Do Women’s Orgasms Function as a Masculinity Achievement for Men?

Sara B. Chadwick · Sari M. van Anders

103 citations0/0 files storedThe Journal of Sex Research

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Gender Roles and Identity Studies Gender and Feminist Studies Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Abstract

Orgasms have been promoted as symbols of sexual fulfillment for women, and have perhaps become the symbol of a woman's healthy sex life. However, some research has suggested that this focus on women's orgasms, though ostensibly for women, may actually serve men; but the mechanisms of this are unclear. In the present experiment, we hypothesized that women's orgasms specifically function as a masculinity achievement for men. To test this, we randomly assigned 810 men (M age = 25.44, SD = 8.31) to read a vignette where they imagined that an attractive woman either did or did not orgasm during a sexual encounter with them. Participants then rated their sexual esteem and the extent to which they would feel masculine after experiencing the given situation. Our results showed that men felt more masculine and reported higher sexual esteem when they imagined that a woman orgasmed during sexual encounters with them, and that this effect was exacerbated for men with high masculine gender role stress. These results suggest that women's orgasms do function-at least in part-as a masculinity achievement for men.

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References

2013Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 2014Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.1994Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity 1992Power at play: sports and the problem of masculinity 2008Precarious manhood.2005The Gendered Nature of Sexual Scripts 2007Harassment Based on Sex: Protecting Social Status in the Context of Gender Hierarchy 1987Masculine Gender Role Stress

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2018Perceptions of Sexual Script Deviation in Women and Men 2019Anxiety and Performance in Sex, Sport, and Stage: Identifying Common Ground 2018“It Feels So Good”: Pleasure in Last Sexual Encounter Narratives of Black University Students 2018Feminist Identity in Men: Masculinity, Gender Roles, and Sexual Approaches in Feminist, Non-Feminist, and Unsure Men 2019Beliefs About Gender Predict Faking Orgasm in Heterosexual Women 2022Orgasm Coercion: Overlaps Between Pressuring Someone to Orgasm and Sexual Coercion

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