Is there really a G spot? …Where is it? …Do women have a prostate? …Can / Do women ejaculate? …Can men be multiply orgasmic?

Don’t all these sound like cheap sensation pitches of the overly explicit media? A very devout believer in science and naturally reasonable person, I’ve always been skeptical of anything that professed to offer sensational novel solutions to widespread old problems or dealt with important human issues… especially if these target the masses rather than limited scientific circles. That’s why this book, given to me by an acquaintance of mine, lay on my table for several weeks before I finally made up my mind to read it.

I have to admit that I was quite pleasantly surprised then, though. Unlike infomercials addressed to people who don’t have the vaguest idea about the subject or scientific materials that usually overwhelm with statistics and arcane terms, this book is quite straightforward and objective. The book “G spot and other discoveries about human sexuality” represents a synthesis of the science of sexual function and the study of sensual satisfaction, unadulterated by commercial interests or ethical issues. Fortunately, it doesn’t tend to sell anything or make people believe certain ideas. Also, the book does not contain any groundbreaking recent discoveries, but rather things known to researchers since as far back as 1980, that got published already in 1982 in its first edition.

The book starts with an objective overview of the historical evolution of the scientific position as well as the social attitude towards significant issues of human sexuality. On the one hand, the book stresses the issue of discrimination of women with respect to sexuality. Thus, it mentions the fact that, ostensibly, the male-dominated society maintained that, unlike men, women have no natural drive to or necessity for sex, and actually represent but sexual receptors and reproductive machines, a concept that seems somewhat exaggerated to me. On the other hand, the book provides a summary of the evolution of ideas about the physiology of woman sexuality expressed by outstanding scholars during the last century, particularly stressing the oscillating positions on the importance of clitoral and vaginal stimulation and orgasm. At this point Freud, who spread the idea that clitoral stimulation is a childish habit and has to be replaced by vaginal stimulation in mature women, and the researchers who declared that orgasm can be achieved exclusively by means of clitoral stimulation are equally criticized, leading towards the compromise that different women can naturally enjoy either or both ways at the same time.

The next chapter attempts to reinvent the wheel by bringing many survey reports by women about their personal experiences testifying to the existence and specific location of the Grafenberg spot. While rather precisely identified as being located in the anterior wall of the vagina, its anatomic nature remains a mystery, as this book doesn’t take even the smallest step closer to revealing the long-expected truth. The same old, rather intriguing, but very controversial idea of a “woman prostate” (stating that just like the clitoris in females is considered a vestigial homologue of the penis in males, the G spot is conjectured to be an underdeveloped homologue of the prostate in women, apparently wrapping part of the urethra) is mentioned here, but no fresh scientific evidence is brought. Well, it looks like medical science hasn’t progressed too much in this way since 1982! The highlight of this chapter probably comprises the frequent reports comparing clitoral orgasm with the vaginal orgasm. According to many women, the two can be precisely delineated. According to most women who have experienced both and can easily tell the difference, vaginal orgasm, resulting from the stimulation of the G spot, is a more profoundly pleasurable experience often accompanied by “ejaculation” – another controversial issue to which the next chapter is dedicated in its entirety.

To me, the chapter about “ejaculation” by women sounded pretty much like a series of confessions by members of a therapy group intended to elicit the sympathy of the reader. I was personally quite surprised to read that so many women analyzed or interviewed by the researchers couldn’t tell the difference between urine and the specific liquid they often “ejaculate” when experiencing a vaginal orgasm, and developed enough guilt to cause psychosomatic effects and to have a devastating impact on their sexual lives. Nonetheless, I have to admit that there were quite some interesting points about changes in women’s sexual experiences caused by pregnancy and surgery.

Unlike the purely theoretical previous ones, the chapter about the importance of pelvic muscle tone is a more practical one, as it gives some useful, even though superficial, advice about pubococcygeus muscle improvement. One of the fundamental things pointed out here is that men aren’t always responsible for the low frequency of orgasms women experience. Quite reassuring for men, eh?! This chapter makes it positively clear that the tone of the pubococcygeus can be the decisive factor determining whether a woman will experience multiple orgasms or none at all. Some examples mentioning men suggesting or even helping their female partners to increase their tone are injected here, though, as if implying that men are ultimately to be blamed for this problem anyway. It was even more interesting to read about the examples of women initially unable to experience orgasms because of their weak pubococcygeus muscles starting to experience clitoral orgasms after certain periods of practice, and going as far as enjoying full-blown vaginal orgasms (sometimes even multiple ones) after exercising some more. Well, doesn’t this get the thought buck back to Freud’s idea that clitoral orgasms are a more juvenile stage, and that mature women should learn to experience vaginal orgasms, which are the true adult consummation of sex?! Isn’t it surprising how much this idea got criticized in the beginning, only to be supported by concrete examples in this chapter?

The last pivotal idea about the sexuality of women expressed in this book in the next chapter is that, after all, different nerves may be responsible for the orgasm sensation, this apparently making clitoral and vaginal orgasms altogether different ball games that can go absolutely independently or concomitant.

Another surprising thing I found in this book is the differentiation of the term “orgasm” from the word “climax”. Thus, “climax” is apparently considered to stand for the more superficial, physical experience felt only in the genital area, while “orgasm” is deemed to represent the more fulfilling sensation that sends ripples away, soon engulfing the entire body, and is associated with more dedication and passionate foreplays.

Overall the book is quite plain and easy to read. Although it isn’t detailed and profound enough for a medical professional, it certainly contains all the information any woman needs to know in order to have a healthy and enjoyable sexual life. Even though I often got the impression this book was written by a woman, as it certainly addresses women’s problems to a greater extent than men’s and does this in a very lady-like style, I believe this book could be interesting to most men as well, at least as long as they care about their female partner’s concerns and want to know how to make their sexual life more mutually delightful.