The G-spot: Defined but Not Demystified

Remember the G-spot brouhaha?

Yes, there is one. No, there isn’t. Is. Isn’t.

If you were aware of that controversy you might wonder whatever happened to it. Was anything about the mysterious G-spot ever resolved?

For all intents and purposes, after a flurry of attention in the 1980s, the G-spot seemed to go underground for a decade or two, but lately, with the advent of newfangled imaging devices, the search for the G-spot has resurrected once again. So, in case you’ve been wondering, let us bring you up to date on this mysterious region.

The G-spot is defined (and yes, there is a definition) as an erogenous area about the size of a nickel located 2 to 3 inches inside the front wall of a woman’s vagina.

The name comes from the German gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg, who first wrote about its existence in 1950. But a mysterious pleasure center in roughly the same place had also been mentioned in ancient Indian texts and by Regnier de Graaf, a Dutch physician, in 1672, who wrote that secretions from this area “lubricate their sexual parts in agreeable fashion during coitus.”

But it was the publication of The G-Spot and Other Discoveries about Human Sexuality in the 1980s that ignited a frenzy. Couples contorted themselves into pretzels seeking the elusive mind-blowing orgasms that accompanied just the right stimulation. (Leaving many women feeling inadequate and their partners frustrated, I’m sure.) Researchers, too, overheated their Bunsen burners trying to find the darned thing.

Then, without further fuel to fan the fire, the short attention span of popular culture wandered, and interest in the G-spot waned.

In 2008, however, Italian researchers using new ultrasound technology discovered a thickened area on the front vaginal wall of about half of 20 women. Women with this thickened tissue were more likely to experience vaginal orgasms. In 2010, a group of British researchers asked 90 pairs of twins if they had a “so called G-spot, a small area the size of a 20p coin on the front wall of your vagina that is sensitive to deep pressure?”

Unsurprisingly, given the subjective nature of that question, the results from the British study were ambiguous and were challenged by other scientists. The following month French researchers, askance at the sloppy work from the boys across the channel, declared that 56 percent of women did indeed have “un point G.”

Physiologically, a G-spot has not been definitively identified by gynecologists, nor in dissections nor consistently in ultrasounds. So the mystery remains, according to urologist Dr. Amichai Kilchevsky, who led an extensive review of all research on the issue. “Without a doubt, a discreet anatomic entity call the G-spot does not exist,” says Dr. Kilchevsky.

Yet, women consistently report that stimulating the front of the vaginal wall produces a deep, pleasurable orgasm. “…it has been pretty widely accepted that many women find it pleasurable, if not orgasmic, to be stimulated on the front wall of the vagina," said Debby Herbenick, researcher at Indiana University and author of Because It Feels Good.

According to Australian researcher Dr. Helen O’Connell, the clitoris, urethra, and vagina all work together during sexual stimulation, creating a “clitoral complex.” Since the urethra lies along the outside of the vagina and the clitoris has deep “roots” within the vaginal walls it’s no stretch to imagine that all the parts work together during sex.

Some doctors compare the G-spot controversy to obsession over penis size—much ado about nothing. Lots of women don’t orgasm with vaginal penetration alone; indeed, most of us need both vaginal and clitoral stimulation to orgasm. So, if “we don't even have orgasm all figured out yet, I don't know why we would expect to have the G-spot figured out,” Herbenick said in an article on Netdoctor.

Because of its approximate location, the G-spot is devilishly hard to reach, especially in the standard missionary position. However, if you’d like to spice up your bedtime routine with a little research of your own, try sitting astride your partner, on a sturdy chair or firm surface. Lean backward so the penis has a better chance of connecting with the front of the vagina.

If this sounds too acrobatic for a fun Friday night, you can always fall back on the trusty index finger. Lie on your back while your partner inserts his finger, using a “come hither” motion to stimulate front of the vagina. Or try a toy. Special G-spot vibrators are available that are longer with a kink at the end. Results are still mixed, so focus on the exploration, not a specific result.

And remember to be well-lubricated and relaxed. Light a few candles and some incense. Research has never been so fun.