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It's possible to have an orgasm from anything that arouses you sufficiently, anything at all. People have orgasms from having all sorts of body parts touched, and some people can have orgasms without being touched at all, just from having the right kind of visual, emotional, or psychological stimulation. Some people even learn to have orgasms from doing certain types of yoga breathing exercises. I have personally known people who have orgasmed from having their outer ears stimulated, from having their throats and necks nibbled and caressed, from having the backs of their knees licked just right, from having the creases between their toes stroked, from stimulation to their inner thighs, lower lips, underarms, groin creases, small of the back, nipples, and, yes, the belly. Personally, I think that this is not only fabulous news -- our bodies and our sexual selves are far more versatile than many people think they are -- but awfully damned sexy. As for calling it a "belly orgasm," though, I'm not so sure if I can get behind classifying orgasms based on where the stimulation occurs. When people start classifying orgasms, it often means they're ranking them, either overtly or covertly: thinking of a "nipple orgasm" as being better than a "belly orgasm" and a "clit orgasm" being better than both of them, or whatever. That little gambit is neither necessary or accurate, and it can have the potential to leave people feeling like they need to keep a scorecard, making sure they have enough of the right kinds of orgasms, when in reality, any amount of any kind of orgasms that makes you happy is the right kind and amount to be having. Ranking and classifying orgasms based on where the stimulation was centered was popularized by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Freud differentiated between supposedly "immature" clitoral orgasms, the kind a woman might have from stimulating her clitoris during masturbation, and supposedly "mature" vaginal orgasms, which would "naturally" happen as a result of penis-in-vagina intercourse). This resulted in generations of women feeling like they were sexually "immature" because they didn't, or did not reliably, have orgasms from vaginal penetration. Contrasting vaginal and clitoral, "mature" and "immature" orgasms became a way to demonize women's independent sexuality, and to devalue the kind of sexual pleasure that is easiest and most common for women to feel, and particularly, to control and give to themselves. Truth is, whether a woman has clitoral orgasms, vaginal orgasms, or both has nothing at all to do with "maturity" or "immaturity." Research has shown that most so-called "vaginal" orgasms are actually due to stimulation to the clitoris (and to the base of the clitoral body or sponge which exists just above the upper wall of the vaginal canal, a body also known as the G-spot) during penetration anyhow. But the simple fact remains that vaginas simply aren't as efficient at transmitting intense sexual stimulation as our clitorises are -- not as many nerve endings, not as high a concentration of touch receptors -- and that not every woman is built the same way. Not all women, and not all couples, have bodies that will fit together in a way that provides a lot of (or even any) clitoral stimulation during penis-in-vagina intercourse. Not all women enjoy G-spot stimulation. Not all women find that having something penetrating their vaginas feels good to them. That's just normal human variation. An orgasm only gains or loses in value if we insist on classifying it according to some arbitrary hierarchy. It only becomes "mature" or "immature" if we presume that only heterosexual, Church-approved, potentially baby-producing penis-in-vagina intercourse is "mature" and, further, if we stipulate that only orgasms from "mature" penis-in-vagina sex (a kind of sex, I might add, that leads to orgasm for most of the men who participate in it and only a small percentage of the women who do) deserve to be considered truly valid. If clitoral-stimulus driven orgasms were considered "immature," one can only imagine what Freud would've thought of an orgasm triggered by stimulation to the nipples... the nape of the neck... or the belly! More realistic and less dick-centric these days, both psychologists and sexologists now agree that any orgasm is basically a good orgasm, and that the type of stimulation that creates an orgasm is not what makes it valuable to us as sexual beings. This is mostly because it's been discovered that all orgasms basically happen in the same ways, from a physiological standpoint. While different orgasms can feel different and our responses to them can vary widely, in terms of what actually happens in the body they're really very much the same. Vasocongestion during arousal, followed by the spasm of orgasm and the release of vasocongested blood from the genital region following orgasm, is not a process that changes depending on what part of your body is stimulated or where in your body (or mind) the orgasm originates. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, an orgasm is an orgasm is an orgasm. If you or someone you love orgasms from having his or her belly stimulated in the right way, I say -- enjoy! So, in the final analysis, you sure can have an orgasm from having your belly touched -- or pretty much any other part of your body, for that matter. I've known several people with neurological impairments or paralysis who have learned to have orgasms from stimulation to parts of their bodies they'd never previously considered erogenous, and of course, there are plenty of other people (including myself) who have been known to orgasm aplenty from stimulation to non-genital parts of the body. Is it necessary to call it a "belly orgasm"? Not really, and a sexologist wouldn't recognize the term "belly orgasm" if you used it. However, it's your orgasm and you're welcome to give it whatever nickname you like... I suggest you call it "Take that, Sigmund Freud!" Want to ask the Fat Broad a question? Email her. |
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12.07.06: Scarlet Letters -- in case it isn't glaringly obvious -- is currently
on an extended hiatus. The web has changed, we've changed, and
we're trying to figure out how we both fit together now, which isn't a process we want to rush. If you're looking for more current SL-related content, you can
have check out upcoming books from editor Heather Corinna and previous co-editor Hanne Blank, check out Heather's current sexuality sites, or explore sites through the femmerotic network. We hope to be back with you soon, as fresh, challenging and
unexpected as ever.
In the meantime, by all means, enjoy our years of past content,
all of which still remain in the public and subscription areas.
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