Sex techniques used by real women to boost their erotic pleasure, according to study
Even the closest of friends will rarely share the exact techniques they use to boost their sexual pleasure. But in a groundbreaking study, 3,000 women have revealed to scientists exactly what they do to put the 'wow' factor into sex.
Keen to help them "understand, communicate and advocate for their sexual pleasure", a team from Indiana University surveyed more than 3,000 female respondents from across the US.
Nearly nine in 10 (87%) of the respondents were fans of "angling" during vaginal sex – "rotating, raising or lowering the hips during penetration to adjust where inside the vagina the toy or penis rubs".
Meanwhile, others said they used 'pairing', 'shallowing' and 'rocking' to help them climax. 'Pairing' is when "a woman or her partner reaches down to stimulate her clitoris with a finger or sex toy simultaneously with penetration" and 'shallowing' is "penetrative touch just inside the entrance to the vagina".
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Sexual pleasure has been linked to improved physical, social and emotional wellbeing, "particularly for women", the scientists wrote in the journal PLOS One.
Viewing this pleasure as a "critical scaffold" to wellbeing "reframes" a woman's "enjoyment of sex as a fundamental human right".
Often to achieve this, a woman requires confidence, communication skills and an "ability to negotiate" with her partner.
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Feeling "scientific literature" on this topic was lacking, the Indiana scientists set out to analyse thousands of women aged 18 to 93.
The women were made up of "many under-researched and often harder-to-reach populations across ethnicity, economic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and internet access".
"We asked thousands of women what they do to experience more pleasure from penetrative sex and found there are four techniques that work for most women," said study author Dr Christiana von Hippel, from sex science site OMGyes, which provides users with the 'latest science about what feels good and why'.
"Our company gave them descriptive names and created tasteful diagrams, animations and videos of women of all ages explaining their own experiences."
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As well as angling, more than four in five (84%) of the women were fans of "shallowing", a technique involving touch just inside the entrance of the vagina.
Just over a quarter (76%) said they use "rocking", when the base of the penis or sex toy rubs against the clitoris during penetration, staying all the way inside the vagina rather than thrusting in and out.
Nearly seven in 10 (69%) reported they found "pairing" worked well, where the woman receives additional stimulation of the clitoris during penetration, either via a partner or through self-pleasuring.
"We hope bringing this important knowledge out of the shadows into the light of day with clear language will empower women to better recognise, communicate and act on what they want," said Dr von Hippel.
PLOS One's senior editor Julia Robinson agreed, adding the research "contributes to the base of academic knowledge, and explores an under-studied topic that is related to women's health and wellbeing".
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