Ejaculation can be a sticky topic (pun intended). Everyone knows that men ejaculate, but many don't realise that women do as well! Grab a box of tissues, because this week we will be exploring the mysteries of male and female ejaculation.
Most people know that in men the testicles are involved in ejaculation and many people know that the prostate also has a hand in the goings on. But are you really aware of how male ejaculation happens?
As you know, in men the purpose of ejaculation (besides for money shots in porn) is to squirt out sperm -- which is made in the testicles.
Inside your scrotum (that handy little sack between your legs guys), each testicle contains coils of tissue called seminiferous tubules. Assuming you are healthy, the cells in these tubes make sperm constantly, from the point that you hit puberty onwards.
Newly created sperm travel into the epididymis where they mature and are stored -- it's like sperm school, where they gain the ability to swim and fertilize an egg. Once they are mature, the sperm hang out in the back of the epididymis until the body is ready to ejaculate.
You might think that in a busy guy, things could get pretty backed up in there, as more and more sperm are made every day. Thankfully, men don't have to worry about having sperm backed up in their epididymis -- if the sperm is not used, after a few weeks it will be reabsorbed by the body or it will be expelled by night-time emissions (read: wet dreams).
When it's time to ejaculate, the sperm are packed together tightly at the back of the epididymis. They don't have to swim their way out either -- the sperm move out of the epididymis and along the vas deferens towards the urethra via peristaltic muscle contractions (that's the same rhythmic, forward moving muscle contractions that happen when you swallow -- it's like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube by squeezing one finger at a time from the back to the front).
In the vas deferens (a tube which connects to the urethra), other fluids are added to the mix from the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland. Sperm makes up only 3.5% of the stuff that is in your semen, the seminal vesicles contribute a sweet 60%, and the prostate a citrus-y 11.5%.
The prostate also contains smooth muscles which contract rhythmically to shoot that semen out of your penis and onto/into whatever you have "handy."
For many years it was thought that only men were capable of ejaculation. Female ejaculation was dismissed as a myth and many of the women who could do it ended up having surgery and/or therapy in an attempt to "fix" it because people thought that it was urine. But, in 1980, the medical community was finally made aware of this phenomenon when John Perry and Beverly Whipple showed a film to the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex.
The professionals at this showing saw a female being stimulated by her partner until her urethra began to swell (on a woman it's located between the vaginal opening and the clitoris). And after a few moments, milky fluid shot out! When the fluid was examined, it turned out that it wasn't urine at all but actually was pretty similar to the prostate fluid in men's ejaculate.
It's actually nearly impossible to pee while you orgasm, no matter your gender. The pubococcygeus muscle contracts to stop the flow of urine when you are peeing, and this is the same muscle that clamps down when you orgasm. This muscle contracts to keep you from emptying your bladder when you orgasm and prevents retrograde ejaculation (fluid getting sucked back into the bladder).
Female ejaculatory fluid is usually clear or milky and doesn't have the look, smell or taste of urine. It's as thin as water and in terms of taste, which varies with multiple factors like diet; it can taste sweet, sour, bitter or any combination of these.
Some researchers believe that the fluid is produced by the Skene's gland (located in the G-spot) which is thought to be the female equivalent of the male prostate gland. But thus far, much of the research on female ejaculation does not give any serious data about the origin or composition of the fluid expelled.
It has been estimated that 10% of women do ejaculate during sex, but many more women may be capable of ejaculation. It is possible that not as many women have experienced ejaculation because, for female ejaculation to occur, certain psychological, emotional, and physical conditions must be met, and this can represent a significant inhibiting factor if one or more area is neglected. It has been found that female Tantra practitioners experience ejaculation most frequently because the prolonged and uninhibited nature of tantric sex helps these women to attain the conditions required.
Ejaculation certainly is a wonderful thing; thank goodness men and women can both do it.
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