Dr Petra has an excellent write-up of the new study which has been widely reported as showing there is ‘no genetic evidence for the g spot’, but in fact indicates that there is ‘no genetic evidence for thinking you have a g spot’, which is quite a different thing and doesn’t bear particularly well on whether this famed point of sexual ecstasy really exists.
The research is a twin study, which looks at the differences in how human traits vary between identical twins, who are genetically identical, and regular twins who share, on average, only 50% of their genetic information. The differences between how the trait varies between the two types of twins indicates how closely controlled the trait is by genetics in that sample.
The rationale behind the research is that if the g spot is a genuine fixed anatomical feature, then it should be more likely to be influenced by genetics, as other such features are.
However, this study didn’t measure anything anatomical, it just asked the women whether they thought they had a g spot or not with a single question: ‚ÄúDo you believe you have a so called G spot, a small areas the size of a 20p coin on the front wall of your vagina that is sensitive to deep pressure?‚Äù.
This is a bit of an odd strategy because we’re not necessarily the best guides to our own internal anatomy.
This was demonstrated in 1998 when a study by surgeon Helen O’Connell and colleagues dissected several dead bodies and found that the clitoris was much larger than had been thought for thousands of years and in fact had nerves and blood vessels that extend deep within the body.
Crucially, the sexual experiences of women throughout history had not provided a reliable guide to the anatomy of the clitoris and it took a detailed look at the body’s structures to work this out. This suggests that asking people whether they think they have a particular feature may not be a reliable guide to whether they do.
Dr Petra’s write-up gives an excellent account of the history of ‘g spot’ concept and discusses how this study fits into the bigger picture.
Link to ‘Where have all the g spots gone?’
Mind Hacks 