Fake orgasm

In many contexts, the orgasm plays a central part in sexual activity. Generally, the motivation for faking orgasms is to prevent possible feelings of sexual inadequacy if their partner does not reach an orgasm. To prevent this feeling, their partner might fake an orgasm.

The open discussion of sexual intercourse in general, and orgasms in particular, has been and still is a social taboo in most societies. Therefore, not all people are aware of the possiblity of faking an orgasm, while others can't separate the real from the fake. Many people would be hurt, knowing their partner has faked an orgasm, so many choose to ignore the subject.

• Some people can reach sexual satisfaction during sexual intercourse, without achieving an orgasm, and view the extra effort in attempting it as tedious.
• Some women can only reach orgasms through stimulation of the clitoris (clitoral orgasms), and not by penetration. Not all sexual positions provide access to the clitoris, thus preventing actual orgasms.
• Some people are unable to have orgasms - a condition known as Anorgasmia.
• One partner might be tired, and would like to end the sexual act without offending their sexual partner.
• Often, the two partners will begin the sexual act under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. The effect of these substances can sometimes cause people be unaware of their choice in sexual partners - if this effect wears off during sex, and one (or both) partners realize this, one might choose to fake an orgasm to avoid creating an embarrassing situation.
• Some feel they are sexually inadequate if their partner does not reach an orgasm (some might actually be sexually incompetent). To prevent this feeling, their partner might fake an orgasm.

Fake orgasms in popular culture

• The 1989 American film When Harry Met Sally... is well known for a scene in which the two title characters are having lunch at Katz's Deli. They are arguing about a man's ability to recognize when a woman is faking an orgasm. Sally claims men can't tell the difference, and to prove her point, she vocally and vividly (but fully clothed) demonstrates the skill as other diners watch:

Sally: How do you know that they really...
Harry: What are you saying, that they fake orgasm?
Sally: It's possible.
Harry: Get outta here!
Sally: Why? Most women at one time or another have faked it.
Harry: Well, they haven't faked it with me.
Sally: How do you know?
Harry: Because I know.
Sally: Oh, right, that's right, I forgot, you're a man.
Harry: What is that supposed to mean?
Sally: Nothing. It's just that all men are sure it never happened to them and that most women at 
       one time or another have done it, so you do the math.
Harry: You don't think that I could tell the difference?
Sally: No.
Harry: Get outta here.
Sally: Ooo... Oh... Ooo...
Harry: Are you OK?
Sally: Oh... Oh god... Ooo Oh God... Oh... Oh... Oh... Oh God... Oh yeah, right there... Oh!  Oh... 
       Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes... Oh... Oh... Yes Yes Yes.... Oh... Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes... Oh... 
       Oh... Oh... Oh God Oh... Oh... Huh...

Sally finishes, looks at Harry and smiles.  Harry looks back uneasily.

Woman at another table: I'll have what she's having.

• In "The Mango ", an episode of the American television program Seinfeld, Elaine tells Jerry that without him knowing, she had faked all her orgasms during their relationship:

JERRY:  You faked it?
ELAINE: I faked it.
JERRY:  That whole thing, the whole production, it was all an act?
ELAINE: Not bad, huh?
JERRY:  What about the breathing, the panting, the moaning, the screaming?
ELAINE: Fake, fake, fake, fake.
JERRY:  I'm stunned, I'm shocked! How many times did you do this?
ELAINE: Uuuhm, all the time. 
JERRY:  All the time?! But I'm so good. 
ELAINE: Jerry, listen, it wasn't you. I just didn't have 'em back then.

• In "They Shoot Single People, Don't They? ", an episode of the American television program Sex and the City, Charlotte tells Miranda her reasons for faking an orgasm:

Charlotte: You broke up with an ophthalmologist over that?
Miranda:   Orgasm -- major thing in a relationship.
Charlotte: Yah, but not the only thing. Orgasms don't send you Valentine's Day cards and they don't
           hold your hand in a sad movie.
Carrie:    Mine do.
Miranda:   You're seriously advocating faking?
Charlotte: No, but if you really like the guy, what's one little moment of ooh-ooh versus spending 
           the whole night in bed alone?
Miranda:   These are my options?
Charlotte: And who's to say that one moment is any more important than when he gets up and pours 
           you a cup of coffee in the morning?
Miranda:   I'll take an orgasm over a cup of French-drip Colombian any day.

Methods of distinguishing a fake orgasm

Hard as is to imagine it is possible (though perhaps not practical) to distinguish a real orgasm from a fake. Also, it should also be noted that as not all people are exactly alike, the effectiveness of these methods cannot be guaranteed.

• During orgasm in both males and females, there is a throbbing action in the genitals that pulses with a period of approximately 0.8 seconds. Although this takes place internally in the female (primarily at the cervix), it is sometimes possible to observe this externally at the fourchette.
• Some women exhibit a "sex flush", or a reddening of the skin through vasocongestion, during the later stages of arousal. The absence of "sex flush" could simply mean a woman who never experiences it, or a woman who is faking arousal.