Relationships

Science Is Finally Paying Attention To What Makes Women Feel Good In Bed

by Candice Jalili
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The male orgasm is pretty self-explanatory. A guy gets hard, he gets stimulated for a while, and then, BOOM, he comes. It's not rocket science, there's not a whole lot of room for "faking" it, and anyone who's ever hooked up with a man will tell you that it almost always happens. The female orgasm, on the other hand, is not quite as uncomplicated. What makes women orgasm is far more complex, and researchers have finally put some effort into getting to the bottom of it.

A new study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy asked 1,095 predominantly straight respondents the same question: What feels good for you? New York Magazine reports that the responses were organized into four different categories: "location of the touch, how much pressure was used, the shape or style of the motion, and the patterns performed." As you may have imagined, every woman is different, so they racked up plenty of different preferences. That being said, there were some general trends the researchers noticed.

Where should you touch?

If you're someone with a vagina, you won't be surprised to find that most of the women in the study agreed that the area they prefer to have touched is the clitoris or the areas very closely surrounding it.

And obviously, the clitoris doesn't lose its importance during P-in-V sex either. Literally less than 20 percent of women (18.4 percent) said that penetrative sex by itself was enough to bring them to orgasm. On the other hand, this is contrasted with three quarters of women who thought adding some clit play during penetrative sex was either necessary for orgasm or, at the very least, it made their orgasms feel better.

Then, there was a depressing 21 women in the study who couldn't even answer the question about the clitoris because their partners never bothered to touch their clitoris during intercourse. Are you kidding me???

How should you touch?

OK, so we know the clitoris is the prime area to touch if you want to make a woman come, but how do you touch it? Well, allow the women in this study to guide you. They responded that "up-and-down, circular, and side-to-side motions" were the most popular motions to get them to finish.

Other motions that weren't quite as popular but still made the list? Flicking, tapping, and — believe it or not — "pushing together like a sandwich." Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

And if you're big on applying a super firm touch to your girl's clit, here's a tip: Don't. The study found that most of the women preferred only light to medium pressure on their clits.

Other things most women enjoyed?

A large percentage of the women (81.7 percent of them, to be exact) preferred a rhythmic motion on their clitoris. Immediately following that in popularity were circular motions around the clitoris (78.3 percent). But don't get too comfy, either! Being able to switch between different patterns was also a popular choice (for 76 percent of women), which was almost tied with switching between intensity (75.8 percent) with super intense and not-so-intense motions.

Looking for even more ways to increase pleasure? Here are some tips: Take your time, communicate with your partner, and get to know their likes and dislikes. And finally, do it with someone you love. Sounds easy enough, right?

And remember this one REALLY important last note.

Yes, the majority of women (73.6 percent) agree that taking your time during sex is important. But don't mistake that for trying to make it go on and on forever. Less than 20 percent (only one in five) women believed that “sex that lasts a long time” leads to better orgasms.

All right everyone, read this article over and over and please MEMORIZE IT, so women everywhere can starting having more orgasms.

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