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The G Spot
Recently I attended the premiere of Orgasmic Birth an exciting documentary by Debra Pascali-Bonaro I highly recommend. In this movie various experts discuss the experience some women have not only of a painless childbirth, but of actual physical orgasm during delivery. I remembered that I too had an orgasmic experience during both my home births, yet I recall being a bit embarrassed about it. In those days my catholic upbringing, personified by a nun who lived in my mind, would whisper in my ears, “You should be ashamed of yourself, mixing sexual pleasure with the sacredness of birth!”
So I chose not to talk about it. Finally, knowing and having witnessed other women experiencing an orgasmic birth, I went on a search for some scientific evidence to substantiate my “shameful” experience, and here’s what I have found.
Leonard Shlain MD, in his book Sex, Time and Power (Penguin books 2003) says:
“Female orgasm was a taboo subject for centuries. Male physicians sporting impeccable credentials pontificated that the very concept was a female fantasy born of fevered minds and could not exist. With the rise of modernity, the floodgates have opened and a deluge of descriptions of female orgasm, advice to women on how best to achieve it, and debates as to its relative merit have poured forth from many different quarters. […] Evolutionary biologists waded into the fray in the late 1970s contributing a number of possible explanations to the question that interested them most: What was the selective pressure that would have stimulated this unusual trait to hypertrophy in current female version of the hominid line? Many features of the female’s orgasm suggest it is a recent hominid addition and still a work-in-progress. For instance, why is female orgasm so unevenly distributed? Some women experience it all the time, some experience it some times, and some never experience it….. Evolution theorists begin with the premise that orgasm is an adaptation that evolved in response to a specific environmental challenge. They reason that it seems to be too central to the life of Gyna sapiens to have been accidental.”
Dr. Shlain explains that there are three theories as to why orgasm had to be installed in human females:
“The first theory called the Pole Ax theory, proposes that orgasm had to be installed to prevent the species to simply leaking away to extinction. When the Gyna sapiens stood up, stretched, and started walking, she created a ‘plumbing’ problem no other females have encountered. Mother Nature had to re-engineer the lower half of the female body moving the vagina forward once the human species evolved from quadruped to bipedal. It also had to introduce orgasm so that a woman who had just experienced ‘satisfying’ sex, would “luxuriate in repose” allowing the sperm to easily swim upstream and inseminate the egg. This theory speculates that function of the orgasm serves to stun the female into a temporary paralysis followed by a period of sweet lassitude. Lassitude equals rest in the supine position preventing the precious sperm to leak away from the cervix.
The second theory named Upsuck Theory, speculates that after monitoring the movements of the uterus during and just after a female orgasm “…the upper vaginal vault distends significantly when a woman experience an orgasm. [Thus] these actions serve to form a large reservoir in which sperm is collected if the coupling woman lies supine.” Yet, these uterine motions happen not only with vaginal orgasm but also with clitoral, not explaining the reason for the creation of the beloved G-spot.
The third theory, Cuddles, postulates that Mother Nature bestowed on Gyna sapiens a multisynaptic orgasm to help a couple more thoroughly bond with each other through mutual great sex. Lovely theory really but I have bonded with men for many years before I discovered I had a G-spot, and I bet I am not alone.
These three theories therefore, do not address some other important questions: Why do women who cannot achieve an orgasm still have children and sex and why the G-spot which reportedly is in a very difficult and awkward place to find, especially during intercourse was created in addition to the clitoral one? Dr. Shlain proposes that the G-spot, and the orgasm related to it, was created for an entirely different purpose. First of all let’s define the location of is this famed G-spot.”
“In 1944, German gynecologist Ernst Grafenberg identified a location in the superior wall of the vagina, just behind the pubic bone, that, when stimulated correctly, produced a vaginal orgasm distinct from the clitoral one… The most advantageous position for its stimulation occurs when a woman straddles the man facing backwards. In this position, his member deeply strokes the area just behind the pubic bone. This position is awkward, and infrequently used for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it misdirects sperm from their intended target, the cervix, which lies in an entirely different direction…The only time in the course of a woman’s life span when the G-spot’s remote dense knot of nerves would ever have a rhythmic, extreme pressure applied to it would be in the final push of birth. As the baby head traps the upper wall of the vagina, compressing it against the unyielding junction of the pubic bones, the G-spot’s fortuitous reflex would be set in motion. The function of the G-spot, in my scenario, would be to flood the delivering woman’s brain with endorphinlike substance.”
Ok this is not what I call scientific evidence, but this theory seems not only logical, but loving. As we all know labor and delivery are extremely intense experiences, so why wouldn’t Mother Nature in her profound love for us have created a pleasure center for women in what ends up being the most significant experience of a woman’s life? I speculate that most of the pain and horror of present-day labor and delivery is of a cultural/social nature. A gross misunderstanding of a woman’s role not only in society, but in God’s heart.
When we prepare for something we heard is excruciating painful we can only fall into such belief and manifest it. When our body is filled with fears and anxieties not only about the pain but about our up-coming role as mothers, partners and breadwinners, our body tenses up and creates a difficult labor. When you feel you lack some or all of your basic human rights (like the right to be here in this world, the right to be loved, or the right to speak your truth) you might also feel you don’t have the right to have the kind of experience you desire, again your body tenses up and you experience a painful birth. When you watch television and see images of painful delivery, or your doctors suggest you take numbing drug to cope with it, your friends urge you to do as they did and order an epidural in the parking lot of the hospital, you get caught in the world wind of circumstances and hearsay and lose yourself in other people’s experiences. Until you do the work and stand in your own truth knowing that Mother Nature has even placed a special ‘spot’ for you to enjoy your birthing experience.
If you are like me and grew up in a religious milieu whether you were Catholic, Jewish or even Muslim you must have heard the Old Testament read to you from an authoritative pulpit as it begins the story of Adam and Eve: When God condemns Eve, after she eat of the fruit of knowledge, she says unto her, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception; in sorrow thy shall bring forth children. (Genesis 3-16)”
This phrase has been on my mind since I became a doula. In the last few years I have studied many of the interpretations of this particular passage, and I have spoken to a few scholars about it. Someone immediately turned the phrase around and got me Jesus interpretation of the role of women and childbirth; someone told me that indeed a woman is the cause of all men’s problems. But I respect the Old Testament too much and God too much to believe that those are the only possible explanations, I noticed that many commentary emphasize that God only meant those word to an Even who had sinned. The concept of sinning is a difficult one for many of us till we truly understand this word.
Etymologically speaking sin simply mean “without,” to be a sinner is to be without GOD. That is we are in sin when we live a life without the acknowledgment that we are one with God, Mother Nature, the Universe and everything in it. Sin is when we feel separate rather than unified. Sin is when we see our neighbor different and in competition with us, sin is when we forget we are one with the miraculous. Thus in sin, childbirth can be painful and traumatic.
But what if we use the nine months of pregnancy and discover our oneness with the Universe? What if we become one with Mother Nature grateful for her perfect design? She has given us a special, and a tangible spot: the glorious G-spot that can bring us, joy and ecstasy with our loved one and moreover, an orgasmic birthing experience. Letting go of the shame I was taught in catholic school linked to sexual pleasure, I rejoice in knowing that if I live a life without sin I can be proud of having experienced an orgasmic birth and I can help my clients obtain one too.
So I chose not to talk about it. Finally, knowing and having witnessed other women experiencing an orgasmic birth, I went on a search for some scientific evidence to substantiate my “shameful” experience, and here’s what I have found.
Leonard Shlain MD, in his book Sex, Time and Power (Penguin books 2003) says:
“Female orgasm was a taboo subject for centuries. Male physicians sporting impeccable credentials pontificated that the very concept was a female fantasy born of fevered minds and could not exist. With the rise of modernity, the floodgates have opened and a deluge of descriptions of female orgasm, advice to women on how best to achieve it, and debates as to its relative merit have poured forth from many different quarters. […] Evolutionary biologists waded into the fray in the late 1970s contributing a number of possible explanations to the question that interested them most: What was the selective pressure that would have stimulated this unusual trait to hypertrophy in current female version of the hominid line? Many features of the female’s orgasm suggest it is a recent hominid addition and still a work-in-progress. For instance, why is female orgasm so unevenly distributed? Some women experience it all the time, some experience it some times, and some never experience it….. Evolution theorists begin with the premise that orgasm is an adaptation that evolved in response to a specific environmental challenge. They reason that it seems to be too central to the life of Gyna sapiens to have been accidental.”
Dr. Shlain explains that there are three theories as to why orgasm had to be installed in human females:
“The first theory called the Pole Ax theory, proposes that orgasm had to be installed to prevent the species to simply leaking away to extinction. When the Gyna sapiens stood up, stretched, and started walking, she created a ‘plumbing’ problem no other females have encountered. Mother Nature had to re-engineer the lower half of the female body moving the vagina forward once the human species evolved from quadruped to bipedal. It also had to introduce orgasm so that a woman who had just experienced ‘satisfying’ sex, would “luxuriate in repose” allowing the sperm to easily swim upstream and inseminate the egg. This theory speculates that function of the orgasm serves to stun the female into a temporary paralysis followed by a period of sweet lassitude. Lassitude equals rest in the supine position preventing the precious sperm to leak away from the cervix.
The second theory named Upsuck Theory, speculates that after monitoring the movements of the uterus during and just after a female orgasm “…the upper vaginal vault distends significantly when a woman experience an orgasm. [Thus] these actions serve to form a large reservoir in which sperm is collected if the coupling woman lies supine.” Yet, these uterine motions happen not only with vaginal orgasm but also with clitoral, not explaining the reason for the creation of the beloved G-spot.
The third theory, Cuddles, postulates that Mother Nature bestowed on Gyna sapiens a multisynaptic orgasm to help a couple more thoroughly bond with each other through mutual great sex. Lovely theory really but I have bonded with men for many years before I discovered I had a G-spot, and I bet I am not alone.
These three theories therefore, do not address some other important questions: Why do women who cannot achieve an orgasm still have children and sex and why the G-spot which reportedly is in a very difficult and awkward place to find, especially during intercourse was created in addition to the clitoral one? Dr. Shlain proposes that the G-spot, and the orgasm related to it, was created for an entirely different purpose. First of all let’s define the location of is this famed G-spot.”
“In 1944, German gynecologist Ernst Grafenberg identified a location in the superior wall of the vagina, just behind the pubic bone, that, when stimulated correctly, produced a vaginal orgasm distinct from the clitoral one… The most advantageous position for its stimulation occurs when a woman straddles the man facing backwards. In this position, his member deeply strokes the area just behind the pubic bone. This position is awkward, and infrequently used for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it misdirects sperm from their intended target, the cervix, which lies in an entirely different direction…The only time in the course of a woman’s life span when the G-spot’s remote dense knot of nerves would ever have a rhythmic, extreme pressure applied to it would be in the final push of birth. As the baby head traps the upper wall of the vagina, compressing it against the unyielding junction of the pubic bones, the G-spot’s fortuitous reflex would be set in motion. The function of the G-spot, in my scenario, would be to flood the delivering woman’s brain with endorphinlike substance.”
Ok this is not what I call scientific evidence, but this theory seems not only logical, but loving. As we all know labor and delivery are extremely intense experiences, so why wouldn’t Mother Nature in her profound love for us have created a pleasure center for women in what ends up being the most significant experience of a woman’s life? I speculate that most of the pain and horror of present-day labor and delivery is of a cultural/social nature. A gross misunderstanding of a woman’s role not only in society, but in God’s heart.
When we prepare for something we heard is excruciating painful we can only fall into such belief and manifest it. When our body is filled with fears and anxieties not only about the pain but about our up-coming role as mothers, partners and breadwinners, our body tenses up and creates a difficult labor. When you feel you lack some or all of your basic human rights (like the right to be here in this world, the right to be loved, or the right to speak your truth) you might also feel you don’t have the right to have the kind of experience you desire, again your body tenses up and you experience a painful birth. When you watch television and see images of painful delivery, or your doctors suggest you take numbing drug to cope with it, your friends urge you to do as they did and order an epidural in the parking lot of the hospital, you get caught in the world wind of circumstances and hearsay and lose yourself in other people’s experiences. Until you do the work and stand in your own truth knowing that Mother Nature has even placed a special ‘spot’ for you to enjoy your birthing experience.
If you are like me and grew up in a religious milieu whether you were Catholic, Jewish or even Muslim you must have heard the Old Testament read to you from an authoritative pulpit as it begins the story of Adam and Eve: When God condemns Eve, after she eat of the fruit of knowledge, she says unto her, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception; in sorrow thy shall bring forth children. (Genesis 3-16)”
This phrase has been on my mind since I became a doula. In the last few years I have studied many of the interpretations of this particular passage, and I have spoken to a few scholars about it. Someone immediately turned the phrase around and got me Jesus interpretation of the role of women and childbirth; someone told me that indeed a woman is the cause of all men’s problems. But I respect the Old Testament too much and God too much to believe that those are the only possible explanations, I noticed that many commentary emphasize that God only meant those word to an Even who had sinned. The concept of sinning is a difficult one for many of us till we truly understand this word.
Etymologically speaking sin simply mean “without,” to be a sinner is to be without GOD. That is we are in sin when we live a life without the acknowledgment that we are one with God, Mother Nature, the Universe and everything in it. Sin is when we feel separate rather than unified. Sin is when we see our neighbor different and in competition with us, sin is when we forget we are one with the miraculous. Thus in sin, childbirth can be painful and traumatic.
But what if we use the nine months of pregnancy and discover our oneness with the Universe? What if we become one with Mother Nature grateful for her perfect design? She has given us a special, and a tangible spot: the glorious G-spot that can bring us, joy and ecstasy with our loved one and moreover, an orgasmic birthing experience. Letting go of the shame I was taught in catholic school linked to sexual pleasure, I rejoice in knowing that if I live a life without sin I can be proud of having experienced an orgasmic birth and I can help my clients obtain one too.
