Science Vs - Squirting: What's Really Happening?!

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

To start off the new season we’re getting into the science of one of the most controversial and taboo sex topics around. Squirting! For some people, it’s a major sex goal — but for others, it’s a source of major embarrassment. And it turns out that people have been writing or talking about squirting and female ejaculation for CENTURIES. So in this episode, we’re going to find out: what IS squirting (like, what is this fluid??), how common is it, and if you want to start doing it … how can you? We’ll hear from Sex Educator and World Record Holder, Lola Jean. As well as Professor Caroline Pukall, Dr. Nan Wise, Professor Helen O’Connell, and Dr. Samuel Salama.  Find our transcript here: bit.ly/4iIVQcc In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Welcome to Cirque du Squirt (08:26) History of female ejaculation (13:18) Suspect 1: Vaginal lubrication (15:55) Suspect 2: Pee (24:41) Suspect 3: Chemical X? (29:47) Female prostate (36:00) Why does it feel like that? (39:26) What about penises? (42:03) Can you learn to squirt? Credits: This episode was produced by Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, with help from Blythe Terrell, Wendy Zukerman, Meryl Horn, Michelle Dang, and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Video editing, audio mix and graphics by Bobby Lord. Graphics help from Michelle Dang. Illustrations by Scarlette Baccini. Fact checking by Eva Dasher. Music by Bobby Lord, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka, and So Wylie. Interpreting by Kana Hatakeyama, translation help from Ben Milam.  Thanks also to Dr. Devon Hensel, and Dr. Leslie Rickey. Recording and logistics help from Michelle Kitchen, Spencer Howard and Nick Johnson. Recording help from Abi McNeil. Special thanks to Roland Campos. Thanks to Cameron Silzle and Arsonhouse Entertainment. Thanks to Lola Jean and everyone who spoke to us at Cirque du Squirt. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Versus. Today on the show, we are pitting facts against fluids as we dive into the gushing waters of... ...Squirting! [♪ music playing, beat drops in beat, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out, beat drops out And to help us on this journey is comedian Annie Letterman. Hey, Annie. Hello. I'm so, I'm juicy and ready to go. Oh, this is excellent. So, Annie, when we asked you, do you want to come on the show to help us talk about

the science of squirting, you could not have answered yes fast enough. What is your fascination with squirting? I am fascinated too. Well, I squirted for the first time a couple of years ago and I was, I thought, you know, I was 39. I just never thought it would happen for me. I feel like it's kind of a, it's an inspirational tale. And I was just really surprised because I've had people in my past try and then my fiance,

I just didn't even... I wasn't trying, and then the levees broke. Wow. But then now, when I bring it up, people go, it's pee. And then I go, I really don't want it to be pee. I fear it's pee. I don't want it to be pee. So you've already kind of picked the big question of the episode. Is it, is it pee? Is it not?

Yeah. But so we're going to start this squirting journey in Brooklyn, New it not? Yeah. But so we're gonna start this squirting journey in Brooklyn, New York, of course. And we wanted to start by checking out this very special show. So we sent producer, Emily Foreman along. Hello, hello, hello, everybody. Hey!

Hey! What do I really know about it? I know there's going to be choreography. I know there's going to be games. I know there's going to be a lot of fluids. Maybe I shouldn't have worn open toe shoes. Welcome, come, come, come, to Cirque du Squirt. So the show we are at is called Cirque du Squirt.

Love it. And it's happening, I want you to picture sort of this cute little nightclub in Brooklyn and Emily is about to witness a bunch of quirky performances including a vibrator race. Ah, the vibrator race. So what you do is you come and you choose your fighter. I feel like any vibrator you can imagine was represented, like just big, veiny penis, like really realistic end to like Sex and the City Rabbit to, you know, just something a little more demure.

You'd pick your contender, you'd turn it on, and you'd choose your setting. All right, so once the vibrator races were done, the real reason that everyone was gathered at Cirque du Squirt tonight was to obviously see the squirting. And tonight, we're not just going to see anyone squirt, but we're going to see the legend of liquid, the empress of emissions, the sorceress of squirt, Lola Jean. So Lola Jean holds the world record for squirting, which means that using nothing but her own fingers, she has squirted out 1.35 litres of fluid. Wow.

Which is about the same as two bottles of wine. Amazing. So Lola gets on stage with two other people. They're dressed in early 2000s boy band garb. They're lip syncing to this song, Liquid Dreams. And then it's about to be the main event. I asked Emily, who's there, sitting in that crowd to explain exactly what happened.

She said, there's this tarp on the ground, the performers are standing over it, and then- —whipped the pants off and then did a quick, quick like jerk off. They're inside fingering themselves. They were finger banging themselves it sounds like. Finger banging, yes. They were finger banging themselves.

And then at the big moment where it was like, liquid dreams. And then all of a sudden all this liquid pours out and just like splashes on stage. Wow. And so how did the liquid come out? Was it like a fountain or was it like a dribble down? No, it was like if you just like dumped out a huge bucket of water.

Or it's like if you're like the sort of cartoon version of your water breaking with like all of this liquid just splashing out intensely and a lot like hard. And it really does make you question, is it, what is that fluid? Is this pee? Is this something else? And so as part of our research for this episode,

we did this big informal survey of our listeners, almost 16,000 people responded. Annie, do you want to guess what percentage of folks with vaginas in our survey said that they had ever squirted? 30? 45%. Okay. And that's basically what other research has found.

And so in our survey, we also asked these squirters, what do you think it is? Around 60% thought that it was either pee or pee with something else in it. The rest thought it was something else or they just weren't sure. Because there is this idea that it could be ejaculate. Like some that, you know, if you've got a vagina, you can ejaculate too. That's what I want it to be. I feel like the people that say it's pee are always men too. I don't want them to be right. I feel like they're downplaying our squirt. Well, the thing is, you know, despite the pee propaganda,

when we talked to Emily about what she thought this liquid was that was coming out, here's what she said. It was clear and crystal and kind of beautiful. The way the light was shining through it. I feel like I have no questions in my mind that that was pure squirt. And we spoke to Lola Jean, actually, the squirter on stage, and she told us that when it happens, it doesn't feel like when you're paying. Mm-hmm.

It feels different when I pee and it feels different when I squirt. Like, the process of it, it feels entirely different. But also, like, I have squirted my life savings out of my body and still had full pees afterwards. So I'm like, there's no way. There's no way I'm gonna have, after I set that record, I peed so much. And then I was like, there's no way if this was pee that I've had this much more in the tank. I feel the same way because it's not...

Pee is, it's yellow, it smells like pee, like you know, it's a distinct thing. It just seems like a completely different, it's a different consistency than pee and... And you're not, yeah, you're not the only one to say this. There was a study that interviewed 28 squirters, many of whom had smelt their squirt, even tasted it. And they also swore that it was something different. So today on the show, we are going to get to the bottom of what is this fluid flying out of us, pee, ejaculate, something else. Plus we're going to look at what's going on in our body when this happens. And if you are curious to bring some squirting into your life, Lola Jean's going to give

us some tips. So exciting. I'm so happy for everyone. Correct. And you know what? For those listening, I know this isn't you, Annie, but some might feel that this is some kinky little story about this strange sex phenomenon. But actually, the story of squirting goes so deep.

It goes into the history of female ejaculation, which we're talking, we're going back hundreds of years, right up to groundbreaking science published just last year. We are going to finger-bang our way through the research until the floodgates open and we understand everything there is to know about squirting. Love it. You ready to go?

Oh, I feel so lucky. When it comes to squirting, there is a lot of finger banging. Yes. But then there's science. Science vs Squirting is coming up. This episode is brought to you by FX's Dying for Sex on Disney+. Vessie Squatting is coming up. she decides to leave her unhappy marriage to explore her sexuality, with some encouragement from her best friend, Nicky. FX is Dying for Sex, streaming April 4th only on Disney+. Sign up now at DisneyPlus.com.

Join the high-volume trend with YSL Love Shine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss. Formulated for maximized volume and 24-hour hydration, this gloss delivers a non-sticky, ultra-thin, glass-like additive texture in every shade, from bold berry reds and pinks to breathtaking nudes. Shine on with YSL Love Shine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss. Visit yslbeauty.ca to elevate your lip game now. Welcome back. Today, we are all about the science of squirt. We're here with comedian Annie Letterman. Hello.

Hi. All right. So to find out more about what's going on with the science of squirting, we called up a friend of the show, Professor Carolyn Pucall, who's a sexual health researcher at Queen's University in Canada. And like us, she is amazed by squirting. I don't know. It's like, I think it's a superpower, seriously. Like, it is magical. It's super magical to me and so mysterious that this amount of fluid can come from a body. It's just incredible. So these days, the idea that someone with a vagina can ejaculate is maybe a little controversial.

But actually centuries ago, things were quite different. So philosophers and scientists of medieval China, India, and Europe were like, duh, of course a woman can ejaculate. Carolyn said that it wasn't controversial at all. It was not. They called it, you know, they called it sperm. They called vaginal secretions sperm and there are quotes like she emitted abundant sperm. Did you know this? I didn't but I also loved that she said abundant. You like the word abundant? Well just like you know like my p's like, like manifesting or something. I like it.

It's abundance. Yes. There's this book on the history of female ejaculation called Juice that came out recently and it has these amazing quotes from ancient texts about this idea. And so here's one I wanted to read you. It was our personal favourite on the show. It's from a medieval Chinese sex book and it says, quote, when the woman's red ball grows, it is said to move swiftly and spray.

The man then draws her ejaculate into his penis, a method that resembles a golden cicada clinging to a tree and imbibing dew. Beautiful. That's gorgeous. The red ball too. I like that red ball. Right? It's very Pokemon.

Isn't there a Squirtle? There's a Squirtle in Pokemon. They'll never look at my clip the same way again. Thank you. My red ball. Isn't there a squirtle? There's a squirtle in Pokemon. They'll never look at my clip the same way again. Thank you. And getting a woman to produce all of this liquid was considered super important back then because all the way up until around the 1500s, a lot of people thought that both women

and men had sperm or seed inside their sexy wet stuff. And so basically, if you wanted to have a baby, both a man and a woman had to ejaculate. That was the thinking. And so according to Deuce, this influential Catholic clergyman basically wrote that should the woman fail to secrete seed, no baby. Wow, I love that. That would have changed a lot of my sex life if guys were trying. So it's amazing. So there's all these history books sort of giving these tips on how to make a woman get

super, super wet. But then in the 1600s, the microscope is invented and science basically screws everything up. I mean, the science basically screws everything up. I mean, science does what science does, it learns. We discover sperm cells. We discover that women don't need to ejaculate to make a baby. And I talked to Carolyn about what happened. So what happened? People just decided that the only people who ejaculated were people with penises. And suddenly there's less and less advice about how to make a vagina resemble a golden

cicada. And so I think to me what this point really shows is how politicised and moralized the idea of female ejaculate is, because these scientists of their day were observing great fluids coming from a vagina and spraying, and then all of a sudden that function isn't necessary for procreation. Right, and pleasure with it, and then all of a sudden that's not necessary. But it is necessary for the guy to have the pleasure and for them to shoot.

Exactly, exactly. And so then all of a sudden this physiological function that we have gets shoved aside, becomes taboo, we don't talk about it anymore. So let's talk about it. Let's really talk about it. And I think even though they do have all these amazing descriptions of seeds and fluids and spraying, what is true is that in these texts, it's really not clear what fluid they are talking about. So the question is like, so what exactly is

moving swiftly and spraying? And so I just wanted to look at all the liquids that could possibly be coming out of us as we get really horny and do we want to call it ejaculate, whatever, just a mid-fluids. The first one I want to look at is vaginal lubrication. You mean like our bodies own our natural astroglide that we make ourselves? That's right. Because how you make lube, it's actually really, really cool. I hadn't thought about it before. I don't know if you'd spent time. No, I never think about where that comes. I don't know about any of that.

Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing. So to tell us all about it is Dr. Nan Wise, and you're a scientist and sex therapist. So she says that, you know, when we get aroused, you're bringing blood flow into that area, Wendy, right? So blood flow starts to rush down to your vagina, making it slightly warm and swollen. And then some of that blood basically turns into lube. Whoa, turning water into wine. We're like, Jesus.

Here's Nanigan. So there's a filtration process that takes the plasma from the blood and filters it and filters it and filters it. And then it goes through the walls of the vagina and like sweats. Think about sweat. Our vaginas are Jesus. But are they not? That's incredible. I was thinking maybe there's sweat involved in this too.

Yeah. It's just going to find out that it's like, it's like sweat, diarrhea and pee. I'm going to be like, oh no. We've come into this being like, can it just be pee? Yeah. We end up with. Oh no, it's getting worse. Can it just be pee? Yeah, we end up with.

Um, okay. But as cool as lubrication is, I asked Nan. Is anyone saying squirting is lube? No. No, no, no, no, no. So this cannot be what came out of Lola or you, because I mean, for one, with Lola, she pumped out over a liter of this stuff and you just don't produce that much lube. Plus squirting actually comes out of a different hole. I feel that.

I feel that. I feel that it's a different hole. It doesn't feel like it comes out of the same place. So the hole that squirt is coming out of is the urethra, which is the hole that you pee out of. That is the pee holethra, which is the hole that you pee out of. That is the pee hole, yeah. That is the pee hole. Which does take us to suspect number two that we've discussed.

Is it pee? And so for this we called up Dr. Samuel Salama. He's a gynaecologist working at the American Hospital in Paris. What is the French word for squirting? In French, we used to say, femme fontaine. Fontaine, like fountain, like a fountain. Yes, femme fontaine, because the expulsion can be very, very large. It's not a bad name. It can be surprising. So when Samuel was a medical student, a lover of his squirted, and they were both so fascinated

and curious by this, they tried to find out what the fluid was and they asked friends and doctors. But no one could tell them anything that really made sense. We don't know anything about that. So we need to find a credible explanation. So years later, Sam is doing his degree in sexology. He realizes he has access to a clinic where he can get some real answers on this. So okay.

Sam recruits seven women who were what he calls systematic squatters. Oh, it's going to get good. It's going to get good, Adi. You're going to love where we're going. Okay, so these systematic squatters. They can do that when they wish at every, every sexual intercourse. Okay, so Sam gets these women to go to the bathroom and pee.

And he takes an ultrasound of their pelvis and importantly, their bladder. And he's making sure to see that it's empty. And now the next step is to get wet for science. So some of these systematic squirters brought a partner, some came on their own. They just use a beaker. And I want you to picture this classic ultrasound room. So very sterile vibes, you know, white walls. They're so hot.

Ooh. And the beaker, because that can't hold enough, so there's actually a big plastic bag on the bed to collect the squirt that comes out. So maybe if you've got like a Grey's Anatomy fantasy, this could be the study for you. Sam leaves the room, waits outside. Just before when the woman is ready, when she feels that it's the good time, they ask me to come back. Did they just say like, hi, we're ready?

Yes. The man came to me, I think you can come now. So this is just as the women are super aroused, like ready to squirt, but they haven't yet. And then Sam takes his second ultrasound of their bladder. He's out the door again. To see what's cooking in there. What's cooking, exactly. Then the fems do their fountain. And when it's all done, Sam comes back in and it's wet everywhere.

Everywhere. There is fluid inside the bag, there is fluid around the bag and all over the floor. He does a third ultrasound after the squirting's done. So Addy, if you're counting along here, we've got three images of the bladder before, at peak of arousal, and then after. Okay, are we up to the moment? You want the result? I think, yeah.

Okay, so first ultrasound, just after they had a big whiz, their bladders were empty, no surprises there. But then, before we get to the post-bladder, something very interesting is happening at the peak of arousal. After 30 minutes to one hour of sexual stimulation, when they call me back and I do the second trisone, the bladder is full. What?

But no water's gone in. It's weird, right? Yeah, because these women- I'm starting to think about if I'm stranded on an island, I'm good. If there's no water, if I'm somewhere, I feel like I'm going to be able to rehydrate. I feel like honestly I could have saved the palisades. I honestly am starting to feel bad. They said there's no water. I go, I actually have water guys. I actually have some. I can create this. This is incredible. Yeah. I don create this. This is incredible.

Yeah, I don't know. This is cool. So he could see that like, you know, just in those, whatever, half an hour, the bladder was filling up again. And he's not the only study to show this. So another study that got a straight couple to have sex in an MRI, which you just imagine, you know, what people do for science. But they also found that during arousal, their bladders filled up again. Now do the guys' bladders fill up?

Yeah, both. Both, okay. In that study. In that study. Okay. But then, we gotta get what happened after they squirted, right? What was happening to their bladders? This was your big question.

This is their big question, right? Yeah. This is it. And just after squirting, the bladder is totally empty. Mmm. And so it's pee. Is it pee? Sure. There is only pee in the bladder.

This is pee. Oh no. How do you feel? I still think there's something in there. Sam also analyzed the squirt and found chemicals that you tend to find in urine, like urea, uric acid. Another study of seven women also found these particular pee chemicals inside squirt, but at quite low quantities, kind of like diluted. We have a photo in Sam's study of all the different liquids that came out. Do

you want to see it? Oh wow. Yes. So the darkest one was before squirt. Okay. And then that one that says S, that is squirt. That was squirt in this study. Yeah, that's way more yellow than I thought it was going to be. In my head, it's just clear.

It's like... Yeah, it's not... I just can't trust BP. Well, Sam said that when the study came out, some folks sent him these angry emails because they were so upset at the suggestion that this was just pay. No, you're a liar. It's not possible. But you know, we do want more research, right? So I want to tell you about one more study

in this that is related to this. We talked to a urologist from Japan called Dr. Miyabi Inoue, who got five women who squirted and using a catheter she emptied their bladders and then she inserted this blue liquid into it and she asked the women to squirt and the whole point is that if what came out was blue, she knew it was coming from the bladder. And Annie, she actually took a video of the experiment. And I have not watched this video yet because I wanted us to watch it together. I'm so excited.

Okay. I think from the reactions of my team, it's a bit full on. So I think this is going to be a real bonding moment for us right now. I'm very excited. We're bound. Okay. We could be, instead of blood sisters, we'll be squirt sisters. We'll be squirt sisters. I think we will be squirt sisters. Okay, Kenny, you wanna whip

up the video? Yep. I got you. Hope y'all are ready. All right. Thanks. I'm excited. This has been... Hope y'all are ready! This has been so... We've been spending months making this episode and I've yet to see this video. So, all right, is the liquid coming out of their bladder going to be blue? Okay, so what are we looking at here? This is, oh, someone finger-banging themselves.

Yeah. Yeah. There they are. They're going for it. Okay, that's very blue. Whoa! That's very blue. Whoa! That's very blue. Oh, yeah.

This is like the Maxi Pad commercials where they use the blue. Oh, yeah. Wow. Oh, that is 100% flute. Look at this. Yeah. Little Smurf hand in there. Like a pop-a-surf.

I mean, this is wild. I mean, it's science. You gotta do it. That was a blue, blue, blue, blue, blue. I think there's no question it's coming from the planet. This fluid is coming. At least, at least partly. Okay. Yeah. So you had said, I think there's something else there, right? partly. Okay. Yeah.

So you had said, I think there's something else there, right? Tell me more about it. I feel like it has to be like a, like a, it's just not, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like P to me. Yeah. Something else has to be going on. I think so. And Annie, something else is going on.

Ding, ding, ding, ding. After the break, we're gonna look at this incredibly mysterious and misunderstood part of the body that some seem to say can transform this pea into a brand new sexy substance. Ooh, I love it. So if you're into the Powerpuff Girls, Chemical X is coming up after the break.

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in more ways than one. Plus there are so many designs you can mix and match to create a stack for every look. Shop online at majore.com or in-store today. Welcome back. Today on the show, Squirting. We're here with comedian and squirting stan, Annie Letterman. We just learned that a lot of squirt lives in the bladder before it ends up on your bed,

making it suspiciously seem like pee. Yes. But online and in this studio, you have heard folks say, no, no, no, it is not pee. And the truth is that sometimes it's not just pay. There is this curious chemical found in squirt that comes from an even curiouser part of the body. And to tell us all about it, I called up Professor Helen O'Connell. Is that you, Wendy? Is that you, Helen? Helen and I kind of go way back. She's this pioneer when it comes to anatomy. So Helen was one of the first modern scientists to fully describe the clitoris.

You know how now I hope everyone knows that the clitoris is way bigger than that little knob you see. Yeah. She's the reason we know that. The red ball. The red ball. That's right. It's bigger than the red ball. Big that. The red ball. The red ball. That's right. It's bigger than the red ball.

Bigger than the red ball. And now, Helen and a handful of other researchers are doing it all again, describing these amazing anatomical features. And this time, their target is the so-called female prostate, which one headline called the mystical source of female ejaculation. I'm so excited. I have brothers and I've always... I always was like the girl that was like, can I join the frat? Like I was like, why can't I do the boy things?

And look at me now, baby. Look at me now. Am I prostate? Did you know we had a prostate? I didn't, but I'm very... I'm happy to hear it. Yeah. Well, I mean, the fact that we don't know, I asked Helen about this. Why is there so much mystique around the female prostate? Why in 2025, as your team, are we still publishing basic anatomy about the female body? Well, you know, we were looking at the State Library in Victoria and beautiful diagrams in these historical books have had their vulval pages ripped out, you know, and then replaced

and ripped out again. There is this sort of— Physically ripped out somewhere along the line. Well someone has attacked these books and removed the very depiction of the vulva. And so there's a sort of societal force that's a bit wacky frankly. Isn't that shocking? It's not shocking. It's annoying though.y, frankly. Isn't that shocking? It's not shocking. It's annoying though. It's annoying.

Yeah. So to put some pages back into these anatomy textbooks, let's talk about this, what this gland does. It basically secretes these proteins that the male prostate does as well. And these proteins have sexy names like prostate specific antigen, also called PSA or PSAP is another one. And basically these proteins will come out of the urethra in this very curious fluid. I actually wonder whether fluid's the right word. They secrete secretions. So they're viscous, so it's moist, right?

But it's not watery. Like snot or like semen? Probably of a slippery, lush character, yeah? More like saliva. Ah, OK. Other researchers have described it to us like that it's thick and milky. And if you've got a penis, your prostate will be pumping out these proteins that will end up in your semen, which is why some people have said that if squirt has these proteins in it, then it's basically a kind of cum, right?

Mm-hmm. I mean, it has to be. It has to be. It has to be. And when Samwell, our French scientist, and others have analyzed the chemicals in squirt, they often do find these prostate proteins in them, telling us that this female prostate does play some role. Where is the female prostate?

It's like near the G-spot or what? This is a great question and actually one that scientists have still been arguing about because these pages have been ripped out of our anatomy textbooks. I am so mad about that. It's... Yes, and so... I would rather it be, you go, you see the anatomy books, and they're actually waterlogged from women squirting so much on them. I would rather them be sealed shut, like my mom's, uh, 50 Shades of Grey that was near her bathtub.

-♪ LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, LAUGHS, Exactly. And the thing is that like where this gland is, is like a basic anatomy question, how are we still talking about it? It would be amazing. Yeah, it would be so very helpful to know that. Yes, it's super important and it also can help us answer this question of how much this kind of cummy, whatever, salivary, thick, milky stuff we're making because generally speaking how big a gland is also helps us know how much of this stuff it's producing. And so over and over again in textbooks you see this description of the female prostate gland saying that it's basically two tiny tubes that sit on either side of the bottom of your urethra. So close to where P comes out.

But actually, Helen did this study that kind of turns this on this head in this really exciting way. So she got tissue samples from the urethra of seven women who had just died. Was uber fresh, you know, so these incredible women donated their bodies to science. So we had this fabulous tissue. And Helen's team sliced up the urethra's crossways, kind of like how you would a baguette, I guess, like really thinly sliced. And then she looked at these little slices under a microscope.

And even though what has been in a bunch of textbooks, you look online, you'll always see, you know, the prostate described, it's just these two little tubes down the bottom. Actually, she could see this kind of constellation of glands all the way through our urethra. Wow. Which is so cool. And so she said, you know, they're not just off to the side. They are in the urethra. They're not beside the urethra. They're not in the vicinity of the urethra. They are actually in the structure of this tube. Wow. And Helen's not the first to uncover this. Other researchers have too.

It's just no one's updated Wikipedia yet. Listen, when I die, I am donating my body to this study. I'm donating my vag. Take it. She it. I love Helen. I like how she describes things. She's like, this beautiful tissue, it's lush. Everything she says is so poetic. She loves anatomy. I think she loves bringing this out into the light. Okay, but the thing is that even though this gland is way cooler and more complicated than we give it credit for, it is still really small. So the glands themselves, how big are they?

Like a grain of rice? Probably smaller than that. So they're microscopic. You can't see them with the naked eye. Right. So even if you squished all the spider webby constellations together, it'd be really small. And how much liquid do they produce all in all? It's probably more like several mils. Perhaps a teaspoon we're talking.

And what is cool though is that in some cases that ejaculate can actually come out of your urethra on its own. And so this is what scientists now call female ejaculate. Okay. When just what's coming out of the female prostate comes out of your urethra. But yeah, it's different from, it's like a totally different process because it's not this huge gush. So then when it comes to this question of, okay, so are we ejaculate, is squirt a mixture of pee and ejaculate? It is sometimes, but it's not always.

So in Sam's study, he found the sexy proteins in five of the seven squirt samples, meaning two were just P. Miyabi's study out of Japan found it in four of five squirters, which tells you that even though this female prostate is super cool, still what is coming out of us during squirt is mostly P. This is disgusting. I'm horrified. Well- No, I'm okay with it.

I'm okay with it. I'm okay with it. Research shows that those who think it's pay are more likely to be embarrassed about squirting as opposed to thinking it's a positive experience. But Helen says, screw that. If release at orgasm and that's urine with these markers, makes you feel fantastic. You know, not so bad. I mean, people are really enjoying this experience. Why should we say it's anything other than valid? On one level, it's all just diluted blood on one very basic level, isn't it?

Right? You know, lube is diluted blood on one very basic level, isn't it? Right? You know, lube is diluted blood, pee on one level is diluted blood. Listen, they are ejaculating all over our bodies. Why would we not be allowed to pee on them? I mean, I've had my eyes sealed shut. Why would I not be allowed to pee all over you? That as well. Now I'm more, I'm going to be more angled at it. Like when I'm mad at him, I'm going to be like, all right.

Get it in the eye. Exactly. Miyabi, our Japanese urologist, said that if you're worried about pee being dirty, there's actually more bacteria in your mouth or your vagina. But it does raise the question of if this is mostly pee, and it is, why doesn't it feel like peeing? When we asked academics about this, they said one reason could be the context is so different. I mean, you're not, you know, with peeing, you're scrolling through Instagram on the toilet, you know, in this case you're doing

something sexy. Context plays a huge role in how things feel in our body. Um, but it's also possible that the actual physiological process of how the liquid gets out of your body, even though it is in the bladder and it's coming out of the urethra, that what triggers that whole process is different to pain. Um, which would be super interesting. We need to learn more. We must.

We must, right? Do not wait for my body to be donated. Please. Get onto this now. In my lifetime, I want to know. Yes. We know peeing is voluntary. You can hold it in.

Your prefrontal cortex is like, hold it in, hold it in, let it out. Squirting for a lot of folks is involuntary. It just happens at this moment of arousal. It is very surprising. It's really shocking. Yeah. Also, in Miyabi's, in that Japanese study, lest we forget, the blue liquid.

Oh, I'll never forget that. Mm-hmm. Uh, for four out of the five women, the squirt, Miyabi said that the squirt didn't shoot out like pee can, where it could be quite forceful, like, phew. Um, but she said it sort of dripped out, um, suggesting to her that maybe the muscles around the bladder weren't actually squishing in the same way. Because that's why pee shoots out.

You have these muscles that contract around the bladder. And you said it doesn't feel like pee. So maybe- It just doesn't feel like pee. Yeah. And that really could be that that the, just the processes are so different. But Carolyn Pichal says we're still learning the magical symphony that leads us to squirting. But given how smushed together the urethra, the vagina and the clitoris are, it wouldn't

be a surprise to her if squirting is triggered in some way that is different to pain. Here's what she said. Everything is connected. So when you're stimulating a vagina internally, you're also stimulating the urethra indirectly through the walls. Depending how deep the thrusting is, you're stimulating the uterus. It really is like a whole pelvic response. There's so many processes happening. And this arousal response doesn't decide to just be like, okay, vagina, we're going to have you release just vaginal stuff.

Does that make you feel better about the fact it's mostly pee? I mean, ideally, we would be debunking it and saying it's not pee. But I'm not going to, I would never send a letter to France yelling at a scientist. I will accept, I accept science. No, but I do, I'm telling you, the little bit of protein, that little ejaculate is enough for me. It's enough, well, let me.

It's enough, it's enough. That is not full pee. Yeah, it's transforming it. It did transform it into a sexy new substance. Yes. Now once we realized that there was all this mystery into exactly how we squirt, it did make us on the team wonder, could a penis squirt too? And it turns out, yeah. Maybe. We talked to Carolyn about this as well.

I think this may also happen in people with penises as well. So usually when there's an erection, a person cannot pee, right? There's a mechanism. The door shuts. Yeah, the door shuts when the penis is erect because we don't want pee. Where one door closes another door opens. Yes, exactly. But sometimes that mechanism is going to not work perfectly. So there was this case study out of Japan where scientists carefully tracked this 25-year-old man as he ejaculated normally. And then after he ejaculated, then this translucent, misty fluid with levels of a chemical that

you would generally find in urine came out of his willy for about a minute. They said it gushed out and he was erect the whole time. And so in this survey we did of our listeners, we actually asked folks with penises, have you ever squirted during sexual activity, which we explicitly said we are not talking about cum, lubrication, ejaculation, seminal fluid. Do you want to guess how many said yes? Oh, let's give them 70. I'm going to give them over 50%. No, it was 7%.

Okay, it was a little bit. Okay, I just added a zero for fun. It was 7% said yes. And we asked some urologists about this and they were very surprised, maybe even skeptical that the number could be that high. But I'm pretty sure ours is the only survey in the world in science that has ever asked folks with penises, have you squirted? So, because there's just been this assumption, oh, this is just something just vaginas do. So we're really in uncharted territory here. Wow, this is exciting. Right?

But we've got it. We can't start focusing on the boy. We got to finish with the girls first. We got to finish with the girls first. We got to finish with the girls. We got to finish finding out about the women. We can't just jump ship. All of a sudden there's going to be all these grants and money given to find out if guys squirt.

We're going to be like, what? We are trying to figure out the protein, the constellation. That's exactly right. We're going to find out. They're going to tear our pages out. They're going to... Exactly. Oh gosh. Okay.

So yes, we're going to go back to people with vaginas for our final question for today, which is if you want to squirt, how can you do it? Lola Jean told us that she hears a lot of people and you'll see a lot of this online is folks saying that, you know, the key to squirting is hitting your so-called G-spot, which is really the back of your clitoris. We did a whole episode on it. To get this area, you put your index finger and middle finger inside your vagina and kind of curl them towards your belly button.

But for Lola Jean, she said hitting the G-spot is not the be-all and end-all. She told us that for her, she squirts anytime. She hits a certain level of arousal. But the G-spot flicky flicky bullsh** doesn't actually really feel like, I guess I squirt, but it really doesn't feel that good. Because I think people are hammering at the G-spot like there's no tomorrow. And I'm just trying to get them to chill out.

A paper interviewed more than a thousand women who had squirted and found that to build up to that squirting climax, going for the vaginal wall, aka the finger bagging technique, it only did it for around one in six women. So it might work for some, but definitely not all. For others, clitoral stimulation was the thing that got them going. Annie, do you have any tips personally? Oh, I have some advice. You gotta get a clitsucker. You gotta get a clitsucker vibrator and then I think it's-

Wait, what is- I'm not- what is a clitsucker vibrator? A clitsucker is like a, it's a vibrator and it's a suction that you put right over your clit. And then while they're penetrating you, you have like the double, but it's really, it's very strong, it's very amazing. Wow. And that'll make you squirt every time?

Yeah, if I, yes. Clit sucker, okay. Hot tip from Annie. Tell your friends. And then to release the squirt, in this study, the thing that worked for some people was just relaxing their muscles. Uh-huh. Lola Jean told us this works for her as well, and she talked to our producer, Keddie Foster-Keys, about it. I call it the splish-splash sound, but it's when you're really in gorge and like,

I was like, if you hear the splish splash sound, like I'm telling you right now, you can squirt, you just have to figure out how to get it out of your body, which like for a lot of Femmes, it's like they're just controlled to like keep things in, keep things in, don't heart or queef or whatever. What is the splish splash sound? How is that different than like regular, you know,

good old mac and cheese sounding sounds? I think it's a little more schlossy. But you hear it, you know, when you know, you know. A little sloshy. Annie, have you heard this Blitzflash sound? I haven't, but I will soon. You're gonna listen out for it? Now I'm gonna listen, yeah.

No, but it's definitely like a relaxing, because it's, I do think I have that too, where it's like you just, you want to like hold in things. I don't know if all women feel that, but for me, what she said made sense, where it's like, yeah, you don't want to, you don't want to queef, you don't want to do this, you don't want to do that. So you're always like trying to not exist, I guess. Yeah.

And, but to me it's like a, it's a, I have to be emotionally open and I have to be... Because I can hold back and not do it. Interesting. And then does it make it less pleasurable generally if you're holding back? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's not clear that everyone is going to experience the Splish Splashy sound. Maybe it's different for different squirters, but also we don't know that everyone can squirt. Just putting that out there.

I just want to say guys, I really never thought I would. I never thought I would and I did. So even though it might not be for you, maybe it is. And also this goes without saying, but we're gonna say it anyway, is that now that squirting is kind of this sexy, porny thing, that people have been pushing their lovers to squirt in this way that makes them quite uncomfortable. So Lola told us about this. I've had a lot of people who want to make me squirt, and sometimes they hurt me because

they're so hell bent on getting to that end result. This does feel like a PSA at the end of our episode. P-S-A. But, you know, there's no need to be hell bent on any results when it comes to sex. Plus, our survey and other research shows that while a lot of people do get pleasure from squirting and feel this like fabulous release, like you've talked about, Annie. Some people don't like it. So in one study around one in seven said that when they squirted, it wasn't pleasurable

at all. And we don't know why, but sort of the point is, and Lola really stamped on this, is like if it happens for you and it feels great, that is awesome. Yeah, I feel like don't get hell bent on this. It's not as great as you're probably building it up to be. So chase the pleasure, don't chase the squirt. So what do you think of squirting now, now that you know all there is to know

and more about squirting? Look, I'm a loud, proud squirter, but I think the thing that is interesting is the torn-out pages of that book is what I'm thinking about the most, where it's just this... I think when we've just... There's just been a history of sort of... just sweeping women's pleasure under the rug

or not just, you know, redirecting away from it and stuff. And I think that's why I think I would just say, like, do it for yourself and, you know, it's fun. It's like a fun thing and makes you feel like... Powerful. Yeah, I feel powerful, sure. Yeah. And yeah, I'm okay with it being a little pee.

I know that was very blue. It was very blue. I want to thank them for not using red because that would have been scary. It would have been very scary. Thank God it's not period. Can you imagine? I already have too much trouble leaving a trail of that all around town. Oh my God. If we came into the studio and talked to it.

And we just found out it was period, I would be so mad. Oh God. But that's what's exciting. I'm just excited. I think the lesson I learned from learning how to score was just like, it is just a comfort and a release and just letting myself go, which is not always so easy. Yeah. Thank you so much, Annie. Well, I have to pee so bad, which is so funny. The whole time I'm like, am I, is this psychosomatic or do I really have to pee?

I stand up, I'm just soaking wet. And it'd be fine, and it's all fine. I just, I think I'm just soaking wet. And it'd be fine. And it's all fine. I just, I think I'm ready to surrender. I'm ready to surrender my argument. All right. It's okay. I'm not mad.

I'm okay with it. And I will go forth. I will tell squirt jokes with integrity, scientific integrity from now on. Thank you so ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha