CHECK THE RESEARCH
Prepared by SIECCAN
(The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada)
May 2012
Women’s sexuality is complex. A woman’s emotions, her relationships, social and cultural influences, as well as physical
stimulation, all play a role in sexual arousal and pleasure. As one possible focus of intense sexual pleasure in women,
the area now described as the G-spot has intrigued writers and researchers for centuries. While some accounts would
suggest that the G-spot is a proven anatomical area, the scientific community continues to have questions on the topic.
This issue of Check the Research explores past and current research on the G-spot and its implications for women.
“The GrafenberG SpoT haS been characTerized aS a
bean-Shaped eroGenouS area/zone in The anTerior wall
of The vaGinal barrel, which, if properly STimulaTed,
independenT of any cliToral STimulaTion, will produce
a vaGinal orGaSm differenT from a cliToral orGaSm.
The locaTion of ThiS SenSiTive area iS ThouGhT To be on
The anTerior wall of The vaGina midway beTween The
pubic bone and The cervix, approximaTely Two To Three
cenTimeTerS inSide The vaGinal barrel?”
(Davidson, Darling & Conway-Welch, 1989; p. 103.)
hiSTorical backGround:
Reference to a sensitive area on the upper wall of the vagina can be found in the Kamasutra, an ancient Indian treatise
on human sexual behavior that was written sometime between the first and sixth century AD. In the 17th century, a
Dutch physician Regnier de Graf, described an erogenous area in the vagina, that when stimulated produced an intense
orgasm and ejaculation, similar to the male ejaculation. In the 20th century, the nature of female arousal continued to
be a focus of scientific study and speculation, and researchers and theorists attempted to understand and define the
source of female sexual pleasure.
The G-Spot, also known as the Grafenberg Spot, was named after an American gynecologist, Ernest Grafenberg.
Grafenberg wrote an article in 1950 in which he described a particularly sensitive part of the vagina that swelled during
sexual stimulation and orgasm. He never referred specifically to one “spot”, but rather described an “erotic zone…on
the anterior wall of the vagina along the course of the urethra” (Grafenberg, 1950). The term, the G-Spot, was first used
by a team of Canadian and American researchers to describe “an erotically sensitive spot” on the anterior, or upper, wall
of the vagina (Addiego et al., 1981). Their research described a case study of one woman who experienced orgasm and
ejaculation of fluid when this spot was stimulated. Although the fluid was expelled from the urethra and contained
traces of urine, it was found to have chemical similarities to the fluid in male ejaculate.
reSearch STudieS on The G-SpoT
Research on the G-spot has included large scale studies that utilized self-reported questionnaires, individual case
studies, anatomical dissections and studies that involved various technological forms of imaging. In a review of the
scientific literature published since 1950, Kilchevsky (2012) and colleagues presented the findings from a number of
these studies. Some studies, such as one conducted by Goldberg et al. in 1983, relied on a limited number of female
subjects to report their levels of sexual arousal when specific vaginal areas were stimulated. Other large-scale studies
used questionnaires to document the attitudes and personal experience of women towards the G-spot.
After reviewing 96 research studies, Kilchevsky concluded that the existence of the G-spot had not yet
been irrefutably proven.
THE G-SpoT: WHAT do WE KnoW?
