Legend speaks of a magical spot buried deep within the mystical loins of the ladies, a pot of gold at the end of an orgasmic rainbow. According to some, it tantalizes with the promise of untold sexual fulfillment, like a current of electricity coursing from the tips of the toe to the darkest corners of the brain. Yet to others, it’s as futile as hunting unicorn.
30 years after its naming, the ever-elusive G-spot continues to generate controversy. A recent documentary on CBC’s Doc Zone explored the history of the erogenous zone, and recent scientific efforts to determine if in fact it does exist.
Named for German gynecologist Ernst Grafenberg, the first to officially discover it in the 1940 the G-spot is “a patch of erectile tissue in the front wall of the vagina, directly behind the pubic bone, that acts something like a second clitoris”. This breakthrough went largely unnoticed until the liberated 1970s when nurse Beverly Whipple performed what she thought would be a simple study on female incontinence during sex. It turned out the fluid these women were secreting wasn’t urine at all, which got Whipple and her team exploring.
Their landmark 1982 book “The G Spot and Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality” faced criticism from scientists, gynecologists and feminists. Some protested that this would raise the bar on people’s sexual expectations, giving some the impression that they’re deficient for being unable to locate the fabled spot.
After gaining acceptance in popular culture and mass media, the G-spot faded in popularity, becoming relegated to the occasional headline in Cosmo magazine. That is, until a 2009 study by a team of British researchers led by Andrea Burri determined there is no genetic basis for the so-called pleasure center.
They posited that if the G-spot truly were a bodily feature, it would have to be related to our genes. To determine the genetic influence on the spot, Burri and her team developed and posed a questionnaire to sets of identical and fraternal twins. Just over half the women reported having a G-spot, but since the numbers were no higher in the identical twins, the team concluded that genetics have nothing to do with it.
“The G-spot doesn’t seem to be an anatomical entity or a physiological phenomenon, but rather women thinking they do have a G-spot might be women who are generally more arousable. So it’s more of a subjective perception than an objective phenomenon,” Burri said in the documentary ‘In Search of the G-Spot’.
Not wanting to let the English believe they were the authorities in the boudoir, the French counteracted with their own study affirming the spot’s existence in most women. They also denounced what they deemed a lack of respect for what women were reporting happening in their own bodies. Sexuality cannot always be boiled down to absolutes with a clear cause and effect. Maybe there are aspects of human behavior that cannot be reduced to the genetic level.
And of course, the Americans found a way to make money off the G-spot. Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. David Matlock developed the G-shot which increases the spot’s size from that of a kidney bean to that of a quarter, which in turn, increases arousal and pleasure during sex. It’ll set you back nearly $2000, which a seemingly small price to pay, he points out, for such a large bundle of joy.
A true highlight of the documentary was watching a Real Housewives of LA type, casually pondering whether the G-shot her and her gaggle of gals often receive isn’t a little addictive, comparing it to getting her nails done while cruising past the Hustler office.
The most illuminating fact for me in the film was the actual size of the clitoris and its relationship with the G-spot. The part that protrudes at the top of the vagina is but the tip of a much larger iceberg, a complex organ that occupies the whole of the female perineum. Some speculate that the reason the G-spot holds such orgasmic power is that it is the best way to stimulate the entire organ at once, sending those blissful shockwaves of pleasure throughout the whole body.
There are a few different ways to go about doing this. The best is with the woman on her stomach, and her partner entering her from behind. There are a bevy of fun and interesting toys designed for this very purpose. Relax, have some fun, and if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!
To learn more, you can stream the documentary at:
http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/in-search-of-the-g-spot.html
