Faking the big O

That scene: When Harry Met Sally starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal

It's been a long time since Meg Ryan performed her famous fake orgasm scene in the movie When Harry Met Sally which was quite outrageous at the time. But it's only now that we are beginning to see the results of some scientific research into why woman and men actually do it.

Research has been hindered, no doubt, because of the difficulty in asking people about behaviour that most of them are not proud of and are unlikely to admit to.

However according to a research study conducted in 2010 by Erin Cooper, a doctoral student at Temple University in Washington DC, showed that 60 per cent of women had faked an orgasm during intercourse or oral sex, at some point in their lives. The big mystery is why are women pretending?

I'll have what she's having: Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally

Originally the researchers believed it was all about stroking the male ego, but this study found that many of the women said they faked it due to their own fear of intimacy, because they felt insecure about their sexual performance or because they just wanted to get 'it over with'.

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A 23-year -old woman came to see me. She had a few short-term relationships with boyfriends but had not achieved an orgasm with any of them while having penetrative sex. They had not seemed to worry about it much and neither did she because she had never had a problem achieving an orgasm on her own.

However she then met a guy who she really liked and she became quite upset when he claimed she was the only girlfriend he'd ever slept with who did not orgasm when they had intercourse. What was wrong with her?

Some men believe so much in their sexual prowess that they see it as a personal challenge to make their lovers climax - and are very disappointed when they don't.

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Faking the big O