Female Ejaculation: From Shame to Embracing Sexuality

What Is Female Ejaculation?

At the end of the 19th century, Lysol, a famous American cleaning and disinfectant brand, ran an advertisement that stated, “She is the perfect wife, except for one small, unmentionable issue.” The ad claimed that vaginal discharge caused unpleasant odors, suggesting that women should use their products to become the “perfect partner” for men. These products ranged from steam treatments and washes to herbal inserts, promising to reduce vaginal secretions and odors, thus enhancing a woman’s attractiveness.

While vaginal odor can indeed be embarrassing, it is usually caused by bacteria thriving in sweat and is common to both men and women. However, the advertisement linked this issue to women’s domestic relationships, social activities, and societal status, enforcing a standard that women must always maintain perfect genital hygiene. In the social context of that time, such products were sold out, and various derivatives, including inserts and portable versions, were introduced to encourage women to use them anytime.

By 1911, excessive use of these products had resulted in five reported deaths and 193 poisonings. This incident is just a microcosm of history, where women have often used various methods to struggle with their sexuality, genitals, and even vaginal secretions.

Today’s title, “What Is Female Ejaculation?” might make some chuckle or others confidently answer, “I know what it is.” But today, I want to explore the topic from a cultural and sociological perspective, not just biological and pathological definitions.

Before the patriarchal social structure, humans experienced a long period of matriarchy. Back then, female genitals were often tribal totems, considered sacred symbols. In the Sumerian civilization around 7000 years ago, poets wrote odes to female genitals, celebrating their beauty and divine nature.

However, about 5000 years ago, most human societies transitioned to patriarchal systems. Due to changes in productivity structures, women began to become dependent on men. In many ancient Greek texts, the penis and semen were praised, while female bodies were described as “incomplete” or “needing completion by men.” The English word for vagina, “vagina,” comes from the Latin word meaning “sheath.” This naming implies that the female genitalia are seen as useless or redundant without the “sword” (penis).

Due to this “uselessness” theory, ancient Greek doctors rarely examined female genitals. Even Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, emphasized that female genitals were “shameful parts” with no research value. Interestingly, it wasn’t until 2005 that Australian urologist Dr. Helen O’Connell drew the first complete anatomical map of the human female genitals, including the clitoris.

During the Renaissance, as anatomy developed, some doctors couldn’t resist their scientific curiosity and began exploring female genitals and the physiological process of orgasm. In 1703, French obstetrician François Mauriceau recorded in his research report that “women secrete fluids during intercourse, sometimes even a large amount, which tastes similar to saline. This fluid seems to enhance women’s sexual experience and pleasure.”

This research report did not attract much attention at the time but was scorned by Mauriceau’s peers. One of his British obstetrician friends, Chamberlen, wrote a letter mocking him, questioning why he tasted the fluid and expressing disgust.

In fact, the debate over female ejaculation dates back to Aristotle’s time. People then defined the fluid secreted by women during intercourse as “reproductive fluid,” serving to facilitate male entry and enhance fertilization and pregnancy. However, Mauriceau’s claim that this fluid also brought pleasure to women seemed to challenge male authority.

A few years later, Dutch anatomist Reinier de Graaf wrote a truly influential paper, “On the Generative Organs of Women.” This paper was later cited in numerous medical papers. Graaf subtly supported Mauriceau’s viewpoint, distinguishing between “reproductive fluid” and “pleasure fluid.” He defined “pleasure fluid” as the fluid produced during female arousal, even suggesting that women with strong sexual desires could secrete it during sexual fantasies. However, he considered the fluid expelled during female orgasm to be urine.

Though his conclusion is inaccurate by today’s standards, suggesting that female ejaculation is urine, it was a breakthrough viewpoint at the time. In Chinese literature, there are also records about female ejaculation. For example, in “The Secrets of the Jade Chamber,” it is mentioned as a fluid associated with sexual pleasure.

As scientific scrutiny gradually unveiled the previously hidden aspects of female sexuality, acknowledging that female sexual behavior could parallel that of males and that the fluid released wasn’t a defect but a source of pleasure, it caused quite a stir. In his 1886 book “Psychopathia Sexualis,” Krafft-Ebing described female ejaculation as an innate sexual perversion. He directly targeted women about to achieve sexual pleasure on par with men.

Sigmund Freud also described the symptoms of “female ejaculation” in pathological terms in 1905, labeling it as “hysteria.” This notorious diagnosis linked a female physiological phenomenon with a mental disorder. Many women began to feel ashamed of their genitals and secretions, seeking treatment or avoiding sex due to this shame.

In 1825, a 15-year-old girl underwent a clitoridectomy in Berlin to address concerns about excessive sexual desire. This was the first recorded case of clitoridectomy, not due to a medical condition but merely due to worries about masturbation. British obstetrician Isaac Baker Brown, founder of St. Mary’s Hospital, believed that abnormal vaginal stimulation would produce abnormal secretions, causing hysteria, spinal irritation, spasms, idiocy, madness, and even death. He advocated for clitoridectomy to prevent unnecessary sexual arousal. Between 1859 and 1866, he performed about 33 clitoridectomy surgeries for this purpose.

Even today, in some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East, female genital mutilation is considered a traditional practice. It is known as “female circumcision.”

In the 19th century, society seemed terrified that women could achieve sexual pleasure autonomously, even exhibiting ejaculation similar to men. As scientific research continued to advance, these findings and the emerging sexual concepts posed a significant challenge to the traditional notions of male control, penile dominance, and unique bodily structures.

By the 20th and 21st centuries, the notion that “vaginal secretions are a sign of pleasure” has gradually gained public acceptance. Most debates now focus on whether these secretions are urine and whether female ejaculation involves incontinence. Kinsey’s 1953 publication “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female” and Masters and Johnson’s 1966 publication “Human Sexual Response” both considered female ejaculation as stress urinary incontinence. However, with advances in scientific observation equipment and anatomical research, this view was overturned after 1978.

In conclusion, we now know that female ejaculation indeed originates in the bladder and is expelled with some urine, but most of the fluid is not urine. Compared to urine, it contains more prostate-specific antigen, prostate acid phosphatase, and glucose.

Dear readers, if you’ve made it this far, I’d like to ask again: What is female ejaculation? Is it merely vaginal secretions during female arousal?

I believe its chemical composition alone cannot fully define it. It contains amino acids and the long-suppressed joy of female sexuality. It has acid phosphatase and the stories of countless women struggling with self-doubt and shame.

Thinking about the 1825 case of a girl undergoing clitoridectomy due to excessive sexual desire bothers me. The medical journal might record technical details, but what about the rest? She must have experienced many sleepless nights, feeling ashamed of her genitals, secretions, and desires.

If she felt ashamed of her desires, perhaps we should feel ashamed for reading about her shame. Only by doing so can we avoid repeating history.

So, if you ask me, “What is female ejaculation?”

I would say it’s a chapter in the shameful history of humanity’s refusal to accept itself.

• The End –

References

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