10 Facts You Didn’t Know About the Orgasm

Orgasms are somewhat of an untold mystery. Nowhere is this fact driven home more, than when you start looking up its definition and realize that there are nearly 30 different ways to describe its physical and emotional properties. You probably already know orgasms result in muscular contractions, increase heart rate/blood pressure, are associated with intense pleasure, and can be experienced by both men and women. But what are a few things you may not know:

10. Got Sperm?

When the male orgasms, he ejaculates secretions of sperm, amounting to 10 cubic centimeters (cc) per encounter. It has been calculated that the average male will orgasm enough fluid over his lifetime, to fill a one gallon milk carton, fourteen times.

9. Not Just For Women

While it is common knowledge that women have various g-spot locations, not many are aware that men have these to. Three spots to be exact. There is the frenulum (directly underneath the male appendage), the perineum (patch of skin between the testicles and anus), and the prostate gland.

8. Aunt Flo Can Be a Welcome Visitor

For most men, anytime is a good time for an orgasm, but for women, there are certain times that are better than others. It has been found the best time for her (pleasure wise), is during her “period”. This is unfortunately when many women (and some men) are uncomfortable with having sex. The reason orgasms are better during this time, is the increase in blood circulation around the groin area.

7. Material Girl Goes Wild

One of the big shocks of the 20th century, was that our nations sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, claimed she never achieved orgasm by any of her famous lovers (John F. Kennedy, Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio, etc.). It wasn’t until shortly before her death (age 36) she told her psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, “Bless you doctor—all the years I had never had one. What wasted years. How can I describe to you, a man, what it feels like to a woman? Think of a light switch with a rheostat control. As you begin to turn it on, the bulb begins to get bright, then brighter, and brighter and finally in a blinding flash is fully lit. It is so good…” Yeah, we know Marilyn!

6. On Your Marks, Get Set, Impregnate

The average speed of ejaculate during a male orgasm is 28 mph, according to the Kinsey Institute. This is in excess of the top speeds of the greatest runners in the world. This is in exact opposite of the slow and steady pace of the sperm, which is only capable of traveling 1½ inches every 15-minutes of intense swimming. The force of orgasm is thought to give them a head start, considering they have a good 3 or 4 inches to go before they reach their final destination.

5. One To Die For

Orgasms aren’t just for the living. If the sacral nerves in the spinal chord are oxygenated and stimulated, then there isn’t any reason why a dead person can’t climax. I still suggest sex only with the living though.

4. Be Loud, Be Proud

Not all women can produce the same orgasm results in their men. In fact, it is the more “vocal” women that achieve the desired results on a consistent basis. Studies show that males orgasm 59 percent of the time while their partner is screaming in ecstasy, and only 2 percent of the time while she’s lying quiet, counting gold sprinkles on the ceiling.

3. Thank You, Sir. My I Have Another?

Many women are capable of multiple orgasms. The most female orgasms recorded by doctors, William Hartman and Marilyn Fithian, were 134 within a single hour. That is a little over two orgasms per minute. Interestingly, it has also been noted that some women are capable of multiple orgasms even during such seemingly mundane activities as stroking their eyebrow, rubbing their knee, thinking (about an orgasm), or brushing their teeth.

2. Natural Selection

Orgasm is an evolutionary function of nature. In 1967, a man named Desmond Morris wrote a controversial book called, The Naked Ape. The book looked at the female orgasm, suggesting its purpose was to not only encourage interest in sexual activity, but promote exhaustion to encourage her to remain in the horizontal position (preventing sperm from leaking out). He also suggested women’s difficulty in attaining orgasm with men, was in fact a form of natural selection. Only the most patient, caring, and imaginative men (considered preferred traits) would have the best chance of eliciting an orgasm, and thus successfully conceiving a child.

1. You’re Never Too Young

Masturbation has been noted in prenatal ultrasound images, especially in males, where their hand appears to be wrapped around their appendage and moving respectively back and forth. It is not uncommon to find young children engaging in various forms of self-stimulation, resulting in a sort of orgasm. This is of course long before their sexual organs are capable of adult function (releasing egg or semen). Considering the great circle of life, it is also believed that an orgasm could be achieved the same in death as in life, by the stimulation of a certain points on the spinal column. This theory has yet to be put to the test however.