You've read a lot about sex and had a lot of sex. In fact, you're
so full of carnal knowledge, you know just about everything right?
Wrong! To expand the scope of your erotic expertise, Glamour
answered these 50 sex questions, proving that sex ed is never over
- no matter how long it's been since your last high school health
class.
1. When
does a man's penis reach it's full size?
"On average,
at 17," says Dudly S. Danoff, M.D., senior attending urologist
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "Plus at that
age, his stamina and libido are at their peak levels."
2.
Are the clitoris and the penis formed from the same type of tissue?
Yes. During the first four weeks of their development, genitals
exist only as a raised ridge on the embryo; during week five, distinctive
sex organs start to develop out of that ridge, eventually becoming
male or female genitalia. "The clitoris is really a little
penis without a hole, made from the same sensitive erectile tissue,"
explains Dr. Danoff.
3.
How long is the average erect penis?
A little over six inches. But the largest erect penis ever medically
verified measured 13 1/2 inches long and 6 1/4 inches around. Makes
you breathe a sigh of relief that your man is only average, right?
4. How
much larger does the vagina become during arousal?
On average, it lengthens two inches and widens two inches. "It's
called the tenting effect," says Beverly Whipple, Ph.D., president
of the American Association of Sex Educators, counselors and Therapists.
But you'll need a lot more "tenting" if you ever encounter
a 13 1/2 inch penis.
5.
How much do woman's nipples swell when she is aroused?
they can enlarge up to 25 percent over their regular size.
6.
What's
more important for a woman's pleasure, penis girth or length?
Girth. The thicker the penis, the more stimulation you'll feel in
the first third of your vagina which is packed with pleasure-producing
never endings, says Barbara Keesling, Ph.D., human-sexuality instructor
at California State University, Fullerton. "During orgasm,
the muscle spasms here are extremely intense." (Most
men seem to think that the longer they are or the deeper they push,
the better that it feels for the woman. It is the friction against
her inner-lips that will cause her to orgasm more so than how deep
you go. So .. the more in and out action is what counts in the long
run!)
7.
How does sex affect your heart?
Doing the deed can send a person's blood pressure and heartbeat
soaring to twice their normal rate. "Sex is as beneficial an
exercise as biking or walking, "says Colman Ryan, M.D., a cardiologist
at the San Francisco Heart Institute.
8.
Can a healthy person have a heart attack during sex?
Yes, but the risk is only about one in a million. "The chance
is extremely low, even for people with cardiovascular disease,"
says Dr.Ryan.
9. How
many people masturbate at least once a week?
About 27 percent of guys and 8 percent of women claim they go solo
weekly, according to The Social Organization of Sexuality
(The University of Chicago Press), a survey of sexual behavior based
on interviews with thousands of Americans. "But these are people
who admit to masturbating," says Suzi Landolphi, author of
Hot, Sexy and Safer (Putnam Berkley). "The real numbers
are probably much higher." ( I would
have to disagree to this according to what I have heard.. 80% of
men masturbate. Most men don't like to admit it. I do believe that
women are more embarrassed to admit that they masturbate though.
Personally, I think admission of masturbation is more of a turn
on and healthy for your confidence level.)
10. How
many self-pleasurers feel guilty afterward?
Approximately half. "I can't understand why, since masturbating
is the best way to learn about partnered sex," asserts Betty
Dodson, Ph.D., sexologist and author of Sex for One (Three
Rivers Press). "Studies show that women who masturbate are
more orgasmic that women who don't." So drop the guilt and
give yourself a hand. (Wow.. that is sad!)
11.
When were the first vibrators invented?
In 1869, the first steam-powered massage devices were marketed as
a treatment for female "hysteria." Hmm.. do you think
those primitive passion gadgets whistled each time a woman reached
Kingdom come?
12. How
many couples bring battery-operated buddies and other sex toys into
the bedroom? Ten percent - or 13.9 million people - according
to the National Sexual Health Survey.
13. Can
most women orgasm via intercourse alone?
No. Studies, including the Kinsey Institute Report, found that almost
all women need direct or indirect clitoral stimulation in order
to climax. So they really needed research to prove that?
(I believe that sex begins in the mind for
a woman. Depending on how aroused she is inside of her thoughts,
this will depend on if she can orgasm with intercourse. A good lover
would be able to make a woman so crazy to have something inside
of her before the intercourse even begins.)
14.
How many women claim they don't need to be touched blow the belt
to have an orgasm? About 5 percent say they can climax by having
their breasts played with, crossing their thighs, or even by fantasizing
hands-free, says Susan Crain Bakos, Author of Still Sexy (St.Martins
Press). What else can we say? Rock on, sisters!
15. How
long, on average, does it take a man to climax?
About three minutes; women reach peak after 15 minutes. "In
the 1950's, the Kinsey report clocked the average guy in a two and
a half minutes, so that's 30 extra seconds in 50 years," says
Dodson. Can we expect men to last three and a half minutes by 2050?
16.
What is semen made of?
Ejaculate is the mostly seminal fluid is composed of sugar and protein
that nourish the sperm," says Laurence Levine, M.D., director
of male sexual health at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
in Chicago.
17.
How much fat does semen contain?
If it were stocked on supermarket shelves, semen would be packaged
as a fat free food, coming in (no pun intended) at about 40 calories.
18.
Why do men sometimes ejaculate a lot of semen and sometimes very
little?
It has nothing to do with how good he's feeling - it has everything
to do with how long it's been since he last came. The longer the
wait, the bigger the burst.
19.
How much to men usually ejaculate at a time?
About one teaspoonful.
20.
How many sperm are contained in the average ejaculation?
Sperm count can range from as low as 40 million to more than 300
million sperm per ejaculation.
21.
Why does one breast usually hang lower that the other?
"Few breasts are perfectly symmetrical," explains David
Kallenberger, M.S., an ob-gyn at the Henry G. Bennett Jr. Fertility
Institute in Oklahoma City. "One is generally slightly larger
than the other, and it'll hang lower than the smaller one."
22. Why
does a man's left testicle hang lower than his right?
"The spermatic vein from the kidney to the left testicle is
longer than the vein to the right testicle, so gravity weighs it
down a bit more," says Dr.Danoff.
23.
Are men and women infected with herpes in equal numbers?
No. About one in five men and one in four women are infected. "Women
are more susceptible because their genitals have a larger surface
area of mucosal tissue, which is where the virus takes hold,"
explains Leigh Jolly, manager of the National Herpes Resource Center
in Durham, North Carolina.
24.
If you have herpes, will you definitely know it?
No. Most people who have herpes aren't aware that they have the
incurable virus. "Symptoms can be so mild and infrequent, they're
mistaken for an ingrown hair, rash or pimple," Jolley says.
To know for sure, ask your gyno for the POCkit, a new blood test
that detects herpes simplex virus 2 even if you show no symptoms.
25.
How much worse is the herpes problem now than a generation ago?
Thirty percent more people have herpes now than in the 1970s. The
likely explanation: More people are having oral sex- taboo in previous
generations - thus transmitting the virus to the genitals via cold
sores from the mouth, says Jolley.
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