Sorry boys, size DOES matter: Scientific journal confirms men's worst bedroom fear

By Damien Gayle and Toni Jones

Published: 08:54 EST, 12 November 2012 | Updated: 02:57 EST, 13 November 2012

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New research shows that size does matter if women want to have vaginal orgasms

If you are a man who has been cursed with a less than generous handout in the pants department you might want to look away now.

New research by the Journal of Sexual Medicine has shown that contrary to popular (wishful?) thinking penis size does matter when it comes to pleasing a woman in bed.

The good news is that it only matters for some women and some types of orgasms.

The research, printed online in September, has found that women who have frequent vaginal orgasms are more likely than other women to say they climax more easily with men with larger penises.

Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of the West of Scotland who conducted the research asked a sample of 323 women about previous sexual encounters.

They were asked about their recent sexual behaviors as well as how important penile-vaginal intercourse and other sex acts were to them. They were also asked whether penis length influenced their ability to orgasm with vaginal stimulation.

Defining 'average' as the length of a £20 note, which is 5.8 inches (14.9 cm), the researchers asked women if they were more likely to orgasm vaginally with a longer-than-average or shorter-than-average penis.

Supporting the hypothesis that size matters, Brody and his colleagues found the women who reported the highest number of vaginal orgasms in the past month were most likely to say that longer was better.

Brody told Live Science: 'This might be due at least in part to greater ability of a longer penis to stimulate the entire length of the vagina, and the cervix.

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He added: 'Male anxiety about penis size may not reflect internalized, culturally arbitrary masculine stereotypes, but an accurate appreciation that size matters to many women — just as men feel legitimate anxiety when they enter the mating market about their intelligence, personality traits, sense of humor, social status, height, wealth, and other traits known to be favored by women across cultures.'

Climax: Clitoral stimulation is not necessary for women to reach a peak experience while making love

These findings come eight months after the same journal reported sensational new evidence that vaginal and clitoral orgasms are, in fact, completely separate phenomena and activate different areas of the brain.

A series of essays published in April this year showed that contrary to popular belief - and many previous scientific findings - there was more than one way to satisfy a woman in bed and that the clitoris was not the only key to a woman's sexual satisfaction.

The research showed that not only can women climax through sexual intercourse alone, but the resulting orgasm is wildly different to those reached by clitoral stimulation.

Other startling findings cited by the essays in the series include:

• Women are not only be able to orgasm from both vaginal and clitoral stimulation, but from stimulation at a range of erogenous zones, with some able to even 'think' themselves to a peak;
• The sensitive G-spot - once thought of as a semi-mythical orgasm hot spot - could have a role in pain relief during labour by more than doubling a woman's pain threshold;
• The ability to reach climax through vaginal stimulation could be linked to both physical and mental health, with healthy women more likely to orgasm without clitoral stimulation.

French gynaecologist Odile Buisson in her essay argued the case for the classic understanding of the female orgasm as dependent on clitoral stimulation.

According to this view, the front wall of the vagina is closely linked with the internal parts of the clitoris, meaning that stimulating the vagina without activating the clitoris ought to be impossible.

So, she concludes, so-called 'vaginal' orgasms could in reality be clitoral orgasms by another name.

Playtime: Previous findings show what many couples have long known - that women are able to climax from a range of erogenous zones

The Journal of Sexual Medicine essays also included a provocative claim that that vaginal-only orgasms are less likely in women with poor physical and mental health.

One study found that women who have vaginal orgasms have a lower resting heart rate than others who did not experience them.

Other research found that women who can reach a sexual peak without clitoral stimulation are less likely to use specific maladaptive psychological coping mechanisms.

Given the psychological link between different kinds of orgasms, Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of West Scotland who conducted the research, slammed as 'malpractice' the common advice to women that orgasms originate only with the clitoris.

Emmanuele Jannini, a professor of endocrinology at the University of Aquila in Italy, called on women to take heed of the findings, but warned against fetishising them.

She said: 'A woman should have an understanding — who is she, how is her body composed, what is the possibility of her body, but she should not be looking for something like a race, like a game, like a duty.

'Looking for the G-spot orgasm or the vaginal orgasm as a need, as a duty, is the best way to lose the happiness of sex.'

Spent: The findings promise new possibilities for sexual exploration, but one researcher warns against turning the quest for alternative orgasms into a 'duty'

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