Squirting is a sex sensation in which a mix of urine and secretions is expelled during an orgasm in a person with a vulva. Sometimes it’s referred to as “female ejaculation.”
Squirting is thought to be distinct from male ejaculation. It’s different in many ways, including where the fluid comes from, how it’s expelled, and what it feels like.
Why do some people squirt?
Squirting is a form of female ejaculation that occurs during sexual stimulation or orgasm. It’s usually a gush (or trickle, or even just a few drops) of liquid that comes out of the vagina. It’s a popular fetish, so you might see it a lot in porn.
Squirting happens during sexual arousal and orgasm when the urethral sponge (also known as the “CUV” complex) opens to allow liquid to expel from the vagina. Often, it is also associated with G-spot stimulation.
It can feel pleasurable and is often part of a good orgasm, but it doesn’t happen for everyone. It’s a normal bodily function that many people can do and that occurs more often than we think.
Studies have shown that squirting is an essential part of a healthy vagina, according to New York University sex researcher Zhana Vrangalova. Research shows that squirting can contain some of the same components as urine, such as urea and creatinine, but it can also have other ingredients similar to semen.
Researchers have found that squirting is very common in both men and women, with an estimated 10-54% of people experiencing it during orgasm. It’s also a normal part of sex in people who are cis or AFAB, and occurs on all body types.
Despite its popularity, there are still many myths and misconceptions about squirting that are causing people to feel ashamed of it. Ultimately, more research is needed to understand the phenomenon and address some of these myths, but it’s important for women to know that they have the right to feel comfortable in their bodies.
Squirting can be a fun, natural sensation, and it is an important part of sex. But it is also a shameful, taboo experience for some women. It can cause them to feel like they don’t deserve their pleasure, as well as make them feel uncomfortable.
Some women who have felt ashamed of squirting are able to overcome this shame later in life. They may learn more about squirting, hear from others about their experiences, or receive positive feedback from a sexual partner.
How do people feel about it?
Squirting is a natural bodily function, often accompanied by orgasms. It’s usually thought of as a “gross” or “weird” experience, but it can also be a surprisingly enjoyable and highly pleasurable sensation.
The public consensus on squirting is split, with many people viewing it as an embarrassing or gross bodily function that shouldn’t be talked about publicly. For some, squirting is a fun and exciting sensation that accompanies an orgasm; for others, it’s an unpleasant and uncontrollable one that can be embarrassing to have around your partner.
In addition, many people are uncomfortable with squirting because they don’t know much about it. They may have never seen it in action and don’t understand how to feel it or why they might have it.
This lack of knowledge contributes to the sense of discomfort and embarrassment associated with squirting, and it is exacerbated by the reactions of others. For example, one woman had ejaculated in her childhood and had been shamed for it by her mother. This left a mark on her relationship with squirting and the way she experienced it.
Interestingly, some women saw squirting as a sexual superpower or feminist statement that helped to rewrite the cultural script. These women were trying to reclaim space for female sexuality, which is often suppressed, shamed, mystified, and taboo.
They were also aiming to empower their intrapsychic sexual script. This reflected how they negotiated the different sub-cultural and interpersonal scripts on female sexual response (Fahs, 2017; Gilliland, 2009).
While most participants were happy with the sensation of squirting, many reported feelings of discomfort or embarrassment. They felt lost of control, uncertain about what had happened, and worried about whether the fluid contained urine or not. Some were also embarrassed by the amount of fluid that had been released. They feared that their bed sheets might have been wetter than normal or that their partners would react negatively to them. These feelings of embarrassment can lead to shame, which can be difficult to overcome.
How do people react to it?
The experience of squirting (also known as female ejaculation) was found to be a complex and conflicting experience for some respondents. The phenomenon was perceived as an act of power, pleasure and femininity by some participants while others saw it as a sensation of discomfort and embarrassment. The squirting scripts, which impacted how women interpreted their own experience of squirting, varied across different levels in the Swedish context and were negotiated and shaped by the intrapsychic sexual script, interpersonal script and (sub-)cultural scripts on sex.
Some squirters also perceived the phenomenon as a powerful and visible statement of sexual response, which could be seen as rewriting the cultural script on female sexuality. Those who described the expulsion of fluids as a sexual superpower or feminist statement exemplified how they were actively trying to rewrite the sexual script by claiming space for their sexuality and their bodies in society, a process that was facilitated by their perception of squirting.
However, a significant number of respondents experienced discomfort when they first squirted as squirting lacked a script that would have provided them with information about what was happening or allowed them to make sense of it. Some felt that the lack of information made them more vulnerable to being shamed for it by their partners or social groups.
This was accompanied by a feeling of uncertainty about whether the fluids contained urine, which some participants found to be a major concern. These concerns were exacerbated by the reactions of others, such as seeing other people squirt and feeling uncomfortable about it.
These feelings of discomfort and embarrassment could have been avoided on an intrapsychic level if women had been equipped with nuanced and more inclusive information about squirting, as described by Gilliland (2009). Instead, the women reacted to their experiences by negotiating with the available intrapsychic and interpersonal scripts.
Squirting was perceived as a rare aspect of female sexuality and was considered original, which helped to give it high status in the Swedish context, and make it desirable, as being norm-exceeding and connected to something “hypersexual.” It also contributed to a wish for more information.