While previous research has shown that more than three of every four women have faked an orgasm at least one time in their sexual experiences, a new study shows that at least among women engaging in heterosexual sex, what they believe about their own gender roles, and the roles of men, can predict whether they are more likely to “fake it.”
The new study, appropriately titled “Beliefs About Gender Predict Faking Orgasm in Heterosexual Women,” was conducted by researchers in Canada and Australia but involved 472 women subjects from the United Kingdom. It was published in the current issue of the scientific journal, Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Women, “who espoused anti-feminist values—that is, those high in hostile sexism—had faked significantly more orgasms over their lifetime,” the study’s authors concluded. “In contrast, those who espoused ostensibly positive but restrictive ideas of gender relations—that is, those high in benevolent sexism—had faked significantly fewer orgasms over their lifetime.”
The average age of the women in the study was just over 38 years old.
The authors say that their interest in the topic was sparked by the “performative aspect of sex,” after previous research found that while up to 76 percent of women faked orgasm with a partner, women do not fake their orgasms when masturbating. In fact, earlier research cited by the new study found that many women who vocalize loud moans during sex with a partner rarely make much noise when engaged in solo sexual activity.
But why do women feel the need to “perform” their orgasms, or fabricate them altogether? While the reasons found by the researchers are various and complex and often involve nothing more than the desire to end the sexual encounter by pretending to “finish,” the new study also showed that even after factoring out such variables as demographic differences, sexual histories, and the ease with which individual women archive orgasm, ideological beliefs still played role in determining whether or not women were likely to simulate orgasm with a partner.
“Women who hold anti-feminist attitudes don’t have anything holding them back from faking orgasm, whereas women who adopt a feminist worldview may not fake orgasm because it goes against her belief in a woman’s right to pleasure, and her right to talk about sex openly,” the study’s lead author, psychologist Emily Harris, told the site Psy Post.
“Anti-feminist women” may be more likely to focus on the satisfaction of a male partner at the expense of their own in a sexual encounter, and therefore would “feel pressure” to show their partners that they reached orgasms, because they believe men need to see it in order to feel good about themselves sexually, Harris speculated.
Photo By Manu / Wikimedia Commons
