Myth Of The Vaginal Orgasm Analysis

The First Wave of feminism took place from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. The struggle most often recognized when discussing First Wave feminism is that of suffrage, or the right to vote, however many more topics of equality were brought to light during this era. For example, contraception, prostitution and objectification were other topics that were focused on. As with any of the Waves of feminism, the people following these activist ideals were divided into two categories: the first of these were the “social purity feminists”, and the second were the “New Moralists”. These two categories, though both feminist, were founded on very contrasting ideas surrounding topics such as race and class. The former of the categories …show more content…
The paper states that there is no such thing as a vaginal orgasm, or any sort of orgasm, except for that of a clitoral one. Koedt explains that even if the orgasm is made through stimulation of another sort, such as vaginally, or even mentally, the actual orgasm is rooted in the clitoris. So the question that comes to mind is why do we as a society continue to focus on vaginal penetration if that is not the way to help the female partners achieve orgasm? Though she provides many other explanations that will be discussed, Koedt simply states that the answer to this question is “We are living in a male society which has not sought change in women’s role” (Koedt, 113). To expand, it is discussed how many women will not admit that they cannot orgasm through vaginal penetration alone for a plethora of reasons, including not wanting to damage their male partner’s ego, faking orgasms to end sex, as well as using their vaginal orgasm to entice men. From this description, it can be easy to assume that men are simply clueless to the need for clitoral stimulation, however this is not the case. The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm touches on the point that men recognize the importance of clitoral stimulation to provide arousal and lubrication during foreplay, and then it is ignored during actual intercourse, “leaving [the female partner] both aroused and unsatisfied” (Koedt, 113). So, continuing the question, if the importance of the clitoris is acknowledged, why is it ignored? Koedt provides multiple explanations, such as the idea that women are considered unequal to men, and therefore not deserving of as much sexual attention. Another idea proposed is the fear of one’s masculinity being threatened. This is explained through the notion that the clitoris is the female equivalent to the penis, which represents masculinity, and that ignoring it (or