College-Aged Men Do Not Know Where to Find the Clitoris, and Yeah...That's a Fail

According to a recent study by the University of Florida, of 193 heterosexual men between the ages of 18 and 24, enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a major university, men are still struggling to understand basic female anatomy and orgasm. The study, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that a third of the men did not know whether the clitoris is directly stimulated during penetrative sex. That, in an of itself, could be an excusable oversight, of course. But around 40% incorrectly said the clitoris was on the front wall of the vaginal canal, and 28% said they "didn’t know." Many of the men assumed that the clitoris was inside the female body. And while the point of the study was both men's understanding of female genitalia as well as their sexual preferences, the lack of understanding seems to be making the headlines.

As to the sexual preference side of the study, the college-aged male participants in the study were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups, and instructed to imagine their partner having an orgasm through different means: (1) sexual intercourse with them, (2) manual/oral stimulation, or (3) use of a vibrator. They were then asked to complete an assessment of their feelings of masculinity and sexual self-esteem. The men who imagined their partner having an orgasm from intercourse or their manual/oral stimulation reported feeling more masculine with a greater sense of accomplishment compared to those who imagined their partner achieving orgasm with the vibrator. The researchers wrote: ‘It thus appears that men feel more masculine when giving their woman partner an orgasm using their own body (i.e., one’s hands, mouth or penis) than using an external object (i.e., a vibrator), with the actual body part not mattering." They added, "This finding is instead more in line with the notion that some men feel that women’s enjoyment of sex depends on a man’s technique and skills." And to fold it back into the anatomy issue, in the study, clitoral knowledge was significantly linked to feelings of masculinity only in the context of oral/manual stimulation, not during intercourse or vibrator use. Though, that many men had trouble locating the clitoris probably didn't help their feelings of masculinity all that much.