orgasmI know from experience and hearsay that women can experience different “types” of orgasms. From experience, an orgasm from vaginal penetration can be quite different than one caused by topical (manual or oral) stimulation, for example.
A friend once told me she experienced an intense orgasm during a telephone conversation (not with me!), without ever even touching herself or being otherwise physically stimulated.
And Google is full of articles claiming anywhere from 4 to at least 15 types of female orgasms.
What are generally considered to be the types (or primary types, if there is a lot of grey area) of female orgasms? How do they differ?
The mainstream scholarly view seems to be that female orgasms are essentially the same.2
However, King, et al., point out that there may be different types of orgasm.
As it turns out, females, in contrast to males, report their orgasms differ not only in intensity but also in location, phenomenology, and emotional components (Hite, 1976).
The types of orgasms may be in response to male quality.
It was expected that orgasms suggested by an evolutionary analysis to discriminatively select sperm might prove identifiable and distinct from others not shaped by natural selection for this specific purpose.
King, et al., test out their proposition:
there are different types of female orgasms, with some characteristics to be associated with oxytocin release, insuck, and sperm selection.
The King, et al., paper suggests that there are 4 types of orgasms.
Two sets of analyses were conducted to validate the fourfold typology of orgasms. The first sought to determine whether any or all the types of sex-with-partner orgasms identified in the latent-class analysis differed from solitary-masturbatory orgasms in terms of how they were described; the second set of analyses compared the four orgasms subtypes which emerged from the latent class analysis of data from the sex with partner group on a set of external correlates.
Furthermore, to support the fourfold typology of orgasms,
Apparently, at least in terms of the orgasm experience itself, sometimes sex with oneself is more physically pleasurable than sex with a male partner, even when the latter provides sufficient sexual arousal to generate an orgasm. Fundamentally, these data would seem to contradict the Masters and Johnson (1965) view that masturbatory orgasms are the same as those achieved through intercourse, especially in terms of pleasure and sensation.
There seems to be 4 different types of orgasms.2 The female participants are classified into “types”, based on subjective ratings:
Type I, labelled ‘‘High Pleasure and Sensations,’’ described them as manifesting the most building, flooding, flushing, spurting, and throbbing sensations, as well as involving the most general spasm, relaxation, and emotional intimacy.
Type II orgasms of 159 participants were labelled ‘‘High Pleasure, Medium Sensations’’ and defined by high scores on components relating to pleasure but noticeably lower on scores relating to internal sensations and feelings of relaxation.
Type III, labelled‘‘Medium Pleasure and Sensations,’’defined by relatively low scores in areas relating to internal sensations and in components describing pleasure and satisfaction.
Type IV,‘‘Low Pleasure and Sensation.’’
In sum, whereas some orgasms achieved with a partner— Types I and II—proved to be of higher quality than those achieved on one’s own, perhaps meriting the label‘‘good-sex orgasms,’’ other, seemingly ‘‘not-as-good-sex’’ orgasms achieved with a partner—Types III and IV—proved to be of lower quality than those experienced all by oneself.2
Thus, Types I and II were combined to create Type A (i.e., good-sex orgasms) and Types III and IV were combined into Type B (i.e., not-as-good-sex orgasms) for use in the second stage of orgasm-typology validation.
Types I and II (good-sex orgasms) may involve subjectively long-lasting orgasms, higher intensity of physical sensations (internal sensations related to the peristalsis of insuck creation), and higher ratings of intensity of non-physical sensations (specific non-physical dreamy, floaty sensations that also accompany oxytocin release). In regards to emotion, Types I and II (good-sex orgasms) may involve (1) greater happiness in and (2) satisfaction with the current relationship, and (3) engender feelings of greater emotional closeness to the sex partner than not-as-good-sex orgasms (Type III and IV). Types I and II (good-sex orgasms), in contrast to expectations perhaps derived from Masters and Johnson’s (1965) conclusion that there is one type of female orgasm brought about by stimulation of the outer genitalia, are not more frequent during intercourse than Type III and IV (not-as-good orgasms). Finally, Types I and II (good-sex orgasms) are proved to be centered on the whole body, whereas Types III and IV are presumably more localized.
In a different paper, Jannini, et al., conclude that the assumption that women may experience only the clitoral, external, orgasm is not based on the best available scientific evidence. In other words, some women do experience VAO (Vaginally Activated Orgasm), as opposed to CO (Clitoral Orgasm).
[A] more recent microdissection and immunohistochemical study of the human vagina found that the distal AVW (Anterior Vaginal Wall) is significantly thicker than the proximal AVW and that this region is the most densely innervated area [10].
This may suggest that some female individuals may have a thicker and more densely innervated distal part of the anterior vaginal wall than other female individuals, which may explain why some women experience orgasms through deep vaginal penetrations and others don’t.
Jannini, et al., also cite Odile Buisson, a gynecologist from Paris, expert in vaginal echography.
Basically, her position is that the VAO could be caused by contact of the internal clitoris and the AVW. The proximity of the contact could be enhanced by reflex perineal contractions and vasomotor events, which occur in the case of erotic stimulation.
Jannini, et al., also point out that in 1998, there was the discovery that the clitoris and vagina might both play a role together simultaneously during vaginal intercourse.
During vaginal penetration, in fact, the root of the clitoris is stretched by the penis and compressed against the AVW and the pubic symphysis [17]. The clitoris and vagina could be seen as an anatomical and functional unit being activated by vaginal penetration during intercourse. For this reason, and with the aim to involve the urethra and the surrounding exocrine glands, Jannini et al. named the area triggering the VAO as clito-urethro-vaginal (CUV) complex [22], a name probably more correctly able to describe the G-spot.
Jannini, et al., also cites support for different orgasms (clitoral and vaginal) based on Dr. Brody’s findings.
Stuart Brody, Professor of Psychology at the University of the West of Scotland, UK, maintains that orgasm triggered by stimulation of the vagina and cervix differs physiologically from climax induced by clitoral stimulation. He firstly reported a dramatic difference (400%) in prolactin release (a marker of psychoneuroendocrine involvement) when comparing penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) to masturbation [24].
Dr. Barry R. Komisaruk, Professor at the Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Radiology of the New Jersey Medical School is cited by Jannini, et al., as supportive of the existence of a different orgasmic pathway other than the clitoral pathway.
he found that women with a completely severed spinal cord can have both VAO and cervical orgasms, verifiable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), even in the absence of any clitoral connection to the brain [25,26]. This seems a convincing argument in favor of more than one unique orgasmic pathway.
Yes, there are different types of female orgasms. From the King, et al., study, there are four different types of orgasms. Two of them (Types I and II) are classified as “good-sex orgasms”, and two of them are classified as “not-as-good sex orgasms” (Types III and IV). From the Jannini, et al., study, there seems to be a distinct difference between clitoral orgasm (CO) and vaginal activated orgasm or vaginal orgasm (VAO or VO).
Jannini, Emmanuele A, et al. “Female Orgasm(S): One, Two, Several.” The Journal Of Sexual Medicine 9.4 (2012): 956-965. MEDLINE. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.
King, Robert, et al. “Are There Different Types Of Female Orgasm?.” Archives Of Sexual Behavior 40.5 (2011): 865-875. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Aug. 2015.
Humans love to classify things, even things that don't fall neatly into categories. I once spent some time compiling a list of a dozen different kinds of orgasms based on distinctions that are important in talking about tantric sex.
However, the common attempts to classify orgasms based on the anatomical location of the stimulus (clitoris, vagina, anus, nipples, "core" muscles, etc.) or the thing providing the stimulus (fingers, tongue, penis, vibrator, etc.) seem destined to fail because of the inconsistencies among different women and even among the perceptions of the same woman at different times:
Why Some Orgasms Feel Different
Part of the general confusion and debate about orgasms stems from the assumption that orgasms from the same source feel the same for different women. In reality, orgasms can vary quite a lot in how they feel, how long they last, and how intense they are, based on the duration of stimulation, how the woman feels about her partner or situation, how physically relaxed and mentally comfortable she is, how she feels about the different kinds of stimuli, and a lot of other factors. A woman will experience orgasms very differently if she is tired and tense, or rested and relaxed. And a woman who perceives vaginal sex as boring and oral sex as exciting will experience orgasms from those two sources quite differently from a woman who regards vaginal sex as normal and loving, and oral sex as dirty and wrong.
The likelihood of a woman having an orgasm and the nature of the orgasms she does have can both be affected a great deal by factors such as body image issues, whether the lights are on or off, and the degree of confidence she has in the bond with her partner. For example, a woman who feels, consciously or unconsciously, that her private parts are smelly or unattractive may have orgasms from oral sex that she experiences as short, “sharp,” “hard,” or otherwise unpleasant, while the same woman may thoroughly enjoy longer, more mellow, or more intense orgasms from manual stimulation (her own or her partner’s), even though both are “clitoral” orgasms. So the determining factor is not the location of the stimulus so much as it is all of the emotions and preconceptions that are bundled with it, including especially her ideas about different areas of her body and her comfort with her own or her partner’s activities.
Given all of the possible influences, it is not surprising that most women experience orgasms differently depending on the circumstances and the sexual activity involved. But there is little consistency as to the differences when women are compared to each other. This has led to passionate debates between those who argue that one kind of orgasmic stimulation is “better” than another, but ultimately the arguments are meaningless. Most women can have better orgasms in some ways than in others, but which way is best, or preferred, for any given woman is almost completely idiosyncratic, and can change dramatically as the setting and circumstances and her own attitudes and experience change.
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