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== October 2008 ==
'''Female ejaculation''' (also described in the medical literature as Orgasmic Expulsion, and colloquially as '''''squirting''''' or '''''gushing''''') refers to the expulsion of noticeable amounts of clear [[fluid]] by human females from the [[Skene's gland|paraurethral ducts]] through and around the [[urethra]] during or before [[orgasm]]. The exact source and nature of the fluid continues to be the topic of heated debate among medical professionals.


[[Image:Information.png|25px]] Welcome to Wikipedia. The <span class="plainlinks">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mon_Oncle?diff=244394326 recent edit]</span> you made to [[:Mon Oncle]] has been reverted, as it appears to be unconstructive. Use the [[Wikipedia:Sandbox|sandbox]] for testing; if you believe the edit was constructive, ensure that you provide an informative [[Help:Edit summary|edit summary]]. You may also wish to read the [[Wikipedia:Introduction|introduction to editing]]. Thank you. <!-- Template:uw-huggle1 --> [[User:Jamesontai|'''''<font color="#000066">- Jameson L. Tai</font>''''']] <sup>''<font color="#660000">[[User talk:Jamesontai|talk]] ♦ [[Special:Contributions/Jamesontai|contribs]]''</font></sup> 16:14, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
==Introduction==
In questionnaire surveys, 35-50% of women report that they have at some time experienced the expulsion of fluid during orgasm.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Bullough B, David M, Whipple B, Dixon J, Allgeier ER, Drury KC. | title = Subjective reports of female orgasmic expulsion of fluid | journal = Nurse Pract | year= 1984 | month = Mar | volume = 9 | issue = 3 | pages= 55–9 |pmid=6546788 }}</ref><ref name=davidson>{{cite journal | author = Davidson JK, Darling CA, Conway-Welch, C | year = 1989 | month = Summer | title = The role of the Grafenberg Spot and female ejaculation in the female orgasmic response: an empirical analysis | journal = J Sex Marital Ther | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 102–20 | pmid=2769772 }}</ref><ref name="darling">{{cite journal | author = Darling CA, Davidson JK Sr, Conway-Welch C. | title = Female ejaculation: perceived origins, the Grafenberg spot/area, and sexual responsiveness | journal = Arch Sex Behav | year = 1990 | month = Feb | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | pages = 29–47 |pmid=2327894 | doi = 10.1007/BF01541824}}</ref> Other studies find anywhere from 10-69%, depending on the definitions and methods used.<ref name="wimpissinger"/><ref name="zaviacic99"/> For instance Kratochvil (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 ejaculation.<ref name=Kratochvil/> Reports on the volume of fluid expelled vary considerably<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zaviacic M |title=Sexual asphyxiophilia (Koczwarism) in women and the biological phenomenon of female ejaculation |journal=Med. Hypotheses |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=318–22 |year=1994 |month=May |pmid=7935074 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0306-9877(94)90006-X}}</ref> from amounts that would be imperceptible to a woman, to mean values of 1-5ml,<ref>{{cite journal |author=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= |url=}}</ref>
although much higher volumes have been reported.<ref name="stifter"/>

==Historical accounts==
The suggestion that women can eject fluid from their genital area as part of sexual arousal has been described 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 interest devoted to female ejaculation compared to the basic acceptance of its male counterpart has been questioned by feminist writers.<ref name="bell">{{cite book | url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=ph-2F94pR_0C&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 | author = Bell S. | chapter = Feminist ejaculations | editor = Alison Jaggar (ed.) | title = Living With Contradictions: Controversies in feminist social ethics | publisher = Westview | location = Boulder | year = 1994 | page s= 529-36}}</ref>

===Eastern accounts===
There are references to female ejaculation in Indian erotic texts, such as the ''[[Kama Sutra]] of Vatsyayana'' (Bechtel 1996) and the sixteenth century ''Ananga-Rang'',<ref name="wimpissinger"/><ref name="stifter">{{cite book | author = Stifter KF. | title = Die dritte Dimension der Lust. Das Gehemnis der weiblichen Ejakulation | location = Frankfurt am Main, Berlin | publisher = Ullstein | year = 1988 | pages = 224–8}}</ref>
and many Indian temples including [[Khajuraho]] (Madhya Pradesh), [[Konark Sun Temple]] (Orissa) and [[Vijayanagara]] temples (Karnataka) have carved images depicting female ejaculation. The ''Kama Sutra'' states (II,1: 186) that;<ref>[http://www.indohistory.com/kamasutra.html The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana. Burton R (trans.) Putnam NY 1966]</ref>
<blockquote>''The semen of women continues to fall from the beginning of the sexual union to the end, in the same way as that of the male''</blockquote>
Chinese sex handbooks, such as "Secret Methods of the Plain Girl" by Su Nu Ching ([[Sui Dynasty]] 590-618 AD) also describe ejaculation "Copious emisions from her inner heart begin to exude outward".<ref name=chalker/><ref>Douglas N, Slinger D. Sexual Secrets: The alchemy of fantasy. Destiny, Rochester 1979, 278-9</ref><ref>[http://books.google.ca/books?id=85M3AAAAIAAJ van Gulik RH. Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from Ca. 1500 B.C. Till 1644 A.D. Brill Archive, 1974]</ref>

===Ancient world===
Greek and Roman writers accepted female ejaculation as normal and pleasurable, but there was debate as to whether the fluids, like male ejaculate, were progenitive (contained generative seed).<ref name="bell"/> De Graaf claims that Galen mentions [[Herophilos]] (335-280 BC) as describing a [[prostate]]-like organ in the fourth century BC, although this is debatable.<ref name="graaf"/> [[Aristotle]] (384-322 BC) did not believe that the fluids were progenitive,<ref name="bell"/><ref name=sundahl>{{cite book | author = Sundahl, D. | title = Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot: Not your mother's orgasm book! | id = ISBN 0-89793-380-X | month = February | year = 2003 | publisher = Hunter House Publishers | url = http://www.hunterhouse.com/shopexd.asp?id=367&bc=no}}</ref>
whereas [[Hippocrates]] (460-370 BC)<ref>[http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&id=iUFMoz9alLAC Hippocrates. De geniture. Lyons WC, Hattock JN (trans.) Pembroke, Cambridge 1978. cap 6 7.478 (On Generation)]</ref> and [[Galen]] (129-200 AD) stated that they were, the two semen theory.<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>

In the [[Generation of Animals]], Aristotle argues that the function of the fluid is pleasure, not procreation;<ref>[http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/a8ga/ Aristotle. De Generation Animalium. Platt A (trans.), in Smith JA, Ross WD (eds.)The Complete Works of Aristotle. Oxford 1912, at II 728a]</ref>
<blockquote>''Some think that the female contributes semen in coition because the pleasure she experiences is sometimes similar to that of the male, and also is attended by a liquid discharge. But this discharge is not seminal...The amount of this discharge when it occurs, is sometimes on a different scale from the emission of semen and far exceeds it.'' </blockquote>

Hippocrates stated that "the ejaculate of the mans runs together with that from the woman", <ref name=chalker/> while [[Galen]] differentiated procreative and pleasurable female fluids, attributing the latter to what he described as the [[Skene's gland|prostate]].<ref>Galen. De usu part, cited in de Graaf 1668</ref> <ref>Sevely J. Eve's Secrets. A new theory of female sexuality. Random, NY 1987, at 51</ref>

<blockquote>''The fluid in her prostate ...contributes nothing to the generation of offspring...it is poured outside when it has done its service...This liquid not only stimulates...the sexual act but also is able to give pleasure and moisten the passageway as it escapes. It manifestly flows from women as they experience the greatest pleasure in coitus...''</blockquote>

Eventually it was this two semen theory that prevailed in Arabic, and then Western medical teaching. <ref>Jacquart D, Thomasset C. Sexuality and Medicine in the Middle Ages, (trans. Adamson M) Polity Press, Oxford 1988, at 66-74</ref>

===Western literature===
====Sixteenth to eighteenth century====
In the 16th century, the English physician Laevinius Lemnius, refers 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 [http://books.google.ca/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, [[Francois Mauriceau]] described glands at the urethral meatus that "pour out great quantities of saline liquor during coition, which increases the heat and enjoyment of women".<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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>[http://books.google.ca/books?id=f2d-11Y_u3cC Blackledge C. The Story of V: A Natural History of Female Sexuality. Rutgers, 2004 ISBN 0813534550, 9780813534558]</ref> in particular the work of the [[Caspar Bartholin the Elder|Bartholin]] family in Denmark.
=====De Graaf=====
The Dutch anatomist [[Regnier 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 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. | year = 1972 | month = Dec | volume = 17 | pages = 1–222 |pmid=4567037}}</ref>
<ref>Cited in Chalker 2000, p.121</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.''<br>

''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.''<br><br>

''[VII:81]Here too it should be noted that the discharge from the female 'prostatae' causes as much pleasure as does that from the male 'prostatae'''</blockquote>

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 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 it should be noted that his prime purpose was to distinguish between generative fluid and pleasurable fluid, in his stand on the Aristotelian semen controversy.

===Nineteenth century===
[[Richard von Krafft-Ebing|Krafft-Ebing's]] study of sexual perversion, 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"''</blockquote>
It is also described by [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]] in pathological terms in his study of [[Ida Bauer|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 take 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''."
</blockquote>

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>[http://books.google.ca/books?id=8aZ-jOTonK8C&pg=PA154&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=ACfU3U3_Ol-03Gm60CF1zjTca3cL8SfInQ#PPA163,M1 Falk C. Love, Anarchy and Emma Goldman. Holt Rinehart, NY 1984, at 175. Cited in Nestle J. A Restricted Country. Cleis 2003, at 163 ]</ref> <ref name="bell"/> 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 = Amer J Obstetr Diss Women Child | year = 1880 | volume = 13 | pages = 265–70}}</ref>

===Twentieth Century===
====Early twentieth century understanding====
Female ejaculation is mentioned as normal in early twentieth 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.''</blockquote>

Yet the subject was largely ignored for most of the early part of the century. In 1948, Huffman, an American gynaecologist, published his studies of the prostatic tissue in women together with an historical account and detailed drawings. These clearly showed the difference between the original glands identified by Skene at the urinary meatus, and the more [[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''</blockquote>

To date most of the interest had focussed 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 = Grafenberg E. | title = The role of the urethra in female orgasm | journal = Int J Sexol | volume = 3 | pages = 145–8| year = 1950}}</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...''</blockquote>

<blockquote>''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.'' </blockquote>

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. 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''</blockquote>
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)</blockquote>

yet dismissed it (p. 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. 69-70) and the result of "urinary stress incontinence".

====Late twentieth century awareness====
The topic did not receive serious attention again till a review by Josephine Lowndes Sevely and JW Bennett appeared in 1978.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Sevely JL, Bennett JW | title = Concerning female ejaculation and the female prostate | journal = J Sex Res | volume = 14 | pages = 1–20 | year = 1978}}</ref> This latter paper, which traces the history of the controversies to that point, and a series of three papers in 1981 by [http://www.bigspeak.com/beverly-whipple.html 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 [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2DE1F3AF93AA2575BC0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Helen Singer Kaplan] (1983) stated;<ref>[http://books.google.ca/books?id=WCqMzcAka54C Kaplan HS. The Evaluation of Sexual Disorders: Psychological and Medical Aspects. Routledge 1983]</ref>
<blockquote>''Female ejaculation (as distinct from female urination during orgasm) has never been scientifically substantiated and is highly questionable, to say the least.''</blockquote>
Even some radical feminist writers, such as [[Sheila Jeffreys]] (1985) were 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''</blockquote>

It required the detailed anatomical work of Helen O'Connell<ref>[http://www.cirp.org/news/clitoris/ Williamson S, Nowak R. The truth about women. New Scientist August 1, 1998 pp. 1-5]</ref> from 1998 onwards to more properly elucidate the relationships between the different anatomical structures involved. As she observes, the 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 |author=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 |year=1998 |month=Jun |pmid=9598482 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022-5347(01)63188-4}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal |author=O'Connell HE, Sanjeevan KV, Hutson JM |title=Anatomy of the clitoris |journal=J. Urol. |volume=174 |issue=4 Pt 1 |pages=1189–95 |year=2005 |month=Oct |pmid=16145367 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/00005392-200510010-00010}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal |author=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 |year=2008 |month=Aug |pmid=18564153 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00875.x |url=}}</ref>

====Anthropological accounts====
Female ejaculation appears in 20th century [[anthropology|anthropological]] works, such as [[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>[http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&id=OSQuvsbE5ooC Malinowski B. The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia. Harcourt Brace, NY 1929, p. 167]</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''</blockquote>

In describing sexual relations amongst the [[Chuuk|Trukese]] 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>
Catherine Blackledge <ref name=blackledge/> (p. 205) provides a number of examples from other cultures, including the [[Uganda]]n [[Demographics of Uganda|Batoro]], [[Mohave]] Indians, [[Mangaia]]ns, and [[Pohnpei|Ponapese]]. Amongst the Batoro, older women teach the younger women "kachapati" (spraying the wall) at puberty. (See also Chalker 2002 pp. 531-2, Ladas et al 1983 pp. 74-5)

==Controversies and debates==
The debates in the current literature focus on three threads: whether ejaculation exists or not, the sources and composition of the fluid, and the role of female ejaculation in constructing theories of sexuality. <ref name=bell/> Inevitably such a debate becomes politicised in terms of people's beliefs, and is influenced by popular culture and pornography in addition to physico-chemical and behavioural studies. From a feminist perspective, there is resistance to what has been perceived as a male lens in interpreting the data and construct. More often than not the debate is tied to the existence or not 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 |year=2002 |month=Aug |pmid=12193956 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0002937802002363}}
</ref> <ref name=sundahl/>
since stimulation of the anterior vaginal wall involves simultaneous stimulation of the para-urethral tissue, the site of the homologous prostatic glands and ducts, and stated source of the ejaculated fluid, and therefore it was variously stated that stimulation of this spot resulted in 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 |year=1982 |month=Jul |pmid=7202277 |doi= |url=}}</ref><ref name=zaviacicwhipple/>

An example of the difficulties is provided by the contrasting views of Carol Darling and Heli 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> As [[Shannon Bell]] states,<ref name="bell"/> essentially they are discussing two different phenomena. In an extensive survey, Darling and colleagues claim support for the existence of ejaculation,<ref name="darling">{{cite journal | author = Darling CA, Davidson JK Sr, Conway-Welch C. | title = Female ejaculation: perceived origins, the Grafenberg spot/area, and sexual responsiveness | journal = Arch Sex Behav | year = 1990 | month = Feb | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | pages = 29–47 |pmid=2327894 | doi = 10.1007/BF01541824}}</ref> while in a sharply critical response, Alzate states that direct experimentation fails to provide any evidence.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Vaginal erogeneity, "female ejaculation," and the "Grafenberg spot" | author = Alzate H | year = 1990 | month = Dec | volume = 19 | issue = 6 | pages = 607–11 |pmid=2082864 | journal = | unused_data = |Arch Sex Behav}}</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"''</blockquote>

Bell 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.

The discussion entered popular culture in 1982 with the publication of the bestselling ''The G-Spot: And Other Discoveries About Human Sexuality,'' by Ladas, [http://www.bigeye.com/sexeducation/whippleorgasms.html Whipple], and Perry.<ref>{{cite book | author = Ladas, AK; Whipple, B; Perry, JD | year = 1982 | title = The G spot: And other discoveries about human sexuality | location = New York | publisher = Holt, Rinehart, and Winston}}</ref> The book discussed the question of female ejaculation and brought the concept back into discussions of women's sexuality, both in the medical community and among the general public. <ref name="santamaria"/><ref name="hines">{{cite journal |author =Hines, T |year =2001 |month =August |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><ref name="chalker"/> This was a popular account of three papers by the authors, the previous year, at the suggestion of [http://www.sexualtherapy.com/therapists/ladas.htm 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}}</ref><ref name="addiego">{{cite journal |author =Addiego, F; Belzer, EG; Comolli, J; Moger, W; Perry, JD; Whipple, B. |year =1981|title =Female ejaculation: a case study |journal =Journal of Sex Research |volume =17 |issue =1|pages =13–21}}</ref><ref name="perry">{{cite journal |author =Perry, JD; 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}}</ref>
Rebecca Chalker notes that this book was largely met with scorn, skepticism and disbelief.<ref name="chalker">{{cite book | url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=m3m3_Uq8qWkC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94 | author = Chalker, Rebecca | title = The Clitoral Truth: The secret world at your fingertips | publisher = Seven Stories | location = New York| year = 2002}}</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 compared to biomedical investigation and clinical trials. Importantly, a number of the women stated that they had been diagnosed with urinary incontinence. However the book 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 |author=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 |year=2002 |month=Aug |pmid=12193957 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0002937802002375}}</ref> Whipple continued to publicise her discoveries, including a 9 min video made in 1981 [http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/85117.htm Orgasmic Expulsions of Fluid in the Sexually Stimulated Female].
The ''Journal of Sex Research'' described the debate as 'heated' in 1984.<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= |url=}}</ref><ref name=gravina/> This not only challenged the traditional fragmentation of female sexuality into clitoral vs. vaginal sensation, but sexualised the urethra, and by reconstructing female sexual anatomy addressed traditional thinking about the differences in male and female genitalia, often described by feminists as [[phallocentric]]. <ref name=bell/>

Bell further questions why feminists have not been more outspoken in defence 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 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 Terrence Hines.<ref name="hines"/>
Even in 2007,<ref name="wimpissinger"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Rabinerson D, Horowitz E |title=[G-spot and female ejaculation: fiction or reality?] |language=Hebrew |journal=Harefuah |volume=146 |issue=2 |pages=145–7, 163 |year=2007 |month=Feb |pmid=17352286 |doi= |url=}}</ref> and 2008<ref name=gravina>{{cite journal |author=Gravina GL, Brandetti F, Martini P, ''et al'' |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 |year=2008 |month=Mar |pmid=18221286 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00739.x |url=}}</ref>
the existence of a female prostate and of ejaculation are described as a matter of debate, and articles and book chapters continue to appear with subtitles such as "Fact or Fantasy".<ref name="chalker"/>

==Research==
Much of the problem in arriving at a consensus relates to a failure to adopt generally agreed-on definitions<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 |year=2002 |month=Apr |pmid=11967519 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/a121628}}</ref> and to research methodology. Research on this subject has used highly selected individuals, case studies, or very small numbers of subjects, making generalisation difficult, hence the continuing controversies and debates. For instance, much of the research into the nature of the fluid concentrates on trying to determine whether it is urine or not. Problems relate to the difficulties involved in the collection of specimens and of contamination. Since the area of interest is para-urethral glands, it is impossible to completely separate the secretions from urine, especially where there may be retrograde ejaculation back up the urethra towards the bladder. The best data comes from studies where women have abstained from coitus, and where their own urine is used as controls, pre and post orgasm. One way of sorting this out is the use of chemicals that are excreted in the urine, so that any urinary contamination can be detected. Another methodological issue arises from the fact that the composition of the fluid appears to vary with the menstrual cycle,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zaviacic M, Jakubovský J, Polák S, ''et al'' |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 |year=1984 |month=Apr |pmid=6538874 |doi= |url=}}</ref> while the biochemical profile of the para-urethral tissues also varies with age.<ref>{{cite journal |author=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=Slovak |journal=Cesk Gynekol |volume=54 |issue=10 |pages=755–60 |year=1989 |month=Dec |pmid=2630042 |doi= |url=}}</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 nature.<ref name="bohlen"/> Some findings have been presented in conferences but never published in peer review journals, and many others are in difficult to access resources.

===Relation to urinary incontinence===
For most of the last century, there was controversy over whether the effect existed at all, and in recent history there has been confusion between female ejaculation and [[urinary incontinence]]. Even 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=18 360-8 |issue=4 |pages=360–8 |year=1982 }}</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".''</blockquote>
However, scientific studies from the 1980s and later have demonstrated that a substance is produced which is distinct from urine, though it shares some qualities, such as alkalinity, with urine.<ref name=Kratochvil>{{cite journal |author = Kratochvíl S. | year = 1994 | month = Apr | title = Orgasmic expulsions in women | journal = Cesk Psychiatr | volume = 90 | issue = 2 | pages = 71–7 | pmid = 8004685 }}</ref> But women claiming to have ejaculations who have agreed to [[urinary catheterization|urethral catheterisation]] prior to intercourse expelled large volumes of urine through the catheter at orgasm. There is no doubt that some women are frankly incontinent of urine at orgasm (coital incontinence),
<ref>[http://www.embarrassingproblems.co.uk/urinatesex.htm Embarassingproblems.com - Urinating during sex]</ref>
which can be distressing. A recent study of women who claim to ejaculate found no evidence of any urological problems, suggesting these two conditions (ejaculation and coital incontinence) are quite distinct physiologically, although perhaps not always distinguishable in a particular woman's mind. For instance Davidson's study of 1,289 women found that the sensation of ejacualation was very similar to that of urination. <ref name=davidson>{{cite journal | author = Davidson JK, Darling CA, Conway-Welch, C | year = 1989 | month = Summer | title = The role of the Grafenberg Spot and female ejaculation in the female orgasmic response: an empirical analysis | journal = J Sex Marital Ther | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 102–20 | pmid=2769772 }}</ref> It may be important to sort out whether there is in fact any incontinence in women who present complaining of this, to avoid unnecessary interventions.<ref name=whipple-chalker/> <ref>{{cite journal |author=Cartwright R, Elvy S, Cardozo L |title=Do women with female ejaculation have detrusor overactivity? |journal=J Sex Med |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=1655–8 |year=2007 |month=Nov |pmid=17634057 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00541.x |url=}}</ref>
It is important to distinguish orgasmic ejaculation from vaginal discharges which may require investigation and treatment. However in individual cases, the exact source of any reported discharge may not be obvious without further investigation.

===Nature of fluid===
Critics of the concept have maintained that ejaculation is merely either stress incontinence or [[vaginal lubrication]]. Research in this area has concentrated almost exclusively on attempts to prove that it is not urine<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= |url=}}</ref><ref name="chalker02"/> measuring substances such as [[urea]], [[creatinine]], [[prostatic acid phosphatase]] (PAP), [[prostate specific antigen]] (PSA),<ref name="zaviacic99">[http://www.doctorg.com/sexual_products/ebook_female_prostate.html Zaviacic M. The human female prostate: From Vestigial Skene's Paraurethral Glands and Ducts to Woman's Functional Prostate. Slovak Academic Press, Bratislava 1999]</ref> [[glucose]] and [[fructose]]
<ref>{{cite journal |author=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= |pages=319–25 |year=1988}}</ref>
levels. Early work was contradictory, for instance the initial study on one woman by Addiego and colleagues reported in 1981,<ref name ="addiego"/> could not be confirmed in a subsequent 1983 study on 11 women in 1983,
<ref name=goldberg>{{cite journal | author = Goldberg, DC; Whipple, B; Fishkin, RE; Waxman H; Fink PJ; 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 }}</ref> but were confirmed in another 7 women in 1984.<ref name="belzerjsr84"/> But 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 |year=1985 |month=Dec |pmid=4084052 |doi= |url=}}</ref> suggesting that results depend critically on the methods used.

A 2007 study on two women, involved ultrasound, endoscopic and biochemical analysis of fluid. The ejaculate was compared to pre-orgasmic urine from the same woman, and also to published data on male ejaculate. In both women, higher levels of PSA, PAP, glucose but lower levels of creatinine were found in the ejaculate. PSA levels were comparable to those in males.<ref name="wimpissinger">{{cite journal |author=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 |year=2007 |month=Sep |pmid=17634056 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00542.x |url=}}</ref>

===Source of fluid===
One very practical objection, relates to the claims about the volume ejaculated, since this has to come from some storage area in the pelvis, of which the urinary [[bladder]] is obviously the largest source. The actual volume of the para-urethral tissue is quite small. By comparison, male ejaculate varies from 0.2-6.6 ml (95% [[confidence interval]]), with a maximum of 13 ml.<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= |url=}}</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 3-15 ml.<ref name="belzerjsr84"/> One source states that Skene's glands are capable of excreting 30-50 ml 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]] (or drugs like Urised which contain it) so that any urinary contamination can be detected.<ref name="belzerjsr84">{{cite journal |author=Belzer EG, Whipple W, Moger W. |title=On female ejaculation |journal=J Sex Res. |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=403–6 |year=1984}}</ref> Belzer showed that in a woman he studied, the dye was 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, confirming that the ejaculate likely arises from the ducts in these tissues, in a manner homologous to that in the male.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Pollen, JJ; Dreilinger, A | year = 1984 | month = March | 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 | author = Tepper, SL; Jagirdar, J; Heath, D; Geller, SA | year = 1984 | month = May | 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 | author = Zaviacic, Z; Ruzicková, M; Jakubovský, J; Danihel, L; Babál, P; Blazeková, J | year = 1994 | month = November | 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 | author = Wernert, N; Albrech, M; Sesterhenn, I; Goebbels, R; Bonkhoff, H; Seitz, G; Inniger, R; 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 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Zaviacic, Z; Ablin, RJ | year = 2000 | month = January | 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 tissue in both male and female is Human Protein 1<ref>{{cite journal | author = Zaviacic, M; Danihel, L; Ruzicková, M; Blazeková, J; Itoh, Y; Okutani, R; Kawai, T | year = 1997 | month = March | 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}}</ref>

However, studies on the actual fluid are very limited compared to those on the tissues of likely origin. PSA occurs in urine, which is elevated in post-orgasmic samples, compared to pre-orgasmic. Simultaneous collection of ejaculate also showed PSA in all cases, but in higher concentration than the urine.<ref name="santamaria">[http://www.doctorg.com/female-ejaculation-myth-reality-1.htm {{cite book | author = Cabello Santamaria, F | year = 1997 | chapter = Female ejaculation: Myths and reality | editor = J.J. Baras-Vass & M.Perez-Conchillo (Eds) | 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.}}]</ref>

==Social significance==
Women's sexual function and orgasm in particular, remains poorly understood scientifically as opposed to politically and philosophically.<ref>Singer J, Singer I. Types of female orgasm. J Sex Res 8: 255-67, 1972</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=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 |year=2007 |month=May |pmid=17433086 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00455.x |url=}}</ref><ref name=gravina/> Regardless of the actual 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"/> Women have reclaimed control over their sexuality in a reconstructed narrative of feminine anatomy, and sexual arousal, and at the same time have gained some insight into society's priorities in studying and understanding female sexuality, where mainly ''dys''function gets funded.<ref name=chalker/> "Society cannot accept female ejaculation precisely because it makes men and women equal." <ref>Fatale F, in, On Our Backs, Sept 1992, p.8 cited in Chalker R The Clitoral Truth</ref> Bell and other feminist writers see a reconstructed sexual female body as empowering through experience, revalorising an image that they felt devalued in phallocentric discourse. These have traditionally emphasised the ''difference'' between male and female bodies rather than their ''similarity''. <ref>O'Brien M. The politics of reproduction. Routledge, London 1981.</ref><ref>Showalter E. (ed.) Feminist criticism in the wilderness. The New Feminist Criticism. Essays on Women, Literature and Theory. Pantheon NY 1985</ref> Feminist theorists such as [[Luce Iragaray]] <ref>Iragaray L. This sex which is not one. Cornell, NY 1985,page 116</ref> and [[Julia Kristeva]] have discussed the feminine in terms of the properties of fluids, with ejaculation appropriated to the male.
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}}</ref> Others suppressed sexual climax, and sought medical advice for this "problem", and even underwent surgery.<ref name="chalker"/>

There are, however, concerns. 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 Galenic view, it was incomplete. <ref name=connell/> By contrast it could equally be argued that the [[Y chromosome]] merely modifies a female template. <ref name="belzer"/><ref name="chalker"/><ref name="chalker02"/> Furthermore overemphasis of ejaculation may induce performance anxiety.<ref name="chalker"/> For the reason that 'sameness' has been constructed 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 embued with different properties and purpose. A third concern is that of the increasing 'medicalisation' of women's sexuality, as expressed by [http://leonoretiefer.com/ 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 |year=2005 |month=Jan |pmid=15661785 |pmc=545000 |doi=10.1136/bmj.330.7484.192 |url=}}</ref>
Tiefer has expressed concern that overemphasising ejaculation will drive women who might feel inadequate to seek medical attention, <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/>

Contemporary women's health literature summarise 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 PSA or 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 |author=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}}</ref><ref name="zaviacic98">{{cite journal |author=Zaviacic M, Ablin RJ |title=The female prostate |journal=J. Natl. Cancer Inst. |volume=90 |issue=9 |pages=713–4 |year=1998 |month=May |pmid=9586671 |doi= |url=http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=9586671}}</ref>

===Popular culture===
It is claimed that "most women, the overwhelming proportion of women" are capable of ejaculation with training and practice.<ref>{{cite web | date=[[2007-05-15]] | title=Female Ejaculation & G-Spot Orgasm Podcast Interview with Dr. Gary Schubach | url=http://www.personallifemedia.com/podcasts/expanded-lovemaking/episode007-gary-schubach-squirting-female-ejaculations.html | publisher=Personal Life Media | accessdate=2007-05-15}}</ref><ref>Gary Schubach, Ed.D 2001, Urethral Expulsions During Sensual Arousal and Bladder Catheterization in Seven Human Females</ref>
Many Tantric gurus such as Mantak Chia among others educated followers about the existence and the techniques to achieve female ejaculation as far back as the sixties and seventies. By the seventies and eighties notable American and British Tantric teachers were further popularizing it. With the turn of the century it was depicted in pornography. 'Sex and the City' perhaps brought it to the widest audience although it was represented as a lesbian phenomenon. Regardless of proven scientific fact, ejaculation is now firmly embedded in the popular culture, with workshops and videos, as an empowering phenomenon. A recent example is the film Divine Nectar <ref>[http://www.sexyspirits.com/ Divine Nectar workshops]</ref> by [[Tallulah Sulis]].<ref>[http://www.tallulahsulis.com/nectar/trailer.php Divine Nectar Trailer]</ref> These depict ejaculation as a spiritual experience.

===Censorship===
In the [[United Kingdom]], the [[British Board of Film Classification]] has banned films alleged to show female ejaculation, claiming that the "expert medical advice" they received informed them that there is no such thing as female ejaculation, and therefore it was deemed to show urine. <ref>[http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/FAC/femejac.htm Female Ejaculation: Research Contrary to BBFC Ruling]</ref><ref>[http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arbw01.htm http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arbw01.htm#More on Squirting]</ref> They later stated instead that they do not take any view on whether female ejaculation exists, only claiming that all examples they have seen thus far during classification have been urination during sex.<ref>http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/guide05.htm</ref>

==See also==
*[[Female sexuality]]
*[[Bartholin's gland]]
*[[Skene's gland]]
*[[G-spot]]
*[[Clitoris]]
*[[Retrograde ejaculation]]
*[[One sex two sex theory]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Additional sources==

* {{cite journal |author=Altshuler SJ |title=The Hypothesis of Female Ejaculation: Too Little Interest, Too Little Research |journal=Journal of Social Work & Human Sexuality |volume=4 |issue=1/2 |pages=125–39 |year=1986 |url=http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=H29G3N6BC4UM9NTQUWF8AH1UFPD09046&ID=95558 |doi=10.1300/J291v04n01_13}}
* Sevely J. Eve's Secrets: A new theory of female sexuality. Random NY, 1987
* [http://books.google.ca/books?id=CyK2oKiLDTAC Galen. On Semen. DeLacy P (trans.) Akademie Verlag, 1992]
* {{cite book | url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=ph-2F94pR_0C&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 | author = Bell S. | chapter = Feminist ejaculations | editor = Alison Jaggar (ed.) | title = Living With Contradictions: Controversies in feminist social ethics | publisher = Westview | location = Boulder | year = 1994 | page s= 529–36}}
* [http://books.google.ca/books?id=FWtcUwVsMkcC Bechtel S, Stains LR, Stains, L. Sex: A Man's Guide. Rodale, 1996]
*{{cite book | url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=m3m3_Uq8qWkC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94 | author = Chalker, Rebecca | title = The Clitoral Truth: The secret world at your fingertips | publisher = Seven Stories | location = New York| year = 2002}}
* {{cite journal | author = Jones, Nicola | date = [[2002-07-03]] | title = Bigger is better when it comes to the G spot | journal = New Scientist | url = http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2495 | accessdate = 2006-06-29}}
* [http://www.amazon.com/Female-Ejaculation-G-spot-D-Sundahl/dp/1904132383/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196381829&sr=8-1 Sundahl, D. Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot. Fusion 2004]
* Arthur, Clint (2004) "9 Free Secrets of New Sensual Power"
* Jackson, Eric T. - Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot, 2008 [http://www.thebigsoak.org/articles.html Orgasmic Explosion Training]

===Videos===
* Fatale F. How to female ejaculate. Blush Entertainment 1992
* Lane D. The magic of female ejaculation. House O'Chicks 1992
* [http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/85117.htm Whipple B. Orgasmic expulsions of fluid in the sexually stimulated female. Focus International 1981]

==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
* [http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~kim/orgasm.html An Annotated Bibliography on Sexual Arousal, Orgasm, and Female Ejaculation in Humans and Animals]
* [http://www.the-clitoris.com/f_html/ejacula.htm The-Clitoris.com: Female Ejaculation & The G-Spot]: Instructions and diagrams from a feminist perspective.
* [http://doctorg.com/index.htm Dr Gary Schubach: DoctorG.com ]
* [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] ([http://www.incontinet.com/ejacbib.htm "Female Ejaculation" Bibliography])
* [http://www.holisticwisdom.com/services_female-ejaculation_what-is-it.htm Female Ejaculation: What is it?] - by Lisa S. Lawless, R.M., C.E.O. Psychotherapist, Founder Of HolisticWisdom.com
* [http://www.doctorg.com/history-female-ejaculation-3.htm History of "shejaculation"]
* [http://morganmouth.blogspot.com/2007/11/ejaculate-fairy.html Morgan A. The ejaculate fairy. November 29 2007]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Female-Ejaculation-G-Spot-Mothers-Positively/dp/089793380X Sundahl, D. (February 2003). Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot: Not your mother's orgasm book!. Hunter House Publishers. ISBN 0-89793-380-X. - excerpt]

{{Female reproductive system}}
{{human anatomical features}}
{{sex}}

[[Category:Body fluids]]
[[Category:Gynecology]]
[[Category:Orgasm]]
[[Category:Female reproductive system]]
[[Category:Women's health]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Women and sexuality]]
[[Category:Feminism]]

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[[ca:Ejaculació femenina]]
[[cs:Ženská ejakulace]]
[[da:Kvindelig ejakulation]]
[[de:Weibliche Ejakulation]]
[[es:Eyaculación femenina]]
[[fr:Éjaculation féminine]]
[[it:Eiaculazione femminile]]
[[lt:Moters ejakuliacija]]
[[ml:രതിസലിലം]]
[[nl:Vrouwelijke ejaculatie]]
[[ja:潮吹き (アダルト)]]
[[pl:Wytrysk u kobiet]]
[[pt:Ejaculação feminina]]
[[ru:Женская эякуляция]]
[[simple:Ejaculation#Women]]
[[fi:Naisen ejakulaatio]]
[[sv:Kvinnlig ejakulation]]
[[tr:Kadınlarda boşalma]]
[[zh:女性射精]]

Revision as of 16:14, 10 October 2008

October 2008

Welcome to Wikipedia. The recent edit you made to Mon Oncle has been reverted, as it appears to be unconstructive. Use the sandbox for testing; if you believe the edit was constructive, ensure that you provide an informative edit summary. You may also wish to read the introduction to editing. Thank you. - Jameson L. Tai talk ♦ contribs 16:14, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

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