The orgasm is a pulsatile event with strong feelings of pleasure centred around the genitala and which can engulf the entire body with almost overwhelming sensations. In some cases, it can also be accompanied by a demanding pushing feeling.

In the majority of women, orgasm is usually indicated visibly by a series of contractions in the vaginal-anal area which occur at about once every 0.8 seconds on average. It is also often accompanied by "goose bumps", and by a "sex flush" which is a rapid change in skin colour of the upper body resulting from an increase in cutaneous blood flow.

The rate of perineal contractions vary from woman to woman, and certainly not all contractions in an orgasmic series are evenly spaced, the first usually being relatively short and pronounced. Perineal contractions can be visible higher up around the clitoris (causing the clitoris to "hop"), around the vaginal opening (causing the vagina to "snap"), on the sides of the vulva, or just around the anus. While some women may demonstrate only one of these types of contractions, others have all of them.

Internally, there are also waves of contractions of the uterus which are stimulated by the orgasmic surge in the hormone oxytosin.

Much of the literature about the female orgasm reports that during orgasm the clitoris retracts under the clitoral hood. However, from the hundreds of videos of real orgasms shown here it has become apparent that this is not common. On the rare occasion that "clitoral retraction" occurs, it appears that the clitoris itself does not retract, but it is rather pulled beneath the clitoral hood by the contractions of the muscles surrounding it. Given that the clitoris is composed of spongiform tissue without skeletal muscle, it is hard to see how else this could be achieved mechanically as it certainly does not detumesce during orgasm.

During orgasm the woman's blood pressure and heart rate increase considerably and she often does staccato breathing, and may vocalise though this may be both voluntary and involuntary. Some hold their breath. Many also show spastic contractions of muscles in the hands and feet causing curling of toes (carpopedal spasms), or strong abdominal contractions causing her entire body to arch. Her nipples may also become erect.

Also, a good proportion of women can experience a very prolonged orgasm called a 'status orgasmus' which, as far as I know, no man can. These can last many seconds and must be fun :-).

The Bartholin's glands (greater vestibular glands) which open just outside the vaginal opening produce a small amount of mucus (just a few drops) and this seems to be secreted just before orgasm. It may be involved in making the chemistry of the vagina less hostile to sperm.

Female Ejaculation

Female ejaculation is still a much debated phenomenon. There is no doubt that many women produce, and may forcibly expel in squirts, small to copious amounts of a clear fluid from their urethral opening during high levels of excitement or orgasm. This clear fluid seems very similar to urine but is typically less yellow in color. Additionally there are several scientific papers that claim female ejaculate contains enzymes not found in urine which are rather present in male semen (phosphatases formed in men in the prostate gland that is responsible for the bulk of male semen volume). Surprisingly there is considerable lack of agreement about whether these secretions can come from supposed peri-urethral reservoirs. Most likely there is a mixture of urine (especially in women who produce 10s of mls of ejaculate), and some other urethral products.

In the hundreds of female orgasm videos we've taken, we have found that the women who experience genuine female ejaculation almost always present the other signs of orgasm that we describe including natural, rhythmic, orgasm contractions.