DR THOMAS STUTTAFORD

It is good news that you have discovered one of your erotic zones. For some, the bad news will be that the distribution of these zones was laid down long ago when we human beings were unashamedly animal.

The search for the G-spot has been pursued with all the enthusiasm of gold-seekers in the Yukon and, as with the prospectors, not all are successful. The secret lies in understanding the significance of the lower anterior vaginal wall, and the role it plays in sexual response and excitation during intercourse, rather than looking for a distinct anatomical spot.

That the anterior vaginal wall is especially sensitive has been accepted for centuries but only comparatively recent technology has demonstrated why this is. It makes good biological sense that women should find it stimulating to have the lower vaginal wall caressed and massaged. Our remote ape-like ancestors were more likely to have had sex in rear-entry rather than missionary positions. Once we had evolved so that we walked on two feet, sex was easier, and more emotionally satisfying, face to face. However, the anterior wall retained its sensitivity because that is the area that is maximally stimulated in rear-entry positions.

In the 1950s, a German gynaecologist called Ernst Grafenberg carved a lucrative practice by becoming both gynaecologist and sexologist. He started working with his wife researching the sensitivity of the anterior wall of the vagina.

Those of us who were involved in medical research in the Fifties and Sixties know how casual some research was. Peer review, statistics and randomly selected adequate samples didn’t worry many doctors carrying out socio-medical surveys, or even handing out as yet untried pharmaceutical preparations.

The Grafenbergs claimed that their work showed that one small portion of the anterior vaginal wall was exquisitely tender and sexually sensitive. Furthermore, they suggested that when excited this spot swelled as if engorged and the woman had an orgasm. The spot became known as the Grafenberg spot, later abbreviated to the G-spot.

Ever since the Grafenbergs’ studies, the presence of the G-spot has been a matter of dispute. The doubters claim that the Grafenbergs used only a tiny sample of women, about a dozen, in the research and that not all their volunteers demonstrated the results that the Grafenbergs hoped for. Anatomists accept that the vagina has a rich blood supply, but insist that detailed dissection and microscopy show that although the nerve supply is concentrated in the lower third of the vagina, and the rest has a relatively poor nerve supply, there is no concentration of nerves in the G-spot area. There is no mention of the G-spot in Gray’s Anatomy. There is plenty, however, in popular sex books.

The truth is that there is right on both sides. It remains doubtful that there is a G-spot. However, it is quite certain that massage of the centre of the lower part of the anterior wall of the vagina, and therefore above the clitoris, has the effect of moving the clitoral hood repeatedly over the body of the clitoris as if it was being massaged. Thereby it induces an orgasm. This mechanism has been clearly demonstrated by cinematography. The film shows that movements of the anterior vaginal wall indirectly have the affect of massaging the clitoris with the expected result. This accounts for your discovery.

SUZI GODSON

Does it really matter what it is? It feels good, so be thankful and leave the biology to Doctor Tom. The area of sensitivity that you describe corresponds to the approximate location of the controver- sial G-spot.

Personally, I couldn’t care less whether the pleasurable sensation you describe is related to erectile tissue wrapped around the urethra, or the existence of a nerve bundle which is part of the recently discovered deeper clitoral complex, as long as someone with a nice bedside manner brings it on once in a while.