Squirt (skwərt): verb - to cause (a liquid) to be ejected from a small opening in something in a thin, fast stream or jet.
Let's talk about squirting. You know, like the thing that happens during sex. Well, it happens during sex forsome women, but we'll get to that in a bit. More than likely, your experiences with squirting have been exclusively through porn, but to those of you who have personally experienced it, congrats! At the moment of climax, a stream of liquid comes rushing out of the woman, similar to when a man ejaculates. For some reason, men seem to be exceedingly proud to be the catalyst of such a reaction, although it has more to do with the woman than the man.
So what is squirting?
The gush of fluid from a woman's urethra during sex is commonly known as "squirting," although it's also referred to as "gushing."
Shrouded in mystery, there are a lot of misconceptions about squirting.
Some people think that all women are capable of squirting if the sex is good enough, but this simply isn't true. Plenty of women orgasm without ever squirting, and it's not that there's anything wrong with them or their partner, they're just not made that way.
In addition to believing that all women can do it if they work hard and believe in themselves, many people are under the impression that when a woman squirts, there's a LOT of liquid. In reality, it's closer to about ahalf a coffee cup full.
There's also a lot of debate as to what exactly squirting is. Is it pee? Is it ejaculate? WHAT ARE YOU?!
Lucky for you, a team of researchers recently had the same question.
And they've got answers.
A small study was recently published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, finding that it's essentially the involuntary release of urine.
Before you freak out, hear me out: the researchers had participants give samples of urine before and after sexual stimulation, as well as a sample of the fluid released during squirting.
Before you freak out, hear me out: the researchers had participants give samples of urine before and after sexual stimulation, as well as a sample of the fluid released during squirting.
Here's what they found.
The fluid from squirting itself is urine. In the study, they had women empty their bladders and confirmed that they were empty using ultrasound before sexual stimulation. Partway through, they checked again and found that the bladder had filled a little bit. After squirting, the bladder was empty again. Now for those samples. The squirting sample and the urine samples from both before and after stimulation all contained similar levels of urea, creatine, and uric acid. Here's the kicker: along with the urine, prostatic fluid was released by almost all of the women. In five out of the seven women, prostatic-specific antigen was found in both the squirting sample and the urine sample taken after sexual stimulation. In one woman, it was even found in her sample from before sexual stimulation.
What does this mean? Basically it means that in five of the seven women, squirting was accompanied by female ejaculation, which is NOT the same thing.
You read that right. Squirting is not the same thing as female ejaculation.
Don't worry, my green young friend. I know this is a lot to swallow all at once. Squirting seems to specifically be urine, whereas female ejaculate comes from the female prostate.
Wait... Female prostate?
Yes, you lucky dog. It's actually located right about where your G-spot is, which you can learn more abouthere. You can thank the Skene's glands for this lovely phenomenon.
Ske-what?
What are these wonderful things and why haven't I heard of them sooner?
Female sexuality is not studied nearly as much as it should be, particularly when it comes to sexual pleasure. So because the Skene's glands literally only exist for sexual pleasure, we don't know a whole lot about them.
Here's what we DO know: the Skene's glands are considered the female prostate, and are part of the infamous G-spot. They surround the urethra and produce a small volume of fluid containing prostatic-specific antigen, which is excreted by ducts on either side of the urethra. If you remember what we talked about earlier, you'll know that some of the women actually experienced female ejaculation at the same time as squirting, because prostatic-specific antigen was found in their samples.
At this point, you probably want to know how squirting actually happens.
Squirting typically happens as a result of G-spot stimulation. Squirting itself is due to coital incontinence, which can be further broken down into orgasmic incontinence and penetration incontinence, which is more common.
If you squirt, it doesn't always mean you've had an orgasm.
Since squirting is essentially stress-induced incontinence (the same kind caused by a sneeze), it doesn't have to be accompanied by an orgasm. Female ejaculation, however, is due to having an orgasm, but it doesn't produce nearly as much fluid.
To squirt or not to squirt...
Are we sure that it's urine? You said we don't have a lot of research.
To be fair, the study on squirting was well designed and did provide evidence that squirting is just urine (and sometimes female ejaculate), but the sample size of seven women is too small to be taken as definitive proof. As I mentioned, this area is not studied nearly enough, so the answer is no, we're not sure. We do have good evidence that it's urine, but without a larger sample size and more studies, it's impossible to determine from a scientific standpoint.
Sources: 1. Wiley Online Library / Pastor / DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12166 2. Journal of the National Cancer Institute / Zaviacic & Ablin / DOI:10.1093/jnci/90.9.713 3. Wiley Online Library / Salama et al. / DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12799 4. PubMed / Harefuah / PMID 17352286
Main image via 1. Utica College / Toni Vernon 2. tumblr / melindamac 3. GifBay / funnyjunk
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