Anorgasmia (frigidity) - The female orgasm

By Cristiano Antonino Last updated Jun 9, 2023

The female orgasm is defined, on a physiological level, as a reflex that is generated mainly by stimulation of sensory nerves located in the clitoris, but also by impulses from other areas, including the vaginal access and the nipples

This reflex is characterised by rhythmic contractions of the uterus, vagina and rectal sphincter, generalised muscular hypertonia, contractions of the abdominal muscles and buttocks.

On a subjective level, the sensations usually reported during female orgasm include descriptions such as ‘reaching climax’, experiencing the build-up of tension and then releasing it, a sense of contraction in the genital area and/or a period of high arousal followed by sudden relief and relaxation.

In any case, the female orgasm is a unique and clearly recognisable experience.

Women who report not knowing whether they have ever reached an orgasm, have certainly never reached it and suffer from so-called anorgasmia

At one time this dysfunction was called frigidity, but this term has been abandoned as unscientific and somewhat derogatory.

The amount of stimulation required to promote female orgasm varies widely, not only between different individuals, but in the same woman under different circumstances (some women can reach orgasm with only a few coital movements, while others need prolonged stimulation of the clitoris before they can achieve it, although they do not suffer from anorgasmia).

The fundamental characteristic of female orgasm disorder is a persistent or recurrent delay, or absence, of orgasm (anorgasmia) after a normal phase of sexual arousal, due to a specific inhibition of the orgasmic component of the sexual reaction.

The woman suffers from primary orgasmic dysfunction if she has never experienced an orgasm (primary anorgasmia); if, on the other hand, the disorder developed after a period during which the woman reached orgasm normally, the orgasmic dysfunction is said to be secondary (secondary anorgasmia).

This dysfunction may be absolute (the woman is unable to reach either coital or clitoral orgasm under any circumstances) or situational (the woman may reach orgasm, but only in particular circumstances and/or with particular types of non-coital stimulation).

Those who suffer from orgasmic dysfunction (formerly frigidity) generally have normal sexual drive, normal lubrication, experience pleasure in sexual foreplay, and penetration is marked by pleasurable erotic sensations, although insufficient to trigger the reflex.

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