Somewhat irritatingly, the female orgasm is often described as being ‘elusive’ and difficult to achieve, as if it’s some sort of puzzle to be worked out with the right combination of finger movements.
But, as many women will undoubtedly know, there is nothing too mysterious about their orgasms. It is really more the way in which we discuss female pleasure which makes it seem so very otherworldly, rather than the scientific nuts and bolts behind the act itself.
Now, a new study has revealed the length of time it takes for the average heterosexual woman to achieve an orgasm – a grand total of 13.46 minutes. This saucy countdown proved true for married and unmarried women alike.
The study, which was recently published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, used a stopwatch to time how long it took for the participants to climax.
Although I imagine this certainly added a bit of pressure to proceedings, the women persevered in the name of scientific advancement. The results have since provided an interesting insight into the various ins and outs of female pleasure.
For eight full weeks, 645 straight women from 20 different countries started their stopwatches each time they hit the sack, hitting stop once they got their rocks off. The average age of the women was around 30 years old, and they were all in monogamous relationships.
Interestingly, penetrative sex was rarely found to be the best way to reach that O, with just 31.4% of participants climaxing in this manner. Other forms of stimulation were needed for 68.6% of the women, which included kissing, touching and ‘light biting’.
Certain positions turned out to do the trick more than others, with 42.2% of participants finding ‘woman on top’ to be the magic position for getting their legs shaking.
In 2017, sex educator and professor emeritus of nursing at Rutgers University, Beverly Whipple, explained to Cosmopolitan why being on top feels so good for women:
Being on top offers more gratification than other sex positions because it lets you feel close to your partner and puts you in charge of your own pleasure.
You decide how fast the pace is and how deep your partner will enter you, making it more likely that you will reach orgasm.
Of course, every person’s body is different and you shouldn’t worry if these findings don’t match your personal experience. The most important thing is that you are happy and fulfilled with your orgasms, and there really is no need to whip out the stopwatch and compare yourself to anybody else.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.