The female orgasm is often labeled as "elusive," being that only about 57 percent of women report having an orgasm most or every time they have sex with a partner (compared to about 95 percent of the time for their male partners), according to a recent survey by Cosmopolitan. While that definitely counts as an orgasm gap, I wouldn't necessarily call the female orgasm elusive. It's not that it's impossible to achieve, it's just that no one knows how to do it due to a miseducation about female sexual pleasure.
This is the exact topic that Brazilian photographer Marcos Alberti tackled in his series, the "O Project."
As the name implies, Alberti photographed 20 women before, during, and after orgasming with personal massagers by the brand Smile Makers in order to give people an authentic view of female sexual pleasure.
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With this shoot, Alberti wants to change the way we think about female sexuality in a "lighthearted way," he tells CafeMom.
Alberti feels like too many people pursue "unreal" standards of female sexuality, like what we see through porn, which is mostly made by men and for men. As much as men think this is what women want, women also think that something's wrong with them if they can't match it.
This is especially important for the next generation, which learns about sex through porn.
In a 2010 study by researchers at Indiana University, only a third of girls ages 14 to 17 reported having masturbated on a regular basis. Less than half of these girls have never even tried.
"I really want the next generation to treat women better and treat with equality and with respect," he tells CafeMom.
In order to capture the images, Alberti tried to make the women as comfortable as possible.
For privacy, he set up a dark curtain with a hole cut out just for the camera lens, and the women were seated behind a table for extra coverage. He kept everything "raw," as he put it. The women didn't wear makeup, and there was no stylist or Photoshop involved.
The women came from all over the world, from the United States to more sexually conservative countries, like China.
"The underlying message: all women deserve to be in control of their sexuality, no matter their background," a press release of the photo shoot said.
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It's definitely a message that we can all (and should all) get behind.
It's a simple but powerful step toward women reclaiming their bodies.
