The Controversial G-Spot

I was just blog surfing a little and found this article “Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm“. If vaginal orgasms are a myth, I have been having mythological sex for over 25 years!

Back in the late ’70’s, I began to experience “vaginal orgasms” in addition to the much touted clitoral ones. All the current literature told us that clitoral stimulation was the only way women could achieve orgasms. I felt pretty weird, but I was not complaining! Then, while at college (early ’80’s), I signed up for a course in “Human Sexuality”. The professor had us read the book “The Gräfenberg spot”. It completely explained my personal experience. I even took the book home to show my now ex-husband. We tried the exercise they gave to find it; with much success.

Being completely happy with my sex life, I did not keep up with the literature. I did not know that the “G-spot” had become controversial. It is certainly not controversial to me, it is a known fact as far as I am concerned. But Wikipedia disagrees with me:

G-spot, is a small area in women behind the pubic bone surrounding the urethra and accessible through the anterior wall of the vagina. It is putatively an erogenous zone that when stimulated leads to high levels of sexual arousal and powerful orgasms.^[1]

There is a great deal of dispute about the reality of the G-spot in the scientific community. Most of the strong support for the claim comes from books aimed at a popular audience.^[2]

The term “G-spot” was coined by Addiego et al. in 1981.^[3] It is named after the German gynaecologist Ernst Gräfenberg who is claimed to have first hypothesized the existence of such an area in 1950. The G-spot didn’t enter public consciousness until a year later with the publication of the book “The G Spot and Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality.”^[1] Shortly after the publication of Ladas’ book many professional gynaecologists publicly criticized its scholarship and accuracy.^[4]

Here is the problem I have with the habit of dismissing anecdotal evidence. Perhaps anecdotal evidence does not “prove” something. Okay, I am fine with that. But, to dismiss the reality of something just because we cannot prove it seems to be going to the other extreme. Why don’t we take an “agnostic” attitude and say that there is much anecdotal evidence for this, we just don’t know much about it scientifically – yet.

When I was originally reading about the elusive “G-spot”, I learned this: That the “G-spot” did not automatically mature during puberty like the penis and the clitoris. That is to say that the “G-spot” is developed by using it over time. They hypothesized that this may explain why women reach their peak in their late 20’s to early 30’s. Perhaps, this is what makes it so hard to study.

I am not a scientist, so I really cannot speak with any authority about the science of this elusive spot. I can only speak from my personal experience. If it does not exist, then I am a freak. A very, very happy freak.