By Michael O'Reilly, M.D. ThirdAge Women's Health Expert
Does the G-spot truly exist? While up to 84 percent of American women believe that it does, many experts are skeptical. And in a recently published review, the validity of this spot has again been called into question.
The G-spot refers to a highly sensitive area located a few inches inside the front wall of the vagina. The spot was first proposed in 1950 by Dr. Ernst Grafenberg, whose name the G-spot bears. Although Grafenberg demonstrated no evidence of its existence, several subsequent books, publications and a majority of American women assume its reality.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, America's foremost sex therapist, believes that the idea of the G-spot is a throwback to the days when ideas about the female body were propagated by male chauvinists -- including the Freudian distinction between "mature" orgasms and "immature" orgasms.
According to Sigmund Freud, a "mature" orgasm can occur only during sexual intercourse. Orgasms that occur at other times -- as a result of masturbation, for example -- are "immature" and thereby somehow inferior. This philosophy thus favors the existence of a G-spot that would make orgasm during intercourse more likely.
In an effort to resolve the issue, Dr. Terence Hines of the Department of Psychology at Pace University undertook a comprehensive review of research surrounding the elusive G-spot. The results were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
In one study, two gynecologists examined 11 women after undergoing a three-hour training session. They concluded that four out of the 11 women did indeed have G-spots. In another study, biopsies were taken from the alleged area in four women -- yet none showed an increase in nerve endings.
As a result, Dr. Hines concludes that until more research is done "... the G-spot will remain a sort of gynecological UFO: much searched for, much discussed, but unverified by objective means."
Both Dr. Hines and Dr. Ruth thus advise women not to despair if they fail to find their G-spot, for it may not exist at all.
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Tantric sex expert Suzie discusses emotions and the G-spot.
