Let’s take a trip down memory lane— I remember my teenage and early college years being filled with conversations with my friends about squirting.

For the most part, these folx learned about squirting from pornography and expected their first sexual encounters to include this glorious stream of fluid projectile shooting across the room.

Obviously, that didn’t happen to them so they would always ask me questions about squirting… as if I knew at the time? My sexual education was exactly the same as theirs, so I didn’t know what they expected from me. It was probably because I identified as female at the time, but I didn’t know my body very well and barely even knew where my clitoris was.

Fast forward to 2019, I moved further along in my sex educator journey and I finally learned all about the complexity of squirting— it really opened my eyes. The fact that my friends from those early years (mostly male-presenting) just expected me to know how to squirt and how to explain it just shows how awful our sex education is.

funk - das Content-Netzwerk von ARD und ZDF

Generally, AFAB (assigned female at birth) bodies are expected to have the knowledge of a porn star in their first sexual experiences, and often feel guilty or ashamed of themselves when they can’t do things like orgasm or squirt as they move through their sexual journey. On the other hand, many AMAB (assigned male at birth) bodies learn from pornography and have high expectations when entering sexual experiences. We need to remember that no matter what gender you are— most pornography is entertainment, not education.

Learning about ejaculation, or squirting, from all kinds of bodies is important. As we learn about AFAB squirting, you’ll see that it is more complex than one may think. One might think of squirting like a puzzle.

AFAB bodies produce fluids in a variety of ways, and not every AFAB body likes the same stimulation techniques that are required to make squirting possible.

Can all AFAB bodies squirt?

Let’s get this first question out of the way. The short answer is I don’t know. At this present moment (2021), there is not enough research with large enough sample sizes to show if all AFAB bodies can squirt.

In 2013, Pastor wrote a systematic review of 413 articles and found that the prevalence of female ejaculation occurs in 10-54% of AFAB bodies. Wide range, huh? One study in 2013 used a sample size of 320 participants to take an online questionnaire about squirting. They found that various circumstances trigger squirting in AFAB bodies, with this happening slightly more often during masturbation (53.4%).

What I can say is that with the right education and practice, it is possible for AFAB bodies to learn how to squirt— which is why I am here, typing this article to help bring more education to the topic.

However, it is totally normal if this is something that you don’t experience or want to experience!

Discover & share this Squirt GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

What is squirting?

Squirting is an umbrella term for AFAB ejaculation—and is often associated with the orgasmic explosion of fluid that occurs during sexual play and takes form as a projectile or gushing fluid. AFAB bodies secrete numerous fluids! The “squirting” type of ejaculation that is associated with this explosive fluid experience is actually only one form of AFAB ejaculation (hint: there are two types!)

You mean there are two types of squirting?

Yes! This is also why it’s so hard to find concrete studies on this experience. There are two types of AFAB ejaculation— the squirting fluid and ejaculatory fluid.

The squirting fluid

The squirting fluid is the abundant, watery fluid that gushes or explodes out. Beverly Whipple sparked conversation in the 1980’s with her work on “Female Ejaculation.” She found that with stimulation of the Grafenburg Spot (aka the G-spot), deeper orgasms can be felt and are often accompanied by an explosion of fluid from the urethral area.

Sometimes before it happens, it can feel like an “oh crap, I need to pee” feeling. You can conquer this by draining your bladder before play. The Skene’s glands have since been identified as the source of where the fluid ejaculates from. The Skene’s glands are found around the urethral orifice (where your pee comes out) and are made up of periurethral tissue.

The squirting fluid is composed of numerous ingredients and I know what you’re about to ask… yes there is urine content in the fluid, but only about 2%! A 2015 study found that participant ultrasounds showed an empty bladder before sexual excitation and noticeable bladder filling after sexual excitation. They did one more ultrasound after the participants squirted and found that the bladder had been emptied again. Another study found that the amount of squirting fluid ranged from 0.3 mL to >150 mL (150 mL = 1/2 cup).

As of 2021, research has concluded that the origin of the squirting fluid is from the bladder, but is more of diluted urine. In the 1981 study by Whipple, she found that the fluid did contain small amounts of creatine and urea (chemical components of urine), but only in small amounts. They also found small amounts of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the fluid as well that they associated with the second type of ejaculate.

The ejaculate fluid

The ejaculate fluid is a milky-colored substance that comes out in small quantities and shares relation to AMAB semen just without the gametes.

Confused? Well in these last few decades, we have learned that AFAB bodies have prostate tissue that can be located in their body as well. Now known as “the Female Prostate,” some studies even suggest that 50-66% of AFAB bodies have this prostate tissue. This tissue lies within the wall of the urethra and is slightly smaller than the AMAB prostate (which surrounds the urethra). Sometimes the AFAB prostate is known as the Skene’s glands. The Skene’s glands secrete PSA, prostatic acid phosphatase, fructose, and glucose during stimulation or orgasm. At this moment in time, it is unclear what the role of the “Female Prostate” is— although there are suggestions that it offers antimicrobial protection against UTIs.

why are there two?

As stated early, the differentiation between the fluids is new to recent research. In fact, this recent study found that both fluids are stimulated from the Clitoro-Urethro-Vaginal (CUV) complex and the fluids come from different origins (bladder and AFAB prostate). They hypothesized that the stimulation from the CUV or orgasm releases ejaculatory fluid from the AFAB prostate and pours its secretions into the squirting fluid that is coming from the bladder.

I have orgasms, but I don’t squirt

Repeat after me. Squirting does not always equal orgasm. Squirting can totally happen independently from orgasm depending on the body.

This is something that I didn’t figure out until I was an adult. Back down memory lane, I remember when I was a teenager, I squirted for the first time while having sex with one of my first partners. I was very confused after I squirted because I didn’t have an orgasm… but I squirted, right?

So I must’ve orgasmed and was done with this sexual encounter? At least that’s what teenage me was thinking. I remember my ex-partner looking up at me, satisfied with his job well done, he asked “are you done?” Confused me just nodded. It wasn’t until later that I realized I cheated myself in that moment (and definitely many others to come).

Likewise, some people are in the opposite boat where they orgasm but don’t squirt. As stated earlier, there are not enough studies with large enough sample sizes to prove that all AFAB bodies can squirt. With practice and education, it may become possible to squirt, but it may take time to learn.

Happy squirting,
Jenn