Can't get no satisfaction

Hundreds of years of ignorance, myths and self-serving professional literature have helped cement the false notion among men and women in the Western world that sexual intercourse must include penetration, and that penetration always leads to orgasm.

However, according to a survey conducted by Yedioth Ahronoth's Menta magazine, only 20% of women are capable of reaching sexual climax through penetration.

The poll was conducted by the Geocartography Institute in January among hundreds of adult men and women, secular and observant.

The findings revealed that 40.1% of Israeli men are certain that they were to blame for women's inability to reach an orgasm. Only 7.7% attributed this to the women's lack of sexual experience.

Meanwhile, 31.2% of women hold men responsible for women's failure to reach sexual gratification, while 9.8% said that women's inexperience was the reason for this unfortunate situation.

"These data reflect lack of knowledge that we as professionals are exposed to daily," said Dr. Rafi Heruti, head of the sexual rehabilitation clinic at the Reut medical center in Tel Aviv.

"There's a need to improve the communication between the partners and to better share emotions and feelings in order to improve sexual pleasure. Such interaction could significantly reduce the guilt on both sides," he added.

According to Dr. Heruti and sexologist Liat Dori, although some 80% of women are simply anatomically incapable of reaching an orgasm through penetration, a large part of the men and women who seek sexual treatment believe that their problem in this area is unique and stems from mental reasons.