Understanding the Orgasm Gap

Did you know that the distance between your clitoral gland and the vaginal canal can affect your ability to orgasm? It's not a hard and fast rule, but in general, the closer the clitoral gland is to the vaginal canal, the easier it is to reach orgasm. And guess what? When we ovulate, our clitoral glands move closer to our vaginal canals. This may not translate directly to people experiencing bottom growth from hormone replacement therapy (HRT). But for everyone else, don't worry about a massive rearrangement of your sexual organs - the distance traveled is at most a few centimeters, but those few centimeters can make a huge impact on our sex lives.

This is especially important when we consider the orgasm gap, a term used to describe the disproportionate rate of orgasms in heterosexual relationships. Studies show that cis men orgasm 91% of the time, while cis women only orgasm 39% of the time, and that rate decreases even more for first-time hookups (cis women only orgasm 7% of the time). An old standard would blame cis women for not being able to orgasm, but in first-time hookups between same-sex female couples, an orgasm happens 64% of the time. This suggests that the orgasm gap may be more cultural than it is biological - despite what cultural stereotypes might say.

If you're someone who doesn't orgasm with your partner, it's not because of your biology. In fact, our biology wants us to orgasm so badly that it changes every month to make it easier to reach orgasm. If you think you might be part of the orgasm gap statistic, check out some of the resources on sex education and sexual pleasure in our resources chapter. You and your beautiful body deserve orgasms.

It's worth noting that a lot of ovulation's superpowers are related to sex and reproduction. But not all of them are - some are just about making us feel good. So even if you're not interested in reproducing or engaging with a mate, you can still benefit from ovulation's superpowers.