Female ejaculation

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Female ejaculation (also known colloquially as squirting or gushing) refers to the expulsion of noticeable amounts of clear fluid from the urethra during sexual stimulation of the g-spot at or during orgasm.

The exact source of the fluid is unknown, although some researchers believe it is from the Skene's gland. Whether all females have the potential to ejaculate in this manner is also controversial.

There was controversy over whether the effect existed at all, and in recent history there has been confusion between female ejaculation and urinary incontinence. However, post-2000 scientific studies in controlled conditions have demonstrated a bona fide effect that is unrelated to urine.

Female ejaculation is accomplished by stimulation of the urethral sponge (or g-spot, named after Dr. Ernst Gräfenberg), an area on the front vaginal wall. More rarely, ejaculation can be accomplished through external stimulation of the clitoris alone, the internal tissue of the clitoris then contracting and stimulating the urethral tissue.

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[edit] The nature of female ejaculation

The Greek philosopher Aristotle noted its existence,[1] Galen (2nd century) described the female prostate, the Italian anatomist Renaldus Columbus referred to female ejaculate while he was explaining the function of the clitoris. In the 17th century, the Dutch anatomist Regnier de Graaf wrote a book about female anatomy and spoke of female fluid "rushing out" and "coming in one gush" during sexual excitement.[2]

Up until the 1980s female ejaculation was largely ignored by the medical community. At that time the subject resurfaced with the bestselling book The G-Spot by Ladas, Whipple and Perry. The book not only addressed the validity of the g-spot, but it also brought female ejaculation to the forefront of women's sexual health inside the medical community.

While many in the medical and scientific communities are now acknowledging the existence of female ejaculation, there remains a large void when it comes to solid scientific data explaining the process of ejaculation in females or the source of the fluid itself.

Studies have been done by Beverly Whipple, John Perry, Gary Schuback, Milan Zaviacic and Cabello Santamaria but their findings are limited. While current information offers no solid information about the source of the fluid, chemical analysis performed on the fluid by a number of teams has revealed that it is not urine (the levels of creatinine and urea are too low).[citation needed]

The latest research indicates the possibility that all women produce female ejaculate, even if they are not aware of it. The expelled or released fluid is not urine, it is an alkaline liquid secreted by the paraurethral glands. The paraurethral glands produce an enzyme called prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) and glucose (a sugar).[citation needed]

[edit] Research

There have been a number of studies carried out on the fluid expelled during female ejaculation to determine the chemical makeup. Through chemical analysis the expelled fluid has been found to contain the following:

  • glucose (a natural sugar) and fructose (another natural sugar, also found in the prostatic fluid of semen)
  • prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein in male ejaculate produced by the prostate gland, and in females, believed to be generated by Skene's glands
  • very low levels of creatinine and urea (the two primary chemical markers of urine, found in high levels in pre- and post-ejaculatory urinalysis).[3]

In 1988, Milan Zaviacic, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Institute of Pathology, Comenius University Bratislava, published a study of five women who were patients at a fertility department of a hospital of gynecology and obstetrics. Total samples from one of the participants and one of four samples from a second participant were collected in the laboratory. The rest were collected at the homes of the women and transported to the laboratory in ice. In four of the five cases, the samples were analyzed within three hours of collection, with the fifth subject’s specimens analyzed three months after collection. The results in all five cases showed a higher concentration of fructose in the ejaculate sample than in the urine sample.[4]

In 1997 Dr. F Cabello Santamaria analyzed urine for PSA using Microparticle Enzyme Immunoassay and found that 75 percent of the samples showed a concentration of PSA in post-orgasmic urine samples which was not present in pre-orgasmic urine samples. The fluid collected at the point of orgasm (distinct from the urine samples) showed the presence of PSA in 100 percent of samples.[5]

In 2002, Emanuele Jannini of L'Aquila University in Italy offered one explanation for this phenomenon, as well as for the frequent denials of its existence:

Skene's gland openings are usually the size of pinholes, and vary in size from one woman to another, to the point where they appear to be missing entirely in some women. If Skene's glands are the cause of female ejaculation, this may explain the observed absence of this phenomenon in many women.

Retrograde ejaculation, where the fluid travels up the urethra towards the bladder could also possibly account for the absence otherwise observed.

[edit] The 'female prostate' and female ejaculation

Women do not have an exact equivalent of the male prostate gland, an essential part of the male reproductive system. They do, however, have structures which are homologous to the male prostate, this meaning that they have developed from the same embryonic tissue. (The testicles of the male and the ovaries of the female are also homologous.) These are called para-urethral glands or Skene’s glands – although the term ‘Skene’s glands’ is often reserved for the two para-urethral glands closest to the opening of the urethra. They are there because, for the first weeks in development, the male and female embryo are not yet differentiated.

The size and structure of the para-urethral glands varies relatively considerably, it seems, from woman to woman. The fluid they produce is similar to that produced by the male prostate and, as in the male, passes into the urethra – and in some cases may pass into the vagina. The glands fill with fluid during sexual arousal and may be felt through the vaginal wall. The swelling of the tissue surrounding the urethra may be a combination of the glands filling with fluid and of the swelling of the woman’s erectile tissue, the corpus spongiosum, which latter, in the male, gives a man his erection. Swelling of the non-visible part of the clitoris will also be evident.

It is, it seems, the rhythmic contractions of pelvic muscle during orgasm which expel the accumulated fluid as at least one constituent of female ejaculation. The amount of fluid released can be considerable, through repeated filling and emptying of the glands during orgasm.[6]

[edit] In society

[edit] Medical contradictions

Misinformation about female ejaculation can lead to misdiagnosis of underlying medical conditions or wrong diagnosis where no medical condition exists.

Current studies verify that female ejaculate is expelled through the urethra yet many continue to believe that the fluid leaves the body through the vagina. Expulsion of copious amounts of fluid from the vagina is called profuse vaginal discharge and can have several different causes:

  • physiological discharge - an abundant amount of discharge with no underlying medical disorder;
  • infection or sexually transmitted disease - presents with typical symptoms including itch, odor and / or redness; or

For this reason it is important that any female who experiences abnormal amounts of vaginal discharge undergo a physical examination to rule out underlying medical conditions.

In other cases women who may not be properly educated about female ejaculation will assume to be suffering from urinary stress incontinence and will seek medical intervention. Treatment for urinary stress incontinence will often involve the use of medications or surgery, both unnecessary and dangerous if the source of the fluid leakage is female ejaculation.

Prior to seeking medical intervention these women should try to determine whether the fluid is female ejaculate or urine.

[edit] Pornography

In some pornographic movies, women are shown ejaculating a clear or milky fluid. The validity of pornography as a source of evidence is, however, suspect, as there is a strong incentive to generate dramatic visual effects, with no implication or assurance of accurate recording of real events. Allegedly, some of this is done through trick editing or by filling the vagina with fluids from external sources; with the camera on, the woman can then expel the fluid. In other cases, the fluid is clearly seen as coming from her urethra, at high velocity. Urination is typically used in this context to provide the illusion of a female ejaculation.

Studies by Gwendolyn Kelly Boyer indicate that the white fluid may be semen from former sexual encounters that has not exited the vagina. According to her theory, the male who has sex with the female before she has a chance to dispel the semen from previous encounters, may cause strong enough contractions during orgasm to force the fluid through the vaginal opening. This does not occur in many women because some women are unable to achieve orgasm during regular intercourse.[citation needed] In addition, some women have been found to achieve ejaculation through stimulation without a sexual partner.

Female ejaculation is especially common in Japanese pornography and is known as shiofuki, a word that also refers to the blowhole found in species of whales.

[edit] Famous female ejaculators in adult film

In the pornographic film industry, Cytherea is generally acknowledged to be the "squirt queen", due to her particularly intense and voluminous ejaculations. Other famed ejaculators include Sierra Sinn, Debi Diamond, Flower Tucci, Tianna Lynn, Dasha, Daphne Rosen, Fallon, Alisha Klass, Missy Monroe, Lily Thai, Nikki Charm, Annie Cruz, Nici Sterling, Sarah Jane Hamilton, Jada Fire, Kat and Ariana Jollee.

Canadian Pornstar Jamie James has dedicated her website to demystifying and educating women on the truth regarding female ejaculation, where she claims that her personal techniques in achieving female ejaculation are 100% real and do not even require or include the assistance of a male counterpart.

Keep in mind, however, that many pornographic depictions purporting to be female ejaculation are either staged (with some artificial liquid being expelled from the vagina) or are actually urination done purposefully on camera to simulate ejaculation. While, as discussed above, female ejaculation is a documented phenomenon, visual depiction in pornography is seldom the 'real thing'.

Outside the realm of pornography, author and sexologist Carol Queen has produced an instructional video (starring herself) that purports to teach female ejaculation to women not previously able to achieve it. Sex Educator Dr. Susan Block has produced an instructional video called "Dr. Suzy's Squirt Salon" featuring G-Spot Female Ejaculation Expert Deborah Sundahl teaching her to squirt, as well as demonstrations from voluminous ejaculator Annie Body and Tantric ejaculatrix Leila Swan, and extreme close-up footage of the G-Spot before, after and during ejaculation.[citation needed]

[edit] British film censorship

In the United Kingdom, the British Board of Film Classification denies the existence of the phenomenon of female ejaculation, regarding it instead as urination during sex, thus banning its depiction under its rules. These dictate the removal of anything that could be successfully prosecuted under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act, the current interpretation of which includes the depiction of urolagnia.[8]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Sundahl, D. (February 2003). Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot. Hunter House Publishers. ISBN 0-89793-380-X. 
  2. ^ Regnier De Graaf, New Treatise Concerning the Generative Organs of Women
  3. ^ Edwin G. Belzer, Jr., Beverly Whipple and William Moger, co-researchers with Addiego, et al (1981)
  4. ^ Gary Schubach, Ed.D 2001, Urethral Expulsions During Sensual Arousal and Bladder Catheterization in Seven Human Females
  5. ^ Cabello, F. (1997). Female ejaculation: Myth and reality. In J.J. Baras-Vass & M.Perez-Conchillo (Eds) Sexuality and Human Rights: Proceedings of the XIII World Congress of Sexology (pp.325-333) Valencia, Spain: E.C.V.S.A.
  6. ^ Female Ejaculation. Citing The Lovers' Guide (2006-08-26). Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
  7. ^ CEG (2001) National guidelines on the management of Trichomoniasis vaginalis. Clinical Effectiveness Group (Association of Genitourinary Medicine and the Medical Society for the Study of Venereal Diseases)
  8. ^ Female Ejaculation: Research Contrary to BBFC Ruling

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