Vaginal Squirting: Experiences, Discoveries, and Strategies in a U.S. Probability Sample of Women Ages 18-93

ABSTRACT

Vaginal squirting is a phenomenon in which women expel fluid during the sexual response process, but it remains poorly understood in the extant literature. The study purpose was to use nationally representative data to investigate adult women’s experiences with vaginal squirting. We assessed the prevalence of women who have ever squirted in their lifetime, the level of pleasure and concurrency of orgasm women reported during squirting, the ways in which women discovered squirting, and the challenges and/or concerns women experience with squirting. Forty percent of U.S. adult women (M = 47.6 years, SD = 16.8; Md = 24 years) had ever squirted in their lifetime (Md frequency = three to five times). Two thirds of women reported unintentional discovery of squirting, and most (75%) used specific techniques to promote build up and release of squirting versus squirting spontaneously. About 60% of participants reported squirting to be very or somewhat pleasurable, but only 20% “always” experienced squirting and orgasm together. Women reported different challenges with squirting, such as the time required to reach squirting or the experience being too emotionally intense. Our findings contribute to the growth of much needed, detailed literature on the ways in which women discover and enjoy squirting as part of their sexual lives. Knowledge of these techniques can enable women to better identify their own preferences, communicate about them with their partners, and advocate for their sexual pleasure.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Debby Herbenick for her contributions to the development of survey items for this study. We would like to thank Dr. Nicole S. Zelin for her participation in drafting and reviewing literature for the manuscript, and we would also like to thank Dr. Jennifer Arter and Dr. Sybil Lockhart for their contributions to the pilot qualitative research phase and preliminary qualitative analysis.

Disclosure Statement

The first and second authors were paid research research consultants with For Goodness Sake, LLC. The third and fourth authors were employees with For Goodness Sake, LLC.

Data Availability

Data are available upon request from the first author.

Notes

¹ Excellent reviews of this history can be found in Korda et al. (2010), Rodriguez et al. (2021) and Younis et al. (2015).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by For Goodness Sake, LLC.