Lifestyle - Women gait reflects orgasmic ability

LONDON: How orgasmic women really are can be told by the way they walk, at least by trained sexologists. A woman’s anatomical features may predispose her to greater or lesser tendency to experience vaginal orgasm, these researchers affirmed. The study, led by Stuart Brody of University of the West of Scotland and colleagues, involved 16 female Belgian university students, who completed a questionnaire on sexual behaviour and then were videotaped from a distance while walking in a public place. Two professors of sexology and two research assistants, who rated the videotapes but were not aware of the women's orgasmic history, inferred their vaginal orgasm through watching the way they walked over 80 per cent of the time. Further analysis revealed that the sum of stride length and vertebral rotation was greater for the vaginally orgasmic women. "This could reflect the free, unblocked energetic flow from the legs through the pelvis to the spine," the authors noted. There are several plausible explanations for these findings. According to Brody, "blocked pelvic muscles, which might be associated with psycho-sexual impairments, could both impair vaginal orgasmic response and gait." Besides, vaginally orgasmic women may feel more confident about their sexuality, which might be reflected in their gait. "Such confidence might also be related to the relationship(s) that a woman has had, given the finding that specifically penile-vaginal orgasm is associated with indices of better relationship quality," the authors stated. Research has also linked vaginal orgasm to better mental health. The study provides some support for assumptions of a link between muscle blocks and sexual function, according to the authors. They concluded that it may lend credibility to the idea of incorporating training in movement, breathing and muscle patterns into the treatment of sexual dysfunction. "Women with orgasmic dysfunction should be treated in a multi-disciplinary manner" said Irwin Goldstein, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine." "Although small, this study highlights the potential for multiple therapies such as expressive arts therapy incorporating movement and physical therapy focusing on the pelvic floor." The study was published in the September issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the official journal of the International Society for Sexual Medicine.