Editing Female ejaculation

{{Short description|Expulsion of fluid during  orgasm}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Pp-move}}
[[File:Skenes gland.jpg|thumb|There is substantial evidence that the [[Skene's gland]] is the source of female ejaculation.]]<!--NOTE: Per talk page discussions, adding a real-life image of supposed female ejaculation is disputed. Refer to previous talk page discussions. -->

'''Female ejaculation''' is characterized<!--NOTE: "Refers to" is avoided per WP:Refers. The words "is characterized as" are used because the nature of female ejaculation is highly debated and therefore using "is" without these qualifiers can be argued as a non-neutral descriptor.--> as an expulsion of fluid from the [[Skene's gland]] at the lower end of the [[urethra]] during or before an [[orgasm]]. It is also known colloquially as '''squirting''' or '''gushing''', although research indicates that female ejaculation and squirting are different phenomena,  squirting being attributed to a sudden expulsion of liquid that partly comes from the bladder and contains [[urine]].<ref name="pastor">{{cite journal |vauthors=Pastor Z, Chmel R |title=Differential diagnostics of female "sexual" fluids: a narrative review |journal=International Urogynecology Journal |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=621–629 |date=May 2018 |pmid=29285596 |doi=10.1007/s00192-017-3527-9 |s2cid=5045626 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00192-017-3527-9|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Salama">{{cite journal | last1=Salama | first1=Samuel | last2=Boitrelle | first2=Florence | last3=Gauquelin | first3=Amélie | last4=Malagrida | first4=Lydia | last5=Thiounn | first5=Nicolas | last6=Desvaux | first6=Pierre | title=Nature and origin of "squirting" in female sexuality | journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine| volume=12 | issue=3 | year=2015 | issn=1743-6095 | doi=10.1111/jsm.12799 | pages=661–666|pmid=25545022| url=https://scholar.google.de/scholar?hl=de&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Nature+and+origin+of+%22squirting%22+in+female+sexuality&btnG=| url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Felix D. |last2=Camacho |first2=Amarilis |last3=Bordes |first3=Stephen J. |last4=Gardner |first4=Brady |last5=Levin |first5=Roy J. |last6=Tubbs |first6=R. Shane |title=Female ejaculation: An update on anatomy, history, and controversies |journal=[[Clinical Anatomy]] |date=2021 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=103–107 |doi=10.1002/ca.23654|pmid=32681804 }}</ref>

Female ejaculation is physiologically distinct from [[coital incontinence]], with which it is sometimes confused.<ref name=Pastor2013>{{Cite journal|last=Pastor|first=Zlatko|date=July 2013|title=Female ejaculation orgasm vs. coital incontinence: a systematic review|journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine|volume=10|issue=7|pages=1682–1691|doi=10.1111/jsm.12166|issn=1743-6109|pmid=23634659| url=https://scholar.google.de/scholar?hl=de&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Female+ejaculation+orgasm+vs.+coital+incontinence%3A+a+systematic+review&btnG=|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="pmid19170835">{{cite journal|vauthors=Serati M, Salvatore S, Uccella S, Nappi RE, Bolis P| title=Female urinary incontinence during intercourse: a review on an understudied problem for women's sexuality | journal=J Sex Med | year= 2009 | volume= 6 | issue= 1 | pages= 40–8 | pmid=19170835 | doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.01055.x | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19170835  }}</ref>

There have been few studies on female ejaculation.<ref name="Estupinyà">{{cite book|first=Pere|last=Estupinyà|title=S=EX2: The Science of Sex|date=2016|publisher=[[Springer (publisher)|Springer]]|pages=87–89|isbn=978-3319317267|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UA3pDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87}}</ref> A failure to adopt common definitions and research [[methodology]] by the scientific community has been the primary contributor to this lack of experimental data.<ref name="Taverner">{{cite book|first=William|last=J. Taverner|title=Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Human Sexuality|isbn=978-0072917116|date=2005|publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Education]]|pages=80–89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CCpFAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> Research has suffered from highly selected participants, narrow case studies, or very small sample sizes, and consequently has yet to produce significant results. Much of the research into the composition of the fluid focuses on determining whether it is, or contains, urine.<ref name="Estupinyà"/><ref name="rodriguez">{{cite journal| vauthors=Rodriguez FD, Camacho A, Bordes SJ, Gardner B, Levin RJ, Tubbs RS| title=Female ejaculation: An update on anatomy, history, and controversies. | journal=Clinical Anatomy | year= 2020 | volume=34 | issue=1 | pages=103–107 | pmid=32681804 | doi=10.1002/ca.23654 | s2cid=220634920 | url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ca.23654| url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is common for any secretion that exits the vagina, and for fluid that exits the urethra, during sexual activity to be referred to as ''female ejaculate'', which has led to significant confusion in the literature.<ref name="rodriguez"/>

Whether the fluid is secreted by the Skene's gland through and around the urethra has also been a topic of discussion; while the exact source and nature of the fluid remains controversial among medical professionals, and are related to doubts over the existence of the [[G-spot]],<ref name="Balon, Segraves">{{cite book|first1=Richard |last1=Balon |first2=Robert Taylor |last2=Segraves|title=Clinical Manual of Sexual Disorders |publisher= [[American Psychiatric Association|American Psychiatric Publishing]]|year=2009|page=258|isbn=978-1585629053|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YuP3Hb0TMLQC&pg=PA258}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg">{{cite book|first1=Jerrold S. |last1=Greenberg |first2=Clint E. |last2=Bruess |first3=Sara B. |last3=Oswalt|title=Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality|pages=102–104|isbn=978-1449648510|date=2014|publisher=[[Jones & Bartlett Publishers]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hm3aTuANFroC&pg=PA102}}</ref><ref name="rodriguez"/> there is substantial evidence that the Skene's gland is the source of female ejaculation.<ref name=pastor/><ref name="rodriguez"/> The function of female ejaculation, however, remains unclear.<ref name="rodriguez"/>

==Reports==
In questionnaire surveys, 35–50% of women report that they have at some time experienced the gushing of fluid during orgasm.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bullough B, David M, Whipple B, Dixon J, Allgeier ER, Drury KC |author-link3=Whipple B | title = Subjective reports of female orgasmic expulsion of fluid | journal = Nurse Pract |date=March 1984 | volume = 9 | issue = 3 | pages= 55–9 |pmid=6546788 | doi = 10.1097/00006205-198409030-00009 }}</ref><ref name=davidson>{{cite journal | vauthors = Davidson JK, Darling CA, Conway-Welch, C |date=Summer 1989 | title = The role of the Grafenberg Spot and female gushing in the female orgasmic response: an empirical analysis | journal = J Sex Marital Ther | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 102–20 | pmid=2769772 | doi = 10.1080/00926238908403815 }}</ref><ref name="darling">{{cite journal |author1=Darling CA |author2=Davidson JK Sr |author3=Conway-Welch C. | title = Female ejaculation: perceived origins, the Grafenberg spot/area, and sexual responsiveness | journal = Arch Sex Behav |date=February 1990 | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | pages = 29–47 |pmid=2327894 | doi = 10.1007/BF01541824|s2cid=25428390 }}</ref> Other studies find anywhere from 10 to 69%, depending on the definitions and methods used.<ref name="wimpissinger"/><ref name="zaviacic99"/> For instance Kratochvíl (1994) surveyed 200 women and found that 6% reported ejaculating, an additional 13% had some experience and about 60% reported release of fluid without actual gushing.<ref name=Kratochvil/> Reports on the volume of fluid expelled vary considerably, starting from amounts that would be imperceptible to a woman, to mean values of 1–5 ml.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zaviacic M, Zaviacicová A, Komorník J, Mikulecký M, Holomán IK |title=Circatrigintan (30 +/- 5 d) variations of the cellular component of female urethral expulsion fluid. A biometrical study |journal=Int Urol Nephrol |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=311–8 |year=1984 |pmid=6543558 |doi= 10.1007/BF02081866|s2cid=6231824 }}</ref>

The suggestion that women can expel fluid from their genital area as part of [[sexual arousal]] has been described by women's health writer Rebecca Chalker as "one of the most hotly debated questions in modern [[sexology]]".<ref name="chalker"/> Female ejaculation has been discussed in anatomical, medical, and biological literature throughout recorded history. The reasons for the interest in female ejaculation have been questioned by [[feminist]] writers.<ref name="bell">{{cite book | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ph-2F94pR_0C | author = Bell S. | chapter = Feminist ejaculations | editor = Alison Jaggar | title = Living With Contradictions: Controversies in feminist social ethics | publisher = Westview | location = Boulder | year = 1994 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/livingwithcontra00jaggrich/page/529 529–36] | isbn = 978-0-8133-1776-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/livingwithcontra00jaggrich/page/529 }}</ref>

===Western literature===

====16th to 18th century====
In the 16th century, the Dutch physician [[Laevinius Lemnius]], referred to how a woman "draws forth the man's seed and casts her own with it".<ref>Lemnius, L. De occultis naturae miraculis 1557, Reprinted as The Secret Miracles of Nature. London 1658, p.19 cited in [https://books.google.com/books?id=6geM40gONl8C Laqueur T. Making Sex: The body and gender from the Greeks to Freud. Harvard, Cambridge 1990 vii]</ref> In the 17th century, [[François Mauriceau]] described glands at the [[female urethral meatus]] that "pour out great quantities of saline liquor during coition, which increases the heat and enjoyment of women".<ref>[[One sex two sex theory|Cited in Laqueur 1990 pp. 92–3]]</ref> This century saw an increasing understanding of female sexual anatomy and function,<ref name=blackledge>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofv00cath |url-access=registration |last=Blackledge|first=Catherine|title=The Story of V: A Natural History of Female Sexuality|year=2004 |orig-year=2003 |isbn=978-0813534558 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |place=New Brunswick, N.J }}</ref> in particular the work of the [[Caspar Bartholin the Elder|Bartholin]] family in Denmark.

====De Graaf====
In the 17th century, the Dutch anatomist [[Reinier de Graaf]] wrote an influential treatise on the reproductive organs ''Concerning the Generative Organs of Women'' which is much cited in the literature on this topic. De Graaf discussed the original controversy but supported the [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] view.<ref name="graaf">{{cite journal | author = Regnier De Graaf | title = New Treatise Concerning the Generative Organs of Women. Reprinted as: Jocelyn HD, Setchell BP: Regnier de Graaf on the human reproductive organs. An annotated translation of Tractatus de Virorum Organis Generationi Inservientibus (1668) and De Mulierum Organis Generationi Inserventibus Tractatus Novus (1962) | journal = J Reprod Fertil Suppl |date=December 1972 | volume = 17 | pages = 1–222 |pmid=4567037 | last2 = Setchell | first2 = BP}}</ref><ref>Cited in Chalker 2000, p.121</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Korda |first1=Joanna B. |last2=Goldstein |first2=Sue W. |last3=Sommer |first3=Frank |title=SEXUAL MEDICINE HISTORY: The History of Female Ejaculation |journal=[[The Journal of Sexual Medicine]] |date=2010 |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=1965–1975 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01720.x|pmid=20233286 }}</ref> He identified the source as the glandular structures and ducts surrounding the urethra.

{{blockquote|[VI:66-7] The urethra is lined by a thin membrane. In the lower part, near the outlet of the urinary passage, this membrane is pierced by large ducts, or lacunae, through which pituito-serous matter occasionally discharges in considerable quantities.

Between this very thin membrane and the fleshy fibres we have just described there is, along the whole duct of the urethra, a whitish membranous substance about one finger-breadth thick which completely surrounds the urethral canal... The substance could be called quite aptly the female 'prostatae' or 'corpus glandulosum', 'glandulous body'''...''The function of the 'prostatae' is to generate a pituito-serous juice which makes women more libidinous with its pungency and saltiness and lubricates their sexual parts in agreeable fashion during coitus.

[VII:81] The discharge from the female 'prostatae' causes as much pleasure as does that from the male 'prostatae'}}

He identified [XIII:212] the various controversies regarding the ejaculate and its origin, but stated he believed that this fluid "which rushes out with such impetus during venereal combat or libidinous imagining" was derived from a number of sources, including the vagina, urinary tract, cervix and uterus. He appears to identify [[Skene's ducts]], when he writes [XIII: 213] "those [ducts] which are visible around the orifice of the neck of the vagina and the outlet of the urinary passage receive their fluid from the female 'parastatae', or rather the thick membranous body around the urinary passage." However he appears not to distinguish between the lubrication of the perineum during arousal and an orgasmic ejaculate when he refers to liquid "which in libidinous women often rushes out at the mere sight of a handsome man." Further on [XIII:214] he refers to "liquid as usually comes from the [[pudenda]] in one gush." However, his prime purpose was to distinguish between generative fluid and pleasurable fluid, in his stand on the Aristotelian semen controversy.

===19th century===
[[Richard von Krafft-Ebing|Krafft-Ebing]]'s study of sexual perversion, ''[[Psychopathia Sexualis (Richard von Krafft-Ebing book)|Psychopathia Sexualis]]'' (1886), describes female ejaculation under the heading "Congenital Sexual Inversion in Women" as a perversion related to [[neurasthenia]] and homosexuality.<ref>von Krafft-Ebing R. ''Psychopathia Sexualis'', Klaf FS (trans.) Stein and Day, NY 1965, at 265</ref>

{{blockquote|the intersexual gratification among ...women seems to be reduced to kissing and embraces, which seems to satisfy those of weak sexual instinct, but produces in sexually neurasthenic females ejaculation}}

It is also described by [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]] in pathological terms in his study of [[Dora (case study)|Dora]] (1905), where he relates it to hysteria.<ref>Freud S. Fragments of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria. 1905, in Strachey J (trans.) ''The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works by Sigmund Freud'', vol VII: 84</ref>

{{blockquote|The pride taken by women in the appearance of their genitals is quite a special feature of their vanity; and disorders of genitals which they think calculated to inspire feelings of repugnance or even disgust have an incredible power of humiliating them, of lowering their self-esteem, and of making them irritable, sensitive, and distrustful. An abnormal secretion of the mucous membrane of the vagina is looked upon as source of disgust.}}

However, women's writing of that time portrayed this in more positive terms. Thus we find [[Almeda Sperry]] writing to [[Emma Goldman]] in 1918, about the "rhythmic spurt of your love juices".<ref name="bell"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aZ-jOTonK8C&pg=PA154 |title=''Falk C.'' Love, Anarchy and Emma Goldman. ''Holt Rinehart, NY 1984, at 175. Cited in Nestle J. ''A Restricted Country''. Cleis 2003, at 163 |access-date=2011-10-30|isbn=9781573441520 |last1=Nestle |first1=Joan |year=2003 |publisher=Cleis Press }}</ref> Anatomical knowledge was also advanced by [[Alexander Skene]]'s description of para-urethral or periurethral glands (glands around the [[urethra]]) in 1880, which have been variously claimed to be one source of the fluids in the ejaculate, and now commonly referred to as the [[Skene's glands]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Skene AJC | title = The anatomy and pathology of two important glands of the female urethra | journal = Am. J. Obstet. Dis. Women Child. | year = 1880 | volume = 13 | pages = 265–70}}</ref>

===20th century===
====Early 20th-century understanding====
Female ejaculation is mentioned as normal in early 20th century 'marriage manuals', such as TH [[Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde|Van de Velde]]'s ''[[Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique]]'' (1926). Certainly van de Velde was well aware of the varied experiences of women.<ref>van de Velde, TH. ''Ideal Marriage: Its physiology and technique''. Random, NY 1957, pp 195–6</ref>

{{blockquote|It appears that the majority of laymen believe that something is forcibly squirted (or propelled or extruded), or expelled from the woman's body in orgasm, and should so happen normally, as in the man's case. Finally it is just as certain that such an 'ejaculation' does not take place in many women of sexually normal functions, as that it does take place in others.}}

In 1948, Huffman, an American gynaecologist, published his studies of the prostatic tissue in women together with a historical account and detailed drawings. These clearly showed the difference between the original glands identified by Skene at the urinary meatus, and the more [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|proximal]] collections of glandular tissue emptying directly into the urethra.<ref>Huffman, J. W. The detailed anatomy of the paraurethral ducts in the adult human female" ''American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology'' 55: 86–101, 1948.</ref>

{{blockquote|The urethra might well be compared to a tree about which and growing outward from its base are numerous stunted branches, the paraurethral ducts and glands.}}

Most of the interest had focused on the substance and structure rather than function of the glands. A more definitive contemporary account of ejaculation appeared shortly after, in 1950, with the publication of an essay by [[Ernst Gräfenberg|Gräfenberg]] based on his observations of women during orgasm.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://doctorg.com/Grafenberg.htm |author=E. Grafenberg |title=The role of the urethra in female orgasm |journal=Int J Sexol |volume=3 |pages=145–8 |year=1950 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807175157/http://doctorg.com/Grafenberg.htm |archive-date=2008-08-07 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|An erotic zone always could be demonstrated on the anterior wall of the vagina along the course of the urethra...analogous to the male urethra, the female urethra also seems to be surrounded by erectile tissues...In the course of [[sexual stimulation]], the female urethra begins to enlarge and can be felt easily. It swells out greatly at the end of orgasm...Occasionally the production of fluids is ...profuse...

If there is the opportunity to observe the orgasm of such women, one can see that large quantities of a clear transparent fluid are expelled not from the vulva, but out of the urethra in gushes. At first I thought that the bladder sphincter had become defective by the intensity of the orgasm. Involuntary expulsion of urine is reported in sex literature. In the cases observed by us, the fluid was examined and it had no urinary character. I am inclined to believe that "urine" reported to be expelled during female orgasm is not urine, but only secretions of the intraurethral glands correlated with the erotogenic zone along the urethra in the anterior vaginal wall. Moreover the profuse secretions coming out with the orgasm have no lubricating significance, otherwise they would be produced at the beginning of intercourse and not at the peak of orgasm.}}

However this paper made little impact, and was dismissed in the major sexological writings of that time, such as [[Alfred Kinsey|Kinsey]] (1953)<ref>Kinsey, A.C., Pomeroy, W.B., Martin, C.E., Gebhard, P.H. (1953). ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female''. Philadelphia : W.B. Saunders Company</ref> and [[Masters & Johnson|Masters and Johnson]] (1966),<ref>Masters WH, Johnson VE. ''Human Sexual Response''. Little Brown, Boston 1966</ref> equating this "erroneous belief" with [[#Relation to urinary incontinence|urinary stress incontinence]]. Although clearly Kinsey was familiar with the phenomenon, commenting that (p.&nbsp;612);

{{blockquote|Muscular contractions of the vagina following orgasm may squeeze out some of the genital secretions, and in a few cases eject them with some force}}

as were Masters and Johnson ten years later, who observed (pp 79–80):

{{blockquote|Most women do not ejaculate during orgasm...we ''have'' observed several cases of women who expelled a type of fluid that was not urine}}

(emphasis in original) yet dismissed it (p.&nbsp;135) – "female ejaculation is an erroneous but widespread concept", and even twenty years later in 1982,<ref>Masters WH, Johnson VE, Kolodny RC. Masters and Johnson on ''Sex and Human Learning''. Little Brown, Boston 1982</ref> they repeated the statement that it was erroneous (p.&nbsp;69–70) and the result of "urinary stress incontinence".

====Late 20th-century awareness====
The topic did not receive serious attention again until a review by Josephine Lowndes Sevely and JW Bennett appeared in 1978.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sevely JL, Bennett JW | title = Concerning female ejaculation and the female prostate | journal = J Sex Res | volume = 14 | pages = 1–20 | year = 1978 | doi = 10.1080/00224497809550988}}</ref> This latter paper, which traces the history of the controversies to that point, and a series of three papers in 1981 by [[Beverly Whipple]] and colleagues in the ''[[Journal of Sex Research]]'',<ref name="belzer"/><ref name="addiego"/><ref name="perry"/> became the focal point of the current debate. Whipple became aware of the phenomenon when studying urinary incontinence, with which it is often confused.<ref name=whipple-chalker>Personal communication, cited by Chalker 2000 p.125</ref> As Sevely and Bennett point out, this is "not new knowledge, but a rediscovery of lost awareness that should contribute towards reshaping our view of female sexuality". Nevertheless, the theory advanced by these authors was immediately dismissed by many other authors, such as physiologist Joseph Bohlen,<ref name="bohlen"/> for not being based on rigorous scientific procedures, and psychiatrist [[Helen Singer Kaplan]] (1983) stated:<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCqMzcAka54C |last=Kaplan|first=H. S.|title=The Evaluation of Sexual Disorders: Psychological and Medical Aspects |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1983 |access-date=2024-05-07|isbn=9780876303290}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Female ejaculation (as distinct from female urination during orgasm) has never been scientifically substantiated and is highly questionable, to say the least.}}

Some radical feminist writers, such as [[Sheila Jeffreys]] (1985) were also dismissive, claiming it as a figment of male fantasy:<ref>Jeffreys S. The Spinster and Her Enemies: feminism and sexuality 1880–1930. Pandora Press, London 1985, at 110</ref>

{{blockquote|There are examples in the sexological literature of men's sexual fantasies about lesbian sexuality. Krafft-Ebing invented a form of ejaculation for women.}}

It required the detailed anatomical work of Helen O'Connell<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cirp.org/news/clitoris/|last1=Williamson|first1=Susan|last2=Nowak|first2=Rachel|title=The truth about women. New Scientist August 1, 1998 pp. 1–5|publisher=Cirp.org|access-date=2011-10-30|archive-date=2020-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111204005/http://www.cirp.org/news/clitoris/|url-status=dead}}</ref> from 1998 onwards to more properly elucidate the relationships between the different anatomical structures involved. As she observes, the female perineal urethra is embedded in the anterior vaginal wall and is surrounded by erectile tissue in all directions except posteriorly where it relates to the vaginal wall. "The distal vagina, [[clitoris]], and urethra form an integrated entity covered superficially by the vulval skin and its epithelial features. These parts have a shared vasculature and nerve supply and during sexual stimulation respond as a unit".<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=O'Connell HE, Hutson JM, Anderson CR, Plenter RJ |title=Anatomical relationship between urethra and clitoris |journal=J. Urol. |volume=159 |issue=6 |pages=1892–7 |date=June 1998 |pmid=9598482 |doi= 10.1016/S0022-5347(01)63188-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=O'Connell HE, Sanjeevan KV, Hutson JM |s2cid=26109805 |title=Anatomy of the clitoris |journal=J. Urol. |volume=174 |issue=4 Pt 1 |pages=1189–95 |date=October 2005 |pmid=16145367 |doi= 10.1097/01.ju.0000173639.38898.cd}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=O'Connell HE, Eizenberg N, Rahman M, Cleeve J |title=The anatomy of the distal vagina: towards unity |journal=J Sex Med |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=1883–91 |date=August 2008 |pmid=18564153 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00875.x }}</ref>

====Anthropological accounts====
Female ejaculation appears in 20th-century [[anthropology|anthropological]] works, such as [[Bronisław Malinowski|Malinowski]]'s Melanesian study, ''[[The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia|The Sexual Life of Savages]]'' (1929), and Gladwin and Sarason's ''Truk: Man in Paradise'' (1956). Malinowski states that in the language of the [[Trobriand Islands|Trobriand Island]] people, a single word is used to describe ejaculation in both male and female.<ref>{{cite book |last=Malinowski |first=Bronislaw |date=2002 |orig-year=1932 |title=The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSQuvsbE5ooC |edition=3rd, reprint |publisher=Psychology Press |page=167 |isbn=9780415262484 |access-date=2011-10-30 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|Both the male and female discharge are called by the same name (''momona'' or ''momola''), and they ascribe to both the same origin in the kidneys, and the same function, which has nothing to do with generation, but is concerned with lubricating the membrane and increasing pleasure}}

In describing sexual relations amongst the [[Chuuk State|Chuukese]] [[Micronesians]], Gladwin and Sarason state that "Female orgasm is commonly signalled by urination".<ref>Gladwin T, Sarason SB. ''Truk: Man in paradise''. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, NY 1956</ref> {{ill|Catherine Blackledge|pl}}<ref name=blackledge/> (p.&nbsp;205) provides a number of examples from other cultures, including the [[Uganda]]n [[Demographics of Uganda|Batoro]], [[Mohave people|Mohave]] Indians, [[Mangaia]]ns, and [[Pohnpei|Ponapese]]. (See also Chalker 2002 pp.&nbsp;531–2, Ladas et al. 1983 pp.&nbsp;74–5)

Historically in Rwanda, the [[kunyaza]] sexual technique has the reputation of triggering female ejaculation (kunyara). The ancient sexual practice has been exercised for over 150 years in east and central Africa. Amongst the Buganda tribe of Uganda, the sexual practice is called kachabali (spraying the wall).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2p9DwAAQBAJ |title=Akande H. Kunyaza: The Secret to Female Pleasure. Rabaah Publishers, London 2018, p. 26 |date=2018-12-16 |access-date=2019-02-16|isbn=9780957484566 |last1=Akande |first1=Habeeb |publisher=Rabaah Publishers }}</ref>

==Research==
===General===
[[File:Vulva with vaginal fluid (ejaculation - squirting).png|thumb|Vaginal fluids after ejaculation.]]

There have been few studies on female ejaculation.<ref name="Estupinyà"/> Much of the problem in arriving at a consensus relates to a failure to adopt generally agreed-on definitions<ref name="Taverner"/><ref name="schubach02">{{cite journal |author=Schubach G |title=The G-spot is the female prostate |journal=Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. |volume=186 |issue=4 |pages=850; author reply 850 |date=April 2002 |pmid=11967519 |doi= 10.1067/mob.2002.121628|doi-access=free }}</ref> or research methodology.<ref name="Taverner"/> Research has used highly selected individuals, case studies, or very small numbers of subjects, making generalization difficult. For instance, much of the research into the nature of the fluid focuses on determining whether it is or contains urine.<ref name="Estupinyà"/><ref name="Taverner"/> Rodriguez et al. stated that "many individuals refer to any fluid expressed from the vagina or urethra during coitus as female ejaculate, which leads to significant confusion in the literature."<ref name="rodriguez"/>

There are also problems involved in the collection of specimens and issues of contamination. Since the area of interest is the para-urethral glands, it is impossible to completely separate the secretions from urine, especially considering that there may be [[retrograde ejaculation]] into the urethra towards the bladder. Research has attempted to use chemicals that are excreted in the urine so that any urinary contamination can be detected. Further methodological issues include the fact that the composition of the fluid appears to vary with the menstrual cycle,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zaviacic M |title=The fluid of female urethral expulsions analysed by histochemical electron-microscopic and other methods |journal=Histochem. J. |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=445–7 |date=April 1984 |pmid=6538874 |doi= 10.1007/BF01002874|author2=Jakubovský J |author3=Polák S |display-authors=3 |last4=Zaviačičová |first4=A. |last5=Holomáň |first5=I. K. |last6=Blazekova |first6=J. |last7=Gregor |first7=P.|s2cid=27878970 }}</ref> and that the biochemical profile of the para-urethral tissues varies with age.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zaviacic M, Porubský J, Vierik J, Holomán IK |title=[Enzymes of the female prostate during the fertile age and after menopause. Comparative histochemical study] |language=sk |journal=Cesk Gynekol |volume=54 |issue=10 |pages=755–60 |date=December 1989 |pmid=2630042 }}</ref> Other issues relate to the sensitivity and specificity of the markers chosen. The key questions are the source of the fluid produced, and its composition.<ref name="bohlen"/>

Whether the fluid is secreted by the Skene's gland through and around the urethra has also been a topic of discussion; while the exact source and nature of the fluid remain controversial among medical professionals, and are related to doubts over the existence of the [[G-spot]],<ref name="Balon, Segraves"/><ref name="Greenberg"/><ref name="rodriguez"/> there is substantial evidence that the Skene's gland is the source of female ejaculation.<ref name=pastor/><ref name="rodriguez"/> The function of female ejaculation, however, remains unclear.<ref name="rodriguez"/>

===Female ejaculation vs. squirting or gushing ===
Some research has distinguished between female ejaculation and what is colloquially known as squirting or gushing. These terms are used by the public interchangeably, which often leads to confusion. In these research publications, it is suggested that "real" female ejaculation is the release of a very scanty, thick, and whitish fluid from the Skene's gland, while the "squirting" or "gushing" (shown frequently in pornography) is a different phenomenon: the expulsion of clear and abundant fluid, which has been shown to be a diluted fluid from the urinary bladder.<ref name="pastor"/><ref name="Salama"/>

===Relation to urinary incontinence===
Towards the later part of the 20th century, there was significant confusion between female ejaculation and [[coital incontinence]]. In 1982, Bohlen explained the accepted wisdom:<ref name="bohlen">{{cite journal |author=Bohlen JG |title="Female Ejaculation" and urinary stress incontinence |journal=J. Sex Res. |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=360–8 |year=1982 |doi=10.1080/00224498209551161}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The previously accepted notion that all fluid expelled during a woman's orgasm is urine is now being challenged... sexologists must take care not to assume now that any fluid produced at orgasm is "female ejaculate".}}

Scientific studies from the 1980s and later have demonstrated that the substance produced is distinct from urine, though it does show similarities such as alkalinity with urine.<ref name=Kratochvil>{{cite journal |author = Kratochvíl Stanislav |date=April 1994 | title = Orgasmic expulsions in women | journal = Českoslovenaká Psychiatrie | volume = 90 | issue = 2 | pages = 71–7 | pmid = 8004685 }}</ref> Davidson's study of 1,289 women found that the sensation of ejaculation was very similar to that of urination.<ref name="davidson"/> One study by [[Gary Schubach]] used [[urethral catheterization]] in order to separate urine from orgasmic expulsions from elsewhere in the body. Seven women claiming to have ejaculations expelled large volumes of urine through the catheter at orgasm, and little to no other fluid.<ref name=Schubach>{{cite journal |author = Gary Schubach |date=August 2001| title = Urethral Expulsions During Sensual Arousal and Bladder Catheterization in Seven Human Females | journal = Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality | volume = 4}}</ref>

It may be important for physicians to establish whether there is in fact any incontinence in women who report ejaculation, to avoid unnecessary interventions.<ref name=Pastor2013/><ref name="pmid19170835"/> It is also important for physicians to distinguish orgasmic ejaculation from vaginal discharges which may require further investigation and treatment. In individual cases, the exact source of any reported discharge may not be obvious without further investigation.<ref name="pmid15166070">{{cite journal| author=Mitchell H| title=Vaginal discharge--causes, diagnosis, and treatment. | journal=BMJ | year= 2004 | volume= 328 | issue= 7451 | pages= 1306–8 | pmid=15166070 | doi=10.1136/bmj.328.7451.1306 | pmc=420177 }}</ref>

===Nature of different fluids===
Critics have maintained that ejaculation is either [[stress incontinence]] or [[vaginal lubrication]].<ref name="rodriguez"/> Research in this area has concentrated almost exclusively on attempts to prove that the ejaculate is not urine,<ref name="chalker02"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Belzer EG |title=A review of female ejaculation and the Grafenberg spot |journal=Women Health |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=5–16 |year=1984 |pmid=6367229 |doi= 10.1300/J013v09n01_02}}</ref> measuring substances such as [[urea]], [[creatinine]], [[prostatic acid phosphatase]] (PAP), [[prostate-specific antigen]] (PSA),<ref name="zaviacic99">{{cite web|url=http://www.doctorg.com/sexual_products/ebook_female_prostate.html |title=Zaviacic M. The human female prostate: From Vestigial Skene's Paraurethral Glands and Ducts to Woman's Functional Prostate. Slovak Academic Press, Bratislava 1999 |publisher=Doctorg.com |access-date=2011-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028082511/http://www.doctorg.com/sexual_products/ebook_female_prostate.html |archive-date=2011-10-28 }}</ref> [[glucose]] and [[fructose]]<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zaviačič M, Doležalová S, Holomáň IK, Zaviačičová A, Mikulecký M, Valer Brázdil V |title=Concentrations of Fructose in Female Ejaculate and Urine: A Comparative Biochemical Study |journal=J. Sex Res. |volume=24 |issue= 1|pages=319–25 |year=1988 |doi=10.1080/00224498809551431|pmid=22375668 }}</ref> levels. Early work was contradictory; the initial study on one woman by Addiego and colleagues, reported in 1981,<ref name="addiego"/> could not be confirmed in a subsequent study on 11 women in 1983,<ref name=goldberg>{{cite journal |author1=Goldberg, DC |author2=Whipple, B |author3=Fishkin, RE |author4=Waxman H |author5=Fink PJ |author6=Wiesberg M | year = 1983 | title = The Grafenberg Spot and female ejaculation: a review of initial hypotheses | journal = J Sex Marital Ther | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 27–37 | pmid =6686614 | doi = 10.1080/00926238308405831 }}</ref> but was confirmed in another 7 women in 1984.<ref name="belzerjsr84"/> In 1985, a different group studied 27 women and found only urine,<ref name=alzate85>{{cite journal |author=Alzate H |title=Vaginal eroticism: a replication study |journal=Arch Sex Behav |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=529–37 |date=December 1985 |pmid=4084052 |doi= 10.1007/BF01541753|s2cid=44699346 }}</ref> suggesting that results depend critically on the methods used.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

A 2007 study on two women involved [[ultrasound]], [[endoscopy]], and biochemical analysis of fluid. The ejaculate was compared to pre-orgasmic urine from the same woman, and also to published data on [[male ejaculation|male ejaculate]]. In both women, higher levels of PSA, PAP, and glucose but lower levels of [[creatinine]] were found in the ejaculate than the urine. PSA levels were comparable to those in males.<ref name="wimpissinger">{{cite journal |vauthors=Wimpissinger F, Stifter K, Grin W, Stackl W |title=The female prostate revisited: perineal ultrasound and biochemical studies of female ejaculate |journal=J Sex Med |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=1388–93; discussion 1393 |date=September 2007 |pmid=17634056 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00542.x }}</ref>

Ultrasounds from a 2014 study, involving seven women who reported recurring massive fluid emission during sexual arousal, confirmed thorough bladder emptiness before stimulation, noticeable bladder filling before squirting and demonstrated that the bladder had again been emptied after squirting. Although small amounts of prostatic secretions are present in the emitted fluid, the study suggests that squirting is essentially the involuntary emission of urine during sexual activity.<ref name="Salama"/>

===Source of fluid===
One very practical objection relates to the reported volumes ejaculated, since this fluid must be stored somewhere in the pelvis, of which the [[urinary bladder]] is the largest source. The actual volume of the para-urethral tissue is quite small. By comparison, male ejaculate varies from {{convert|0.2|-|6.6|ml|USoz|2|abbr=on}} (95% [[confidence interval]]), with a maximum of {{convert|13|ml|USoz|2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal |author=MacLeod J |title=Semen quality in 1000 men of known fertility and in 800 cases of infertile marriage |journal=Fertil. Steril. |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=115–39 |year=1951 |pmid=14823049 |doi= 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)30482-4|doi-access= }}</ref> Therefore, claims of larger amounts of ejaculate are likely to contain at least some amount of urine. The eleven specimens analyzed by Goldberg in 1983,<ref name=goldberg /> ranged from {{convert|3|-|15|ml|USoz|1|abbr=on}}.<ref name="belzerjsr84"/> One source states that Skene's glands are capable of excreting {{convert|30|-|50|ml|USoz|0|abbr=on}} in 30–50 seconds,<ref name=heath/> but it is unclear how this was measured and has not been confirmed. One approach is to use a chemical like [[methylene blue]] so that any urinary component can be detected.<ref name="belzerjsr84">{{cite journal |vauthors=Belzer EG, Whipple W, Moger W |title=On female ejaculation |journal=J. Sex Res. |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=403–6 |year=1984 |doi=10.1080/00224498409551236}}</ref> Belzer showed that in one woman he studied, the dye was found in her urine, but not her orgasmic expulsion.<ref name="belzer"/>

PAP and PSA have been identified in the para-urethral tissues, using biochemical and immunohistochemical methods, suggesting that the ejaculate is likely to arise from the ducts in these tissues, in a manner homologous to that in the male.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Pollen, JJ |author2=Dreilinger, A |date=March 1984 | title = Immunohistochemical identification of prostatic acid phosphatase and prostate specific antigen in female periurethral glands | journal = Urology | volume = 23 | issue = 3 | pages = 303–4 | pmid = 6199882 | doi = 10.1016/S0090-4295(84)90053-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tepper, SL |author2=Jagirdar, J |author3=Heath, D |author4=Geller, SA |date=May 1984 | title = Homology between the female paraurethral (Skene's) glands and the prostate. Immunohistochemical demonstration | journal = Arch Pathol Lab Med | volume = 108 | issue = 5 | pages = 423–5 | pmid = 6546868 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Zaviacic, Z |author2=Ruzicková, M |author3=Jakubovský, J |author4=Danihel, L |author5=Babál, P |author6=Blazeková, J |date=November 1994 | title = The significance of prostate markers in the orthology of the female prostate | journal = Bratisl Lek Listy | volume = 95 | issue = 11 | pages = 491–7 | pmid = 7533639 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wernert, N |author2=Albrech, M |author3=Sesterhenn, I |author4=Goebbels, R |author5=Bonkhoff, H |author6=Seitz, G |author7=Inniger, R |author8=Remberger, K | year = 1992 | title = The 'female prostate': location, morphology, immunohistochemical characteristics and significance | journal = Eur Urol | volume = 22 | issue = 1 | pages = 64–9 | pmid = 1385145 |doi=10.1159/000474724 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Zaviacic, Z |author2=Ablin, RJ |date=January 2000 | title = The female prostate and prostate-specific antigen. Immunohistochemical localization, implications of this prostate marker in women and reasons for using the term "prostate" in the human female | journal = Histol Histopathol | volume = 15 | issue = 1 | pages = 131–42 | pmid = 10668204 }}</ref> Another marker common to the prostate/para-urethral tissue in both sexes is [[Uteroglobin|human protein 1]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Zaviacic, M |author2=Danihel, L |author3=Ruzicková, M |author4=Blazeková, J |author5=Itoh, Y |author6=Okutani, R |author7=Kawai, T |date=March 1997 | title = Immunohistochemical localization of human protein 1 in the female prostate (Skene's gland) and the male prostate | journal = Histochem J | volume = 29 | issue = 3 | pages = 219–27 | pmid = 9472384 | doi = 10.1023/A:1026401909678|title-link=Skene's gland |s2cid=22166424 }}</ref>

PSA occurs in urine, and is elevated in post-orgasmic samples compared to pre-orgasmic. Simultaneous collection of ejaculate also showed PSA in both urine and ejaculate in all cases, but in higher concentration in the ejaculate than in the urine.<ref name="santamaria">{{cite book | author = Cabello Santamaria, F | year = 1997 | chapter = Female ejaculation: Myths and reality | editor = J.J. Baras-Vass & M.Perez-Conchillo | title = Sexuality and Human Rights: Proceedings of the XIII World Congress of Sexology August 29 | pages = 325–33 | location = Valencia, Spain | publisher = Nau Libres E.C.V.S.A. | chapter-url = http://www.doctorg.com/female-ejaculation-myth-reality-1.htm | access-date = 2008-08-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080723122603/http://www.doctorg.com/female-ejaculation-myth-reality-1.htm | archive-date = 2008-07-23 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Wimpissinger et al., 2007 reports the PSA level in urine in the 0.16&ndash;0.8 ng/mL range, and in female ejaculate in the 105.9&ndash;213.49 ng/mL range (two participants), more than a hundredfold difference.<ref name="rodriguez"/>

==Social significance==
Sexual functions, and orgasm in particular, remain poorly understood scientifically.<ref name=gravina/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Singer J, Singer I| year = 1972 | title = Types of female orgasm | journal = J Sex Res | volume = 8 | issue = 4| pages = 255–67 | doi=10.1080/00224497209550761}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Segraves R, Balon R, Clayton A |title=Proposal for changes in diagnostic criteria for sexual dysfunctions |journal=J Sex Med |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=567–80 |date=May 2007 |pmid=17433086 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00455.x }}</ref> Regardless of the facts relating to the details of female ejaculation, the social significance of the popular accounts through the feminist health care movement has been considerable.<ref name="chalker"/>

===Controversy and feminist criticism===
The debate in the current literature focuses on three threads: the existence of female ejaculation, its source(s) and composition, and its relationship to theories of female sexuality.<ref name=bell/> This debate has been influenced by popular culture, pornography, and physio-chemical and behavioral studies. Often the debate is also tied to the existence of the G-spot;<ref name="chalker02">{{cite journal |author=Chalker R |title=The G-spot: some missing pieces of the puzzle |journal=Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. |volume=187 |issue=2 |pages=518–9; author reply 520 |date=August 2002 |pmid=12193956 |doi= 10.1067/mob.2002.125884|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=sundahl>{{cite book | author = Sundahl, D. | title = Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot: Not your mother's orgasm book! | isbn = 978-0-89793-380-3 | date = February 2003 | publisher = Hunter House Publishers | url = https://www.turnerpublishing.com/books/detail/female-ejaculation-and-the-g-spot | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070810052559/http://www.hunterhouse.com/shopexd.asp?id=367&bc=no | archive-date = 2007-08-10 }}</ref>
stimulation of the anterior vaginal wall simultaneously stimulates the para-urethral tissue (the site of the [[Skene's gland]]s and ducts, and a proposed likely source of ejaculation fluid), and so has been suggested as the trigger of ejaculation. These tissues, surrounding the distal urethra, and anterior to the vagina, have a common embryological origin to the prostatic tissue in the male.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Longo VJ |title=The female prostate |journal=Urology |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=108–9 |date=July 1982 |pmid=7202277 |doi= 10.1016/0090-4295(82)90556-8}}</ref><ref name=zaviacicwhipple/>

==== Debate on the existence of ejaculation ====
In an extensive survey, Darling and colleagues claim support for the existence of ejaculation,<ref name="darling"/> while in a sharply critical response, Alzate<ref name=alzate85/><ref>Alzate H. Hoch Z. The "G-Spot" and "Female Ejaculation": A current appraisal. J Sex Marital Therapy 12: 217, 1986</ref> states that direct experimentation fails to provide any evidence.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Vaginal erogeneity, "female ejaculation," and the "Grafenberg spot" | author = Alzate H |date=December 1990 | volume = 19 | issue = 6 | pages = 607–11 |pmid=2082864 | journal = Archives of Sexual Behavior | doi = 10.1007/bf01542469 | s2cid = 189876845 }}</ref> Alzate states:

{{blockquote|the ignorance and/or confusion still prevalent among women about the anatomy and physiology of their sexual organs may make them mistake either vaginal lubrication or stress urinary incontinence for an "ejaculation."}}

[[Shannon Bell]] argues that the debate is confused by the discussion of two separate phenomena.{{specify|date=January 2011}} She comments that Alzate simply dismisses women's subjective experiences in favour of rigorous scientific proof, and is typical of male sexologists withholding the validity of experience from women. Bell's critique lies at the heart of feminist concerns about this debate, namely a tendency to "disregard, reinterpret, and overwrite women's subjective descriptions." For some, she states, it is more a matter of belief than of physiology. Bell further questions why feminists have not been more outspoken in defense of women's control over female ejaculation, pointing out that the literature frames the discussion in only five separate ways; procreation, sexual pleasure, deviance, pathology, and a scientific mystery.<ref name="bell"/>

The discussion entered popular culture in 1982 with the publication of the best-selling book ''[[The G Spot and Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality]],'' by Ladas, Whipple, and Perry.<ref name="Holt, Rinehart, and Winston">{{cite book |author1=Ladas, AK |author2=Whipple, B |author3=Perry, JD | year = 1982 | title = The G spot: And other discoveries about human sexuality |url=https://archive.org/details/gspototherrece00lada |url-access=registration | location = New York | publisher = Holt, Rinehart, and Winston|isbn=9780030618314 }}</ref> The book discussed female ejaculation and brought the issue back into discussions of women's sexuality both in the medical community and among the general public.<ref name="chalker"/><ref name="santamaria"/><ref name="hines">{{cite journal |author =Hines, T |s2cid=32381437 |date=August 2001 |title =The G-Spot: A modern gynecologic myth |journal =Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. |volume =185 |issue =2 |pages =359–62 | pmid = 11518892 |doi =10.1067/mob.2001.115995}}</ref> This was a popular account of three papers by the authors, the previous year, at the suggestion of Alice Khan Ladas.<ref name="belzer">{{cite journal |author =Belzer, EG.|year =1981|title =Orgasmic expulsions of women: a review and heuristic inquiry |journal =Journal of Sex Research |volume =17 |issue =1|pages =1–13 |doi =10.1080/00224498109551093}}</ref><ref name="addiego">{{cite journal |author1=Addiego, F |author2=Belzer, EG |author3=Comolli, J |author4=Moger, W |author5=Perry, JD |author6=Whipple, B. |year =1981|title =Female ejaculation: a case study |journal =Journal of Sex Research |volume =17 |issue =1|pages =13–21 |doi =10.1080/00224498109551094}}</ref><ref name="perry">{{cite journal |author1=Perry, JD |author2=Whipple, B. |year =1981|title =Pelvic muscle strength of female ejaculators: evidence in support of a new theory of orgasm |journal =Journal of Sex Research |volume =17 |issue =1|pages =22–39 |doi =10.1080/00224498109551095}}</ref> Rebecca Chalker notes that this book was largely met with scorn, skepticism and disbelief.<ref name="chalker">{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m3m3_Uq8qWkC&pg=PA91 | author = Chalker, Rebecca | title = The Clitoral Truth: The secret world at your fingertips | publisher = Seven Stories | location = New York| year = 2002 | isbn = 978-1-58322-473-1}}</ref> The chapter on 'Female Ejaculation' is largely based on anecdotal testimony, and illustrates another issue in the debate, the weight placed on anecdotes and small numbers of observations rather than biomedical investigation or clinical trials. Importantly, a number of the women stated that they had been diagnosed with urinary incontinence.

==== Debate on women's pleasure in their sexuality ====
The book by Ladas, Whipple, and Perry.<ref name="Holt, Rinehart, and Winston"/> advances another feminist theory: that because women's pleasure in their sexuality has been historically excluded, the pleasure of ejaculation has been either discounted or appropriated by health professionals as a physiological phenomenon.<ref name="whipple02">{{cite journal |vauthors=Whipple B, Perry JD |title=The G-spot: a modern gynecologic myth |journal=Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. |volume=187 |issue=2 |pages=519; author reply 520 |date=August 2002 |pmid=12193957 |doi= 10.1067/mob.2002.125883|doi-access=free }}</ref> Whipple continued to publicise her discoveries, including a 9 min video made in 1981 ''Orgasmic Expulsions of Fluid in the Sexually Stimulated Female''.<ref>Whipple, Beverly (consultant), Schoen, Mark (filmmaker). "Orgasmic expulsions of fluid in the sexually stimulated female." Film available from Focus International, Inc., 1776 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10019.</ref> In 1984, the ''Journal of Sex Research'' described the debate surrounding female ejaculation as 'heated'.<ref name=heath/> Josephine Sevely then followed up her 1978 study by publishing "Eve's Secrets: A new theory of female sexuality" in 1987, emphasising an integrated rather than fragmented approach to understanding [[female sexuality]], with the clitoris, vagina and urethra depicted as a single sexual organ.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ingelman-Sundberg A |title=The anterior vaginal wall as an organ for the transmission of active forces to the urethra and the clitoris |journal=Int Urogynecol J Pelvic Floor Dysfunct |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=50–1 |year=1997 |pmid=9260097 |doi= 10.1007/BF01920294|s2cid=21987189 }}</ref><ref name=gravina/> This not only challenged the traditional fragmentation of female sexuality into clitoral vs. vaginal sensation, but also sexualised the urethra.<ref name=bell/>

The continuing debate is further illustrated in the angry exchange of letters between the author and researchers in the ''American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology'' in 2002 following the publication of 'The G-spot: A modern gynecological myth' by Terence Hines,<ref name="hines"/> articles and book chapters continue to appear with subtitles such as "Fact or Fantasy" (2002).<ref name="chalker"/> As of 2007,<ref name="wimpissinger"/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Rabinerson D, Horowitz E |title=[G-spot and female ejaculation: fiction or reality?] |language=he |journal=Harefuah |volume=146 |issue=2 |pages=145–7, 163 |date=February 2007 |pmid=17352286 }}</ref> and 2008<ref name=gravina>{{cite journal |author=Gravina GL |title=Measurement of the thickness of the urethrovaginal space in women with or without vaginal orgasm |journal=J Sex Med |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=610–8 |date=March 2008 |pmid=18221286 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00739.x |url= https://art.torvergata.it/bitstream/2108/8798/2/J_SEX_MED_2008.pdf|author2=Brandetti F |author3=Martini P |display-authors=3 |last4=Carosa |first4=Eleonora |last5=Di Stasi |first5=Savino M. |last6=Morano |first6=Susanna |last7=Lenzi |first7=Andrea |last8=Jannini |first8=Emmanuele A.|hdl=2108/8798 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> the existence of a female prostate and of ejaculation are a matter of debate.

==== Debate on the terminology ====
The terminology (such as female prostate and female ejaculation) invoke images of the female as merely an imitation of the male, mapping the female body onto the male, as if, like the [[Galen]]ic view, it was incomplete.<ref name=connell>Connell SM. Aristotle and Galen on sex difference and reproduction: a new approach to an ancient rivalry. Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part A 31(3): 405–27, September 2000.</ref> Furthermore, overemphasis of ejaculation may induce performance anxiety.<ref name="chalker"/> For the reason that 'sameness' has been construed as a male perspective, some feminists reject the term ejaculation. Others argue it should be retained as a distinctive feminine characteristic distinguishable from the male, and imbued with different properties and purpose. A third concern is that of the increasing 'medicalisation' of women's sexuality, as expressed by Leonore Tiefer which finds its most extreme manifestation in the concept of [[female sexual dysfunction]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Moynihan R |title=The marketing of a disease: female sexual dysfunction |journal=BMJ |volume=330 |issue=7484 |pages=192–4 |date=January 2005 |pmid=15661785 |pmc=545000 |doi=10.1136/bmj.330.7484.192 }}</ref> Tiefer has expressed concern that overemphasising ejaculation will drive women who might feel inadequate to seek medical attention (see Health implications below),<ref name=chalker/> as has the [[Boston Women's Health Book Collective|Boston Women's Health Collective]].<ref>Boston Women's Health Collective. [[Our Bodies, Ourselves|Our Bodies, Our Selves]]. Simon and Schuster NY 1984, page 171</ref> Other criticism comes from [[Barbara Ehrenreich]]<ref>Ehrenreich B, Hess E, Jacobs G. Re-making love, the feminization of sex. Anchor Press NY 1986, page 185</ref> and colleagues who see this new sexuality as one that privileges the male in control, penile retention and body position, but this is denied by others.<ref name=bell/>

=== Health implications ===
Many women, before learning about ejaculation, experienced shame or avoided sexual intimacy under the belief that they had wet the bed.<ref name=heath>{{cite journal |author=Heath D |title=An investigation into the origins of a copious vaginal discharge during intercourse: 'Enough to wet the bed' – that 'is not urine' |journal=J. Sex Res. |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=194–215 |year=1984 |doi=10.1080/00224498409551217}}</ref> Others suppressed sexual climax, and sought medical advice for this "problem", and even underwent surgery.<ref name="chalker"/>

Contemporary [[women's health]] literature summarises what is considered factual as being that the amount of fluid varies greatly and may be unnoticeable, occurs with or without [[vaginal stimulation]], and may accompany orgasm or merely intense sexual pleasure, and orgasm may occur without ejaculation. Whether it can be learned or not, women report that they can induce it by enhancing their sexual response.<ref name=chalker/> Regardless, countless workshops now exist to teach women that learning how to ejaculate is an important form of feminine sexual expression. Sundahl describes it as a birthright and essential part of female creativity.<ref name=sundahl/>

===Legal implications===
The presence of chemical markers such as [[Prostate-specific antigen|PSA]] or [[Prostatic acid phosphatase|PAP]] in the female genital tract has been considered evidence in rape trials,<ref>Sensabaugh GF, Kahane D. "Biochemical studies on 'female ejaculates{{'"}}. California Association of Criminalists, Newport Beach, California May 1982</ref> but Sensabaugh and Kahane demonstrated in four specimens that PAP was an order of magnitude greater in a woman's ejaculate than in her urine. Recently, knowledge that these markers can be of female origin has led to acquittal based on forensic evidence.<ref name=zaviacicwhipple>{{cite journal |vauthors=Zaviacic M, Whipple B |title=Update on the female prostate and the phenomenon of female ejaculation |journal=J. Sex Res. |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=148–51 |year=1993 |doi=10.1080/00224499309551695}}</ref><ref name="zaviacic98">{{cite journal|vauthors=Zaviacic M, Ablin RJ |title=The female prostate |journal=J. Natl. Cancer Inst. |volume=90 |issue=9 |pages=713–4 |date=May 1998 |pmid=9586671 |doi=10.1093/jnci/90.9.713 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===In pornography===
Female pornographic performers who are alleged to ejaculate on film include [[Hotaru Akane]],<ref name="shiofuki-queen">{{cite news|script-title=ja:ハテナ芸人 |url=http://www.ntv.co.jp/hatena/onair/13.html |publisher=NTV |date=2007-12-03 |access-date=2008-05-05 |language=ja |quote=紅音さんは「潮吹きクィーン」としても有名。 |trans-quote=Miss Akane is famous as the 'Shiofuki Queen'. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517164514/http://www.ntv.co.jp/hatena/onair/13.html |archive-date=2008-05-17 }} (Interview)</ref> Charley Chase,<ref>{{cite web| title = Charley Chase crowned the Queen of Cumming| publisher = Kink.com| url = http://news.behindkink.com/2008/05/14/charley-chase-crowned-the-queen-of-cumming/| date = 2008-05-14| access-date = 2011-01-08| url-status=dead| archive-url = https://archive.today/20120710213035/http://news.behindkink.com/2008/05/14/charley-chase-crowned-the-queen-of-cumming/| archive-date = 2012-07-10}}</ref> Annie Cruz,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://business.avn.com/articles/29872.html|title=Adam Film World Announces Annual Award Winners|last=Nelson X|date=2008-04-25|work=AVN|access-date=2009-07-22|archive-date=2009-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506123331/http://business.avn.com/articles/29872.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Cytherea (actress)|Cytherea]],<ref name="insider">{{cite web|author=Peter Warren |url=http://www.avninsider.com/stories/lead051304.shtml |title=AVN Insider - Cytherea: The Goddess of Gush|date=2004-05-13|work=AVN|access-date=17 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040529024059/http://www.avninsider.com/stories/lead051304.shtml |archive-date = 29 May 2004}}</ref> Jamie Lynn,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jutb2Jr-oRQC&q=porn+squirting&pg=PA30 |title=Confessions of the Hundred Hottest Porn Stars: Intimate, Funny, Outrageous ... - Lainie Speiser - Google Books |access-date=2013-05-16|isbn=9781610602259 |last1=Speiser |first1=Lainie |date=2011-06-01 |publisher=Quiver Books }}</ref> [[Jiz Lee]],<ref name="official">[http://jizlee.com/wordpress/bio/ Jiz Lee – Bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103075740/http://jizlee.com/wordpress/bio/ |date=2012-01-03 }}. Retrieved December 22, 2011.</ref> Missy Monroe,<ref>[http://www.xcitement.com/fan_base/sl/sunny_lane_hf_int.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106142005/http://www.xcitement.com/fan_base/sl/sunny_lane_hf_int.html|date=January 6, 2012}}</ref> [[Jenna Presley]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://business.avn.com/articles/6517.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708034017/http://business.avn.com/articles/6517.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-08 |title=AVN :: Jenna Presley Stars in Lethal Hardcore's Real Squirters |publisher=Business.avn.com |date=2006-11-23 |access-date=2011-10-11 }}</ref> and Flower Tucci.<ref name="Wanted Lust Squirting Interview">{{cite web|url=http://www.wantedlist.com/Interviews/Flower_Tucci.aspx|title=wantedlist.com|access-date=2008-11-14|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209000518/http://www.wantedlist.com/Interviews/Flower_Tucci.aspx|archive-date=2013-02-09}}</ref> Fallon is known as the first pornographic actress to allegedly ejaculate on film.<ref name=SexualIQ>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UYTThJX7Vq8C&pg=PA138 ''What's Your Sexual IQ?'']{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, by Eve Marx, [[Citadel Press]], 2004, {{ISBN|0-8065-2610-6}}, page 138. Retrieved from [[Google Books]], 2007-11-17.</ref><ref name=GoddessOrgasm>[https://books.google.com/books?id=UWInkEDP-b8C&pg=PA201 ''The Goddess Orgasm: Empowered Sex for Today's Woman''], by Eve Marx, [[Citadel Press]], 2005, {{ISBN|0-8065-2666-1}}, pages 200-201. Retrieved from [[Google Books]], 2007-11-17.</ref><ref name=AVNSepto>[http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=EDA31550-1372-4B41-C4FD7ABDBD630755 "Super Squirters Are Back for Second Go-Around"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318045348/http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=EDA31550-1372-4B41-C4FD7ABDBD630755 |date=March 18, 2015 }}, Jordan Septo, ''[[Adult Video News]]'', March 30, 2006. Retrieved 2007-11-17.</ref> Tiana Lynn can allegedly ejaculate as well, and she claims to have discovered her ability during a scene with Mark Ashley.<ref name="Joins">{{cite web| title =Tiana Lynn Joins Elegant Angel| publisher =AVN.com| url =http://business.avn.com/articles/19710.html| archive-url =https://archive.today/20130117112834/http://business.avn.com/articles/19710.html| url-status=dead| archive-date =2013-01-17| date =2005-02-16| access-date =2008-10-28}}</ref>

Sarah Jane Hamilton became known as one of the first alleged female ejaculators from Britain,<ref name=refgu>{{cite book|last=Joseph W. Slade|title=Pornography and sexual representation: a reference guide|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001|isbn=978-0-313-27568-5|page=944|year=2001}}</ref> though this was later dismissed by porn reviewer Pat Riley as urination in his review of ''The British Are Coming'' (1993). However, she has commented that she could not ejaculate on cue even though producers expect her to, like a male performer.<ref>{{cite book|last=David Jennings|title=Skinflicks: The Inside Story of the X-Rated Video Industry|publisher=AuthorHouse|year=2000|page=313}}</ref>

===Censorship===
In the [[United Kingdom]], the [[British Board of Film Classification]] has requested edits to pornographic films alleged to show female ejaculation, claiming there is no such thing as female ejaculation (and therefore the films must promote [[urolagnia]]), according to expert medical "advice" provided to the film board.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/FAC/femejac.htm |title=Female Ejaculation: Research Contrary to BBFC Ruling |publisher=Fiawol.demon.co.uk |access-date=2011-10-30 |archive-date=2011-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116031547/http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/FAC/femejac.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arbw01.htm#More%20on%20Squirting |title=More on Squirting |publisher=Melonfarmers.co.uk |date=1998-01-12 |access-date=2011-10-30}}</ref> Urination during sex is considered obscene under the [[Obscene Publications Acts]].<ref name="FluidSexuality">{{cite web|url=http://carnalnation.com/content/35307/1001/fluid-sexuality-female-ejaculation-and-censorship-uk |title=Fluid Sexuality: Female Ejaculation and Censorship in the UK &#124; CarnalNation |access-date=2010-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121110512/http://carnalnation.com/content/35307/1001/fluid-sexuality-female-ejaculation-and-censorship-uk |archive-date=2010-11-21 }}, Female Ejaculation and Censorship in the UK</ref> The Board later stated that it does not take any view on whether female ejaculation exists or not, but that all apparent recorded instances (presented to the Board) were of mere female urination being touted as female ejaculation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/guide05.htm |title=BBFC Guidelines |publisher=Melonfarmers.co.uk |access-date=2010-04-26}}</ref>

Easy on the Eye Productions released a press announcement on 6 October 2010, stating that the BBFC passed the DVD ''Women Love Porn'' (containing a sequence involving female ejaculation in the scene "Top Milf") on advice of legal counsel when the director, [[Anna Span]], pushed for a hearing with the Video Appeals Committee. Easy on the Eye Productions considered this an "historic victory",<ref name="easyeye">{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=267849 |title=Female Director Victorious With First Ever UK Release of a Film That Contains Female Ejaculation |publisher=Prnewswire.co.uk |access-date=2011-10-30}}</ref> although the BBFC maintains that its stance remains "fundamentally unchanged" for future releases. According to the ''Carnal Nation'' site, the issue was first raised by the group [[Feminists Against Censorship]] (FAC) in 2001.<ref name="FluidSexuality" />

In [[Australia]], a similar view has been taken with regard to Internet censorship proposals, which ban [[Internet pornography|pornographic websites]] featuring female ejaculation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sexparty.org.au/index.php/news/press-releases/619-depictions-of-female-orgasm-being-banned-by-classification-board |title=Depictions of Female Orgasm Being Banned by Classification Board |publisher=Sexparty.org.au |date=2010-01-27 |access-date=2011-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101053512/http://www.sexparty.org.au/index.php/news/press-releases/619-depictions-of-female-orgasm-being-banned-by-classification-board |archive-date=2011-11-01 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Human sexuality}}
* [[Bartholin's gland]]
* [[One-sex and two-sex theories]]
* [[Urethral sponge]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Female ejaculation}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.thebigsoak.org/articles.html Female Ejaculation The Double Standard In the Bedroom] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204154055/http://www.thebigsoak.org/articles.html |date=2017-02-04 }}) by Eric Jackson, 2008/09/22
* [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090711144641/http://www.the-clitoris.com/f_html/ejacula.htm The-Clitoris.com: Female Ejaculation & The G-Spot]: Instructions & diagrams from a feminist perspective.
* [http://www.thebacchanalian.com/2009/08/the-mysterious-world-of-female-ejaculation/ The History of Female Ejaculation Series] by Mark Zedler, The Mysterious World of Female Ejaculation
* [http://www.ejhs.org/volume4/Schubach/abstract.html Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality: Urethral Expulsions During Sensual Arousal and Bladder Catheterization in Seven Human Females by Gary Schubach] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140313070954/http://www.incontinet.com/ejacbib.htm "Female Ejaculation" Bibliography])
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040405210615/http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~kim/orgasm.html An Annotated Bibliography on Sexual Arousal, Orgasm, and Female Ejaculation in Humans and Animals]

{{Female reproductive system}}
{{human anatomical features}}
{{Sex}}
{{Human sexuality}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Female Ejaculation}}
[[Category:Body fluids]]
[[Category:Ejaculation]]
[[Category:Feminism and sexuality]]
[[Category:Gynaecology]]
[[Category:Mammal female reproductive system]]
[[Category:Orgasm]]
[[Category:Women and sexuality]]
[[Category:Women's health]]