Other factors and research
Regular difficulty reaching orgasm after ample sexual stimulation, known as anorgasmia, is significantly more common in women than in men (see below). In addition to sexual dysfunction being a cause for womens inability to reach orgasm, or the amount of time for sexual arousal needed to reach orgasm being variable and longer in women than in men, other factors include a lack of communication between sexual partners about what is needed for the woman to reach orgasm, feelings of sexual inadequacy in either partner, a focus on only penetration (vaginal or otherwise), and men generalizing womens trigger for orgasm based on their own sexual experiences with other women.Scholars state "many couples are locked into the idea that orgasms should be achieved only through intercourse [vaginal sex]" and that "[e]ven the word foreplay suggests that any other form of sexual stimulation is merely preparation for the main event.... ...Because women reach orgasm through intercourse less consistently than men, they are more likely than men to have faked an orgasm". Sex counselor Ian Kerner stated, "Its a myth that using the penis is the main way to pleasure a woman." He cites research concluding that women reach orgasm about 25% of the time with intercourse, compared with 81% of the time during oral sex (cunnilingus).In the first large-scale empirical study worldwide to link specific practices with orgasm, reported in the Journal of Sex Research in 2006, demographic and sexual history variables were comparatively weakly associated with orgasm.
OConnell describes typical textbook descriptions of the clitoris as lacking detail and including inaccuracies, saying that the work of Georg Ludwig Kobelt in the early 19th century provides a most comprehensive and accurate description of clitoral anatomy. She argues that the bulbs appear to be part of the clitoris and that the distal urethra and vagina are intimately related structures, although they are not erectile in character, forming a tissue cluster with the clitoris that appears to be the center of female sexual function and orgasm. By contrast, Nancy Tuana, at the 2002 conference for Canadian Society of Women in Philosophy, argues that the clitoris is unnecessary in reproduction, but that this is why it has been "historically ignored", mainly because of "a fear of pleasure. It is pleasure separated from reproduction. Thats the fear". She reasoned that this fear is the cause of the ignorance that veils female sexuality. Fringe theories
Brody Costa et al. suggest that womens vaginal orgasm consistency is associated with being told in childhood or adolescence that the vagina is the important zone for inducing female orgasm. Other proposed factors include how well women focus mentally on vaginal sensations during penile-vaginal intercourse, the greater duration of intercourse, and preference for above-average penis length. Costa theorizes that vaginal orgasm is more prevalent among women with a prominent tubercle of the upper lip.