International Women’s Day 2025 is calling on the world to #AccelerateAction—to push with greater urgency toward gender equality. At CERĒ, we know that sexual wellness is a crucial but often overlooked frontier in this fight. The pleasure gap—the documented disparity in sexual satisfaction between men and women—is not just a personal issue; it’s a systemic one. And we refuse to accept it as inevitable.
Why the Pleasure Gap Exists
The pleasure gap is the result of centuries of medical neglect, cultural taboos, and inadequate sex education. Research shows that while heterosexual men consistently report high rates of orgasm during partnered sex, women—especially those in heterosexual relationships—experience orgasm far less frequently.
This gap isn’t about biological inevitability; it’s about social conditioning and a lack of knowledge, tools, and open conversation about female pleasure. Women’s bodies have long been viewed through a reproductive lens rather than a pleasure-centered one, and that needs to change.
Pioneers Who Accelerated Action
Throughout history, a few bold women have challenged sexual norms and demanded better for women’s pleasure and autonomy. Today, we celebrate three trailblazers whose work has helped pave the way for a more empowered future:
Marie Bonaparte: Early Scientific Inquiry into Female Pleasure
Marie Bonaparte, a psychoanalyst and royal, was an early researcher into female sexual response and anatomy. She studied the relationship between clitoral distance and orgasmic ability, laying the groundwork for future scientific discussions on pleasure. While some of her methods were controversial (she explored surgical interventions to address what she believed were anatomical barriers to orgasm), her work was one of the first attempts to take female pleasure seriously in scientific circles.
Shere Hite: Centering Women’s Voices
Shere Hite’s Hite Report (1976) was one of the first major studies to prioritize women’s experiences of sexuality. Rather than relying on male-dominated medical perspectives, she asked women directly about their pleasure, their desires, and their frustrations. What she uncovered—namely, that clitoral stimulation is essential for most women’s orgasms, not penetrative sex—challenged outdated assumptions and provided a foundation for modern conversations about pleasure.
Audre Lorde: The Erotic as Power
Audre Lorde, the Black feminist, poet, and activist, radically redefined sexuality as a source of strength and liberation. In her essay Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, she describes how embracing eroticism is not just about sex but about reclaiming bodily autonomy and rejecting systems that repress women’s desires. Lorde argued that the suppression of female pleasure is a form of oppression—one that we must actively dismantle.
How CERĒ is Accelerating Action
At CERĒ, we believe that closing the pleasure gap requires action on multiple fronts:
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Innovating pleasure products designed with evidence-based understanding of female arousal—not outdated myths.
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Providing education that centers women’s pleasure as an essential part of sexual health, rather than an afterthought.
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Normalizing conversations around sexual wellness to dismantle shame and stigma.
How You Can Take Action
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Educate yourself and others: Read and share work by pioneers like Bonaparte, Hite, and Lorde.
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Talk about it: Challenge outdated narratives that minimize or dismiss female pleasure.
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Support brands and organizations that prioritize sexual wellness and education.
This International Women’s Day, let’s commit to accelerating action where it’s long overdue. Because when women’s pleasure is valued, respected, and understood, everyone benefits.