RGFP Lecture -

.Title : When Orgasms Do Not Equal Pleasure:

Accounts of Bad Orgasm Experiences During Consensual Sexual Encounters



Abstract: Orgasm is considered by many to be the most satisfying aspect of sex. Accordingly, orgasms are generally assumed to be wholly positive experiences; and thus, sex with orgasm is assumed to be always necessarily positive or pleasurable. But, are orgasms always experienced in unilaterally positive ways? The evidence that women and men can orgasm while being sexually assaulted suggests that the answer is no; orgasm can result from physical stimulation even during resistance and absence of arousal. Despite this, research has yet to explore the frequency of orgasms in non-positive consensual sexual encounters and whether orgasms themselves can be non-positive, or even negative. This calls to question: 1) Do individuals experience orgasm in non-positive consensual sexual encounters and how do individuals characterize these experiences? 2) Can orgasms themselves be non-positive or negative?
In this talk, I will discuss findings from my dissertation project, which suggested that orgasm during non-positive and/or negative consensual sexual encounters may be a common phenomenon despite notions that orgasm equates that a sexual encounter was positive and pleasurable. I will discuss how participants characterized their bad orgasm experiences, how social location can create stressful expectations for orgasm, and how participants comments complicated notions of orgasm as inherently pleasurable.