The Extended Male Orgasm

Dr. Mina Robbins, a clinical psychologist who treats patients with sexual dysfunction, is an associate professor of human development at California State University in Sacramento. Dr. Gordon Jensen is a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of California at Davis. Last October, the two traveled to Montreal for the International Congress of Sexology. They delivered a paper on the multiple male orgasm. The presentation may not have been as earth-shaking as Einstein's paper on the general theory of relativity, but it was a lot more fun.

Drs. Robbins and Jensen told the congress that they had encountered a young man who claimed to have an odd talent. During intercourse, he could experience up to six miniorgasms--each lasting a minute or so--before finally letting go for the Big O, complete with ejaculation. The two researchers were curious. In 1948, Kinsey had reported that 14 percent of the male population had the ability to experience more than one orgasm (i.e., ejaculation) in a given session. The talent was most prevalent among the young (55 percent of preadolescents) and declined with age (nine percent of men under 30). The California man's response seemed to be different. A new kind of orgasmic capability. Robbins and Jensen invited him to duplicate the feat in a laboratory setting. They had him hooked up to a polygraph and discovered that he was apparently telling the truth. While making love to his girlfriend, the wired-up volunteer experienced all of the signs that accompany orgasm--increased respiration, increased heart rate, increased tumescence, muscular tension, urethral contractions, anal contractions and the altered state of consciousness generally associated with climax. And he experienced these symptoms several times during the hour, each time without ejaculating. His erection diminished somewhat after each peak, to recover within 15 or 20 seconds for another surge. Although the paper did not go into detail, it is assumed that the young man's partner enjoyed herself.

Robbins and Jensen felt that they were onto something. Subsequently, they observed 14 other men--aged 25 to 55--who had the same ability. One of them, a hearty man of 49, was able to have 25 semiorgasms before ejaculating. All of the men claimed that preliminary peaks were pleasurable, though the final ejaculatory orgasm was definitely the primo, ultimate reward. Most were curious about the phenomenon. Were the contractions without ejaculation orgasm? Robbins and Jensen thought so. Where there's smoke, there must be fire. They announced that men were capable of multiple climaxes. All men, not just 15 Californians. The technique could be learned by anyone. We hold this truth to be self-evident. But what does this mean to you?

Sex research is a sadly neglected field, bordering on the disreputable. Really, now, what is there to know about the old in and out? The basic act is fairly simple and, more often than not, successful. If it weren't, we wouldn't be here. Our ancestors would have lost interest and gone the way of the dinosaur.

It all seems so obvious. There is nothing new under the sun, or under the covers, either. Yet, when it comes to sex, we suffer from a certain individual and communal amnesia that makes the study of love a necessity. Each of us tends to forget what the last time was like. The next time takes us by surprise. And because every time is different, we tend to do pretty much the same thing to produce that delightful difference. If you're winning at craps, don't move to 21. We are conditioned by a very seductive reward--pleasure. Consequently, we become set in our ways. We forget the alternatives, facts, potentials and possibilities.... It is an ignorance born of bliss.

When a researcher does discover--or, shall I say, rediscover--something, the news causes a shift in our attention. Have you heard the latest? Potential equals imperative. Once a phenomenon becomes public knowledge, private experience soon follows. Witness the thirst for oral sex that followed Deep Throat. Or the wave of casual bondage that followed Alex Comfort's The Joy of Sex. A few months ago, word reached Playboy that two Californians had discovered, or rediscovered, a new sexual response. The multiple male orgasm. Or maybe the extended male orgasm. (Seems there was some debate on the exact nature of the beast.) Having nothing better to do, I decided to cover the story.

After hours of pleasurestaking research, I have come to the following conclusion: It's not new, but it's not bad. I wouldn't kick it out of bed. This is my report. Try it. You'll like it.

My opinion was shared by the national press corps. Stories appeared across the nation proclaiming the good news: Once was not enough. The Robbins-Jensen report made the cover of New York. The author of the story--Carol Tavris, a former editor for Psychology Today--had reservations about releasing the news. Sex was already too goal-oriented. Men and women were hung up on performance. A new trophy would only increase the competition and the casual ties. Maybe. Men who read the description of the newfangled multiple male orgasm and who recognized it as something they had experienced shrugged and asked, "What's all the fuss about?" If it came down to a choice between multiple male orgasms and a better backhand, most would opt for the latter. A few, finding that a talent they had taken for granted was suddenly in the news, made the most of it. At singles bars in the Big Apple, men approached strangers and asked, "Would you like to come back to my apartment and watch me have a multiple orgasm?"

Sexual critics refused to accept the facts. The multiple male orgasm? Wasn't that what happened when the high school football team finally cornered its favorite cheerleader?

People like to keep their orgasms simple, cut and wet. You'll know it when you have it. With orgasms as well defined as numbers, it's easy to keep score. The critical reaction to the Robbins-Jensen paper recalled the reception accorded the publication in 1966 of Masters and Johnson's Human Sexual Response, in which the good doctors confirmed the existence of the female multiple orgasm. Acute, conservative disbelief. If it hasn't happened to me, it doesn't exist. Self-appointed experts such as Natalie Shainess claimed that the researchers had been conned by their subjects. They had misinterpreted the facts. The multiple was a figment of their imaginations. Women became confused by events and could not distinguish between a single muscle contraction and a genuine climax. Consequently, they might view each pelvic throb as an additional orgasm. The poor souls couldn't count. Fortunately, experience proved the doctors right. Women could and did have multiple orgasms, bless their little hearts.

Does the phenomenon described by Robbins and Jensen deserve to be called an orgasm? When I started my investigation, I wasn't sure. When I finished, I knew it didn't matter.

•

A short history of the orgasm: In the beginning, man came and woman didn't. Nor did she expect to. Her duty was to lie back and think of England. To endure until she could ask, "Are you finished?" Then, in the early part of this century, some enlightened soul drafted the erotic-rights amendment. Not only could woman vote, she could also experience orgasm. And if she didn't, it was somehow your fault. With time and the intense study of marriage manuals, a balance was reached. His and hers, most of the time. Then Masters and Johnson raised the stakes. Woman was suddenly insatiable, capable of 50 or more orgasms in a single session. The Queen for a Night applause meter did not have a top end. The question became not "Did you come?" but "How often and is that enough?" The man endured until he could ask, "Are you finished?" What's wrong with this picture? The assumption that an orgasm is a noun, something that you give your partner, like flowers or furs. When sex is goal-oriented, it is easy to keep score, to measure success. Either you deliver the product or you don't. Sex, instead of being infinite and protean, is simply good or bad. Sex is not a noun but a verb. It is an action--like eating or talking--that a person can enjoy without being self-conscious. The most intriguing aspect of Robbins and Jensen's paper: that orgasm (or pleasure) is not a scarce commodity, to be rationed--one to an erection. Just imagine: infinite credit. Who wouldn't like to be a big spender?

If nothing else, Robbins and Jensen seem to offer a model for mature sex. The multiple-erection-orgasm ability noted by Kinsey belongs to the young, but then, they need it. The gift seems to be nature's way of compensating for premature ejaculation, a condition that is most prevalent among males 17--26. It doesn't matter if you come fast when you can come again. Nature provides the grace period, in which a young man can learn about sex. By the time he reaches 30, he is less likely to experience multiple erections in a given session. He knows what he is up to and acts accordingly. Indeed, if he experiences more than one orgasm on an erection, or more than one erection in a night, he may become alarmed. It must be love.

The Robbins-Jensen paper is a declaration of independence: Ejaculation is not the sole arbiter of pleasure in a relationship. For years, men have gone to bed with a sign that reads, the fuck ends here. No more. We are not the prisoner of our orgasm. Now, getting there is all the fun.

•

"The first time I ever got head from a girl, I experienced what could be called a multiple orgasm. Being a virgin to oral sex, I wasn't exactly sure how to have an (continued on page 232)Male Orgasm(continued from page 92) orgasm in someone's mouth. Or when to come. The girl was moaning, swirling her tongue around my cock, sucking, playing with my balls--every sensation was new to me. I didn't want it to end, you know, and she seemed willing to keep it up all night. To keep me up all night. I kept having miniorgasms. I would get very excited, but I would pull back this side of shooting my load. I would shiver and shudder, and the girl said she could taste a little of my cum, but I didn't lose my erection. Finally, after about a half hour, I pulled out the chocks and started thrusting--sort of fucking her mouth. Then I knew where I was and let go. It was a blast."

•

I called Dr. William Masters to get his reaction to the media reports. His answer: "You can get many of the same responses--increased heartbeat, muscle tension, anal contractions--without being close to climax. Just thinking about sex can give you those symptoms. Prostatic contractions are the key. If you can show me prostatic contractions--presuming there is no prostatic pathology present--in the absence of ejaculation, then I'm impressed. I'm not sure that what Robbins and Jensen describe is an orgasm, but I'm sure it's great fun."

Masters knows more about sexual response than any other person in the history of Western man. He was the first to describe the physiology of intercourse. The mechanics. The fundamentals. What happens, when it happens. We are all lovers under the skin. Masters described the tiny anatomical events that are present in any act of love. Human Sexual Response is an owner's manual for the body. It can tell you what--if anything--is wrong. And when to take yourself into the shop. For future reference, here are the bare facts:

Masters and Johnson found that male and female orgasms are essentially identical--with male ejaculation being the one critical difference. Both sexes go through four stages of response: the excitement phase, the plateau phase, the orgasm phase and the resolution phase. During the excitement phase, the male develops an erection. Having risen to the occasion, he enjoys himself, as is his wont (the plateau phase). Slipping and sliding. Back in the saddle again.

The orgasm phase is a two-stage affair, comprised of emission and ejaculation. Or, in the words of the old Army command, "Load and fire!" Toward the end of the orgasm phase, seminal fluid and prostatic fluid begin to gather in the prostatic urethra. The fluid is pumped into the chamber by contractions of various accessory organs, including the prostate. The male identifies this as the feeling "My ejaculation is coming." The demand to come increases and, after two to three seconds, the proverbial cup overrunneth. The external sphincter of the bladder relaxes and a series of violent contractions spaced at eight-tenths-of-a-second intervals forces the fluid out of the chamber, through the penile urethra and out into broad daylight. Or wherever.

The major contractions are followed by a series of slowed, almost tensionless final contractions. According to Masters, "There is no associated level of pleasure response [to the final contractions] similar to that identified with the first strong expulsive contractions."

Following ejaculation, the male immediately falls into the refractory (or resolution) period. His erection diminishes to a size some 50 percent larger than that of the penis in a flaccid state. After several minutes, he may develop another erection. However, with each subsequent orgasm, the amount of fluid ejaculate diminishes, as does the subjective pleasure.

It is vital to note just how the presence of the ejaculation shapes your sense of pleasure. The more you come, the more you like it. In Masters' words, "A specific appreciation of fluid volume develops." Oddly, this unique trait makes men's sexual response different from that of women. "When female study subjects were interrogated in the laboratory after multiorgasmic experiences," Masters says, "the second or third orgasmic episode usually was identified as subjectively more intense than the first orgasmic episode. When male study subjects were multiejaculatory, the first episode usually was reported as the most intense experience."

Women do not immediately go into a resolution phase following orgasm. They can dip back into the plateau phase, crossing the border into orgasm at will. Imagine a girl on a swing arcing higher and higher--into weightlessness and back--finally to land on solid ground. The orgasms have been described as a hop, skip and jump, a series of punches leading up to a knockout that flushes the blood out of the pelvic region and leaves the woman satisfied.

•

"Back in college, my girlfriend and I tripped on psychedelics one day and decided to make love. It was pure science fiction. I felt like my whole body was a hard-on. Every nerve was sensitive and she was playing me like an ocarina. Every note was an orgasm. I began to wonder where it would all end. I mean, if my whole body was an erection, then when I came, I would blow the top of my head off. My prick was twitching, leaping, surging--every time she touched me--just like when I usually come. The only thing missing was the cum, the fluid. When that finally happened, there was no mistaking the sensation. I turned inside out. Drained. What a gas. Since then, I've learned to view orgasms like punctuation marks. For most people, the orgasm is the period at the end of a sentence. By relaxing and going with the flow, you can have orgasms that are like commas--pauses, breathing spaces. You can write very long, involved sentences, instead of simple declarative sentences."

•

Masters feels that the two stages of the male orgasm are inseparable. Emission (the feeling of fullness as the seminal fluid collects in the prostatic urethra) and ejaculation (the contractions) go together like a horse and carriage. "Load and fire!" is a single command. You are not allowed to put the safety on, to wait until you see the whites of her eyes. Masters calls the sensation that occurs in the two-to-three-second interval preceding orgasm ejaculatory inevitability. The point of no return: "In contrast to the fact that orgasmic experience of the human female can be interrupted by extraneous stimuli, the male orgasmic experience, once initiated by contractions of the accessory organs of reproduction, cannot be constrained or delayed until the seminal-fluid emission has been completed. Regardless of the intensity of extraneous sensory stimuli, the male will carry the two-stage process to completion."

Robbins and Jensen believe that the urge to come is not overpowering, that ejaculation is not inevitable or involuntary. The two-to-three-second interval in which stage one becomes stage two is an eternity. A friendly one. Heaven should be so nice. A lot can happen in two to three seconds. At 60 miles an hour, you would travel 264 feet. (Broken down into seven-inch strokes, that figure adds up to a lot of hard traveling.) Once you acquaint yourself with the sensations that occur in that time, you can develop control. Promise not to come in her mouth and, with practice, you can keep the promise. Jensen told me, "We are not talking about a multiple ejaculatory orgasm. These men experience a different phenomenon--immediately recognizable when it occurs and, once experienced, something to be desired. What they go through has certain aspects in common with the orgasm as defined by Masters and Johnson, as we understand their physiology. The subjective reports are also similar. The male begins to feel the contractions that usually precede ejaculation, but then he slows down to savor the fullness, the feeling of so-called inevitability. It's a nice feeling in its own right. He stops thrusting, tunes in to and exaggerates each sensation. He takes deep breaths, purposely hyperventilating. [Deep breathing is already a natural part of the orgasmic experience.] He seems to go with the flow. Our guess is that he develops voluntary control of the external sphincter of the bladder, the muscle that operates as a floodgate for the seminal fluid. By inhibiting emission and ceasing all stimulation, he experiences the contractions without the fluid release. He can have the miniorgasms as frequently as one every minute. There is some control, but, like the female multiple orgasm, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. The male can ejaculate and go into a refractory period completely satisfied. All of our subjects viewed the final ejaculatory orgasm as the real thing, a superior orgasm. This phenomenon is not something that is necessarily an index of greater virility, greater masculinity. It is nothing to be achieved or striven for, it is simply a variation in the sexual response."

The pattern of response described by Robbins and Jensen is surprisingly similar to the pattern of the female multiple orgasm. A series of small orgasms leading to one climax, after which there is no more until next week. Jensen suggests that not all orgasms are climaxes but that all climaxes are orgasms. I'll take six of one and a half dozen of the other.

Now for the good part. If you want to experience the extended male orgasm, try the following: First, you must change your attitude. Stop to smell the roses. Man takes his orgasms for granted. You know your response like the palm of your hand. It's easy. Consequently, you may not be acquainted with the subtle signs leading up to the moment. You do not pay attention. The less you know about yourself, the more you take yourself by surprise. Men who suffer from premature ejaculation lie in fear and anxiety, waiting for the orgasm to strike. Before taking dates to bed, they give them a copy of Two Minute Warning and close their eyes. All because they don't know what to look for. Men who study their own reactions know what the edge looks like. They are less likely to wander off that edge in the dark. They learn to play with their response and can choose their own moment. The male orgasm is the result of friction and fantasy. The first is a simple matter of mechanics. The penis is contained by a hand, a mouth or a vagina. You move in the cadence most likely to produce a climax. All God's children got rhythm. The second element is subjective--how you view what's going on. Some men have favorite fantasies. They think of ten women and four dogs and, presto! Other guys think of Raquel Welch.

Jensen reports that the technique used by his subjects is fairly simple. The man who experiences the multiple or extended orgasm fakes his body out. He recognizes the signs of approaching orgasm--the sense of fullness, the slight increase in the size or hardness of his erection--and instead of yielding to the impulse to thrust harder and get it over with, he relaxes. He stops thrusting for a moment. He enjoys the scenery. He does not consciously resist the impending orgasm. Tension, jamming on of the brakes, is a sure-fire way to sail over the edge. Maybe instead of thinking about ten women and four dogs, he thinks about ten women and three dogs. Instead of thinking about Raquel Welch, he thinks about Jane Fonda. Whoops. Maybe not Jane Fonda.

The main obstacle to learning the extended orgasm is habit, the belief that the way you've always done it is "the way it's supposed to be." The new response may seem unnatural. Why abandon the tried and true? I once asked a friend if he had ever masturbated without reaching orgasm. His reply: "What do you think I am--incompetent? That's perverted." The impulse to thrust to orgasm during intercourse is strong, but it is subject to change. You have nothing to lose by trying the alternative. Change your habits. If you usually make love to one side of a Rolling Stones record, put a scratch in the last cut.

If you and your partner lie still and go with the flow, you may experience a partial orgasm. You can sense a contraction as a pleasurable event in and of itself. There may be a slight emission, but most of the seminal fluid that has gathered in the prostatic urethra will still be there and, far from contributing to a sense of frustration, will make your final orgasm a full-scale production.

In essence, the technique described by Robbins and Jensen is the stop-start method introduced by James Semans as a means to control premature ejaculation. Slow down. Relax. Tell your partner to stop moving (if she was moving to begin with). The act requires a good deal of trust and a sensitive partner, one who knows how to read your reactions as well as or better than yourself. A partner who cares about improving the quality of the sex act. (With a friend like that, who needs orgasms?)

The phenomenon has been around for centuries. The Hindus call it Karezza. Members of the Oneida Community in New York State practiced something called ejaculatory control--loving without coming. My old college roommate called it fucking his eyeballs out. Turning his girl every way but loose. What happens should be called an extended orgasm instead of a multiple orgasm, but never mind. It is definitely fun.

I've given you the details, but, as hundreds of sex therapists can attest, no premature ejaculator ever learned self-control from a magazine article or a book and no lovemaking man will learn the technique of the extended orgasm from the printed word. You will have to practice, and practice hard. Success can occur--but it requires a fundamental shift in perspective. To obtain an extended orgasm, you have to forget about orgasm. Don't worry about coming too soon or coming before your partner. Learn to contain your excitement, relish it. Get on with it, and then get off on it. If you like what you're doing, why not keep it up forever? The extended orgasm is the secret of learning to like where you are at the moment, not where you want to be. To love what you have, not what you want. Togetherness is the measure of quality in sex, not the numerical count.

•

"Having multiple orgasms--if you count all the little ones--is a natural. It is a matter of anticipation and control. When I'm feeling good and going strong, I like to make love to a woman in every position I know before I come. But sometimes, like when I'm fucking her from behind and sideways at the same time, the very sight of it almost trips me over. That's when I feel a short spasm, catch my breath and perhaps feel a drop of cum slipping out before I regain control. Thinking about soybean futures isn't enough. I literally have to stop thrusting for a minute, then begin again very slowly. Usually, I tell my lady how close I came or say, 'Hey, you're really knocking me out. Almost lost me that time.' That just gets her back into the rhythm and it is only a matter of time before I'm into sexual brinksmanship again. Often I notice the lady having the same thing--spasms and convulsions--sort of quick breaths just this side of the big one. Sometimes I can't take it if I'm on the edge at the same time. I'm gone, we're gone together. But usually, I'm able to skate on the edge--to be half swallowed by partial orgasms--before the inevitable catches up. Then it's the kind of orgasm where I'm sure I've ripped a hole in it."

•

OK, suppose for the moment that you have tried to learn self-control and have failed. (All failure should feel so good.) As a consolation prize, I offer you the secret of the old-fashioned multiple male orgasm. The secret of coming more than once in a session on more than one erection. The male sexual organ is an odd invention--it tells you things you may not always be aware of. For example, Masters and Johnson found that the longer a man spends in the excitement phase or the plateau stage, the longer it takes for him to lose his erection following orgasm. Foreplay is for your benefit as well as hers. There is grandeur in erection, magnificence in arousal. If your body has a good time, it is in no rush to leave the scene. Ironically, they also found that the amount of time it takes to lose an erection after orgasm depends on other circumstances. For example, "If the male walks about, talks on any extraneous subject or is otherwise diverted in an asexual manner, [loss of erection] occurs with relative rapidity." So don't be so quick to light that cigarette. Remember--after orgasm, the penis shrinks to a size some 50 percent larger than that of the flaccid penis. Not bad. If you are one of those flagrant optimists who believe that a glass is half full (as opposed to half empty), then you are well on your way to a second round. This one's on me.

"Having risen to the occasion, he enjoys himself, as is his wont. Slipping and sliding. Back in the saddle again."