The Orgasm Gap & Its Roots in Cultural + Religious Repression

So, what is the orgasm gap anyway?

The “orgasm gap” — the disparity between how often heterosexual men orgasm vs. heterosexual women — is well-documented. Research shows women in opposite-sex relationships have significantly fewer orgasms than men, often due to lack of communication, partner education, and prioritization of women’s pleasure.

Image courtesy of Unsplash

For Latinas, this gap can be widened by:

• Cultural conditioning: Being taught that “good girls” don’t initiate, ask for, or explore what feels good.

• Religious repression: Associating pleasure with sin can make it difficult to fully relax into intimacy without guilt.

• Media representation: Latinas are often hypersexualized in mainstream media — portrayed as fiery and seductive — yet in real life, we’re discouraged from owning our sexuality for ourselves. This creates a disconnect between how we’re perceived and what we’re “allowed” to experience.

All of these feed into a cycle where women’s pleasure is not centered in sexual encounters — and we may even feel unworthy or “wrong” for wanting it.

What Sexual Empowerment Really Looks Like for Us

• It’s not about being hypersexual or proving anything — it’s about agency, consent, sovereignty.

• Redefining sexy for yourself, not for the male gaze.

• Pleasure practices: Self-pleasure, mirror work, body worship, sensual rituals.

• Spiritual reclamation: How sex can be sacred and deeply healing.

Breaking the Cycle & Reclaiming Pleasure

From the POV of an empowered millennial Latina, breaking this cycle is an act of cultural resistance and spiritual liberation.

• Relearn your body: Explore your own pleasure without shame — masturbation, mindful touch, sensual movement.

• Talk about it: Normalize conversations with trusted friends, partners, or even family members willing to break the silence.

• Release inherited shame: Understand that shame was often a survival tool for previous generations; you don’t have to carry it forward.

• Reframe pleasure as divine: Many ancestral traditions outside of colonial religion celebrated sexuality as life-giving and sacred — reconnect with that heritage.

• Show the newest generations that it's not taboo and it's very healthy and natural. Break the stereotype

  
  

Helpful Resources for Healing & Education

Books

• The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor — on radical self-love, including sexual liberation.

• Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown — explores pleasure as a political and healing force.

• Sacred Woman by Queen Afua — includes spiritual and sensual self-reclamation practices (adaptable across cultures).

• Becoming Cliterate by Dr. Laurie Mintz — tackles the orgasm gap and empowers women to claim their pleasure.

Podcasts

• Latinas Rising Up in Love — conversations on healing love, intimacy, and self-worth.

• Sexually Liberated Woman — shame-free discussions on pleasure and sexual agency.

• The Pleasure Positive Podcast — practical and empowering conversations on sex.

Communities & Platforms

• We All Grow Latina — hosts events and online spaces where Latinas can connect on empowerment topics, including sexuality.

• Planned Parenthood’s Roo Chat — nonjudgmental sex ed for all ages.

• Diosa & Mala from Locatora Radio — Latina feminists reclaiming narratives around bodies and pleasure.

Remember amiguis, knowledge is power!

Jen