Gräfenberg spot

The Gräfenberg spot or G-spot, named after Ernst Gräfenberg, is a small area in the genital area of women behind the pubic bone and surrounding the urethra. It is the same as, or part of, the urethral sponge, the site of Skene's glands.

Stimulation of the G-spot (through the front wall of the vagina) is said to promote a more vigorous and satisfying orgasm (climax), and is possibly the cause of female ejaculation; however, it may be that not every woman has such a spot. See Skene's glands and urethral sponge for more information. Such stimulation requires a somewhat opposite thrust to that required to obtain maximal clitoral stimulation via the penis, called "riding high".

Many sexual advice books encourage couples unable to reach female orgasm to consider G-spot stimulation as a sexual technique.

It is believed by a growing number of experts that the reason stimulation of this area causes a "push out" orgasm, even "female ejaculation", is that it has evolved as a trigger point for childbirth. The infant's head pushes on this precise spot during delivery, seeming to trigger the final phase of pushing/delivery. This translates, during normal sexual stimulation, into a more significant contraction of the vagina.

The term G-spot also used by analogy as a slang term for the prostate gland in men, which may be stimulated through anal play or by pressing on the perineum (skin directly beneath the scrotum).

References and further reading

• Cathy Winks. The Good Vibrations Guide: The G-Spot Down There Press, 1998. ISBN 0940208237.
• Ernst Gräfenberg: From Berlin to New York by Beverly Whipple, Ph.D, RN, FAAN Professor Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA