size. If you’re not aroused, stroking this area can feel like you have a full bladder, but if it’s touched correctly, it can be the source of the va-va-voom vaginal orgasm. If your man is grappling with your G-spot, experts at the Kinsey Institute say that pressing on the woman’s lower abdomen while seeking this precious point may make it easier to locate.
5. It’s the hugging hormone. Women produce the hormone oxytocin during breast feeding and orgasm. In the case of the former, it’s thought to promote bonding with your baby, and in the latter, post-coital bonding.
6. The DIY way works. A study on female vibrator use published in a 1996 volume of the Journal of Sex Research concluded that women are much more likely to always (or nearly always) reach orgasm when alone, than with a partner.
7. Men and women don’t come out equal. The 2004 Durex Global Sex Survey reports that, while 45% of men have an orgasm every time they have sex, only 17% of women can count themselves so lucky. Other research has shown that about 26% of women find it consistently difficult to orgasm, compared to only 2,5% of men.
8. Your Big O is bigger than you think. The female orgasm is certainly not limited to the genital area, says Rogers in Women’s Bodies: A User’s Manual. At the moment of truth, the rhythmic muscular contraction of the vaginal wall can be accompanied by contractions of the uterus and occasionally, wobble-inducing, whole-body contractions too.
9. Forget penis envy. The word “clitoris” is derived from the Greek word for “little hill”. But this deceptively small bump contains 8 000 nerve endings and can swell to the size of a marble when you’re turned on. Plus, the clitoris gives the penis a run for its money, because these two structures develop from the same batch of foetal cells.
The little bulb that’s exposed when the clitoral hood is pulled back is the glans or head of the clitoris (the direct equivalent of the head of the penis). But the clitoris also has an underground shaft (like the penis), which divides in two and runs up either side of the vaginal wall. So, all in all, your package is just about as big as his!
10. They really are stallions. The international 2004 Durex Global Sex Survey has made it official: of all nationalities, Italians are the most likely to orgasm on every sexual occasion, with an impressive 61% of them (male and female) getting there every single time. South Africans didn’t fare too badly at ninth on the list (47% every time), but the global average is a rather anti-climactic 35%.
11. He’d rather fake it than talk about it. The Carte Blanche Sex Survey found that, while 62% of women have faked orgasms, so have 24% of men. Why do guys fake too? Well, according to a UK survey, 14% of male fakers do so because they don’t want to explain to their partners why they didn’t climax.
12 It’s the hot time of the month. Women generally produce more natural lubrication when they’re ovulating. Many are also less likely to use the “I have a headache” excuse at this time.
13. The female orgasm sucks. Women don’t need to climax to conceive, so Darwinian theorists decided that the function of the female orgasm must be to keep a woman lying down after sex so that more sperm stays put and conception is more likely. But in 1993, two British biologists found that things are a tad more complex, and it’s all due to the aptly named “upsuck” hypothesis. The biologists found that when a woman reaches orgasm any time between one minute before and 45 minutes after ejaculation, she retains significantly more sperm (about 70-80%) because the muscular contractions suck sperm up from the vagina to the cervix, where they’re closer to the egg. But if she climaxes more than a minute before her man (or if she doesn’t at all) less than 50% of the sperm is retained.
14. The vagina is as acidic as beer. While beer has a pH of about 4,5, the healthy vagina has a pH of between 3,8 and 4,5. Semen, on the other hand, has a neutral or slightly alkaline pH (7,1 to 8,0). In 2006 scientists at the University of Utah used this pH variation to design a “molecular condom” that women will one day be able to use daily to prevent HIV infection. The “condom” will be a temperature- and pH-sensitive liquid that’s inserted into the vagina. Here, the body temperature and acidic pH will cause it to turn into a gel-like coating. Then, if it’s exposed to alkaline semen, the gel will liquefy again and release anti-viral drugs. Researchers say that in 10 years or so this device could be particularly vital for women in countries where HIV infection is rife, rape is rampant or conventional condoms are unavailable or culturally avoided.
15. What Pamela Anderson knows. Your breasts can swell up to 30% when you’re aroused. This is because blood rushes to the breasts (as it does to the clitoris and labia of the vagina, which also enlarge).
16. A penis can be kinky. A “curved” or “kinked” penis is actually pretty common and, in most cases, it’s totally normal. But if the curve develops suddenly and if penetration is difficult or an erection is painful, then it could indicate a rare condition called Peyronie’s Disease that usually affects men between the ages of 40 and 60. The causes of the disease are still unknown, but unless it resolves itself, treatment (including surgery) is indicated. If you’re concerned about your kinky guy, get him to an urologist.
17. Sex makes you flush. Studies have shown that 50 to 75% of females and 25% of males experience a so-called “sex flush”. This occurs because, as you get closer to orgasm, there’s an increase in blood flow to the skin which causes pinkish spots to appear under the breasts and then spread to the torso, face, hands, soles of the feet and, possibly, the rest of the body. The same process is responsible for the darkening of the clitoris and the walls of the vagina during arousal.
This fabulous flush is more common under warmer conditions and it’s thought that the degree of flushing can predict the intensity of the orgasm to follow. It will probably fade soon after orgasm, but it can also hang around for up to two hours – a take-home reminder of your blush-able behaviour.
18. How you feel about yourself (your mood, body image) has been proven to affect how sex feels. 46% of anorgasmic women (those who don’t or can’t reach orgasm) attribute the situation to their own poor self-image.
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