# Why do so few women practice auto-erotic asphyxiation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185 "2011-09-04T20:32:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/1 "2011-09-04T20:32:28Z")
AEA is achieving orgasm while cutting off your air supply by any means, some of which I can only hazard a guess at their Rube-Goldberg-like complexity. > **[Erotic asphyxiation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-erotic_asphyxiation)** > > Erotic asphyxiation (variously called asphyxiophilia, hypoxyphilia or breath control play) is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. The term autoerotic asphyxiation is used when the act is done by a person to themselves. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a gasper. Erotic asphyxiation can lead to accidental death due to asphyxia. > The erotic interest in asphyxiation is classified as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic ... According to a source cited in Wiki, a great majority are male…In all known cases in Omtario and Alberta from 1977-1984, only one out of the 117 cases reported was female. Any ideas on why there is such a disparity? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/2 "2011-09-04T20:44:03Z")
This is going to be a pattern with just about any unconventional or deviant sexual behavior you can think of. Quick guess – the male sex drive is significantly stronger than the female sex drive (not trying to start a GD, but you at least recognize the notion), men think about sex more and are more motivated to seek out sexual thrills, and so men think [abnormally or unusually] about sex or sex practices to a correspondingly greater degree. The amplitude of male sexual motivation is higher, thus so are its deviations from the norm. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/3 "2011-09-04T20:52:29Z")
Because most are like my ex-wife and don’t do sex at all?! ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/4 "2011-09-04T20:55:19Z")
I have seen books warning women against doing this, so that must mean some women are. However, I think women would be much more likely to do this while with a partner, rather than alone, and the partner is watching out for them so they don’t die, therefore they don’t become statistics. Yeah, another WAG. I actually don’t know any women who’ve admitted to doing this, and I know women who’ve admitted to a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/5 "2011-09-04T20:59:57Z")
It’s crazy dangerous? Maybe the question should be more why do more men do it? But aren’t men more likely to engage in risky behavior in general? Might have more to do with that than with a higher sex drive. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/6 "2011-09-04T21:02:19Z")
Lower testosterone = lower sex drive and overall less inclination towards risky behaviours? I personally knew someone - male - who died as a result of auto-erotic strangulation. After the fact, it turned out his girlfriend knew of his habit and was extremely concerned, but too embarrassed or ashamed to tell anyone else in his life. His brother was a very good friend of mine, and found him hanging in the apartment they shared. Pretty awful stuff. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/7 "2011-09-04T21:05:14Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Lower testosterone = lower sex drive and overall less inclination towards risky behaviours? > > I personally knew someone - male - who died as a result of auto-erotic strangulation. After the fact, it turned out his girlfriend knew of his habit and was extremely concerned, but too embarrassed or ashamed to tell anyone else in his life. His brother was a very good friend of mine, and found him hanging in the apartment they shared. Pretty awful stuff. Sad story. I couldn’t imagine being the family and finding out about a loved one’s kink this way. Must be humiliating and heart-breaking all at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/8 "2011-09-04T21:09:39Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Sad story. I couldn’t imagine being the family and finding out about a loved one’s kink this way. Must be humiliating and heart-breaking all at the same time. His obit read “sudden heart attack” and that’s what most of the family was told. It was shocking and sad…he was a smart, accomplished young man and apparently nobody but his girlfriend knew about this. She took it really hard; I lost touch years ago but hopefully she’s come to a peace with it. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/9 "2011-09-04T21:16:19Z")
From a purely practical standpoint, I can imagine the timing issues and general logistics being harder for women to get a handle on. Exceptions to every rule, of course, but men generally have an easier time reaching orgasm on command (and with a spare hand, to boot). ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/10 "2011-09-04T21:20:06Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Sad story. I couldn’t imagine being the family and finding out about a loved one’s kink this way. Must be humiliating and heart-breaking all at the same time. IIRC, David Carradine’s family was in rather vocal denial about what seems to have been a fairly straightforward case of this, and kept lobbying for police investigations well after most people had concluded that it was what it looked like it was. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/11 "2011-09-04T22:28:15Z")
Disclosure: I have not read the full article because the subject grosses me out. I need a little clarification here. The title of this thread is “why do so few women \*\*\* practice\*\*\* AEA”, but the statistics referred to in the Wiki article are about (accidental) deaths resulting from AEA gone horribly wrong. I don’t think one can extrapolate correctly the number of women engaging in AEA from the numbers of them accidentally dying during it. WAG: as a hypothetical, if women need proportionately less “strangling” than men to reach the desired result, then AEA might be a proportionately less risky activity for them, and thus the proportionately fewer (reported) deaths. But that is pure conjecture on my part. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/12 "2011-09-04T23:09:03Z")
because women are capable of spectacular orgasms w/o all the silliness and risk. vonnegut described the male orgasm to a t when he said billy pilgrim gave a little squeak like a rusty hinge… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/13 "2011-09-05T00:01:22Z")
I forget who described the male orgasm as a “sneeze in the loins.” When I began to experience female orgasms, oh. my. Goddess. 😃 There is no comparison at all. They are completely different orders of magnitude. One is a Fourth of July rocket that goes up, bang, that’s it. The other is the endless rolling, surging power of the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/14 "2011-09-05T00:48:45Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I forget who described the male orgasm as a “sneeze in the loins.” > > When I began to experience female orgasms, oh. my. Goddess. 😃 There is no comparison at all. They are completely different orders of magnitude. > > One is a Fourth of July rocket that goes up, bang, that’s it. The other is the endless rolling, surging power of the ocean. Where you experiencing male orgasms before???:D:D ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/15 "2011-09-05T00:54:20Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > because women are capable of spectacular orgasms w/o all the silliness and risk. vonnegut described the male orgasm to a t when he said billy pilgrim gave a little squeak like a rusty hinge… I think this is part of it, along with woman can very easily amp up their masturbation of they want to very easily, just get a larger insert-able object to play with. There is not the same method for males. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/16 "2011-09-05T01:04:35Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I think this is part of it, along with woman can very easily amp up their masturbation of they want to very easily, just get a larger insert-able object to play with. There is not the same method for males. :dubious: I’ve (almost) never heard a woman suggest that the size of an insertable is relevant to the strength of the orgasm. It can increase the overall intensity of the act and possible heighten the orgasm that way, but I don’t think it’s particularly analagous to the orgasm extension AEA proponents are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/17 "2011-09-05T01:40:23Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > :dubious: I’ve (almost) never heard a woman suggest that the size of an insertable is relevant to the strength of the orgasm. It can increase the overall intensity of the act and possible heighten the orgasm that way, but I don’t think it’s particularly analagous to the orgasm extension AEA proponents are looking for. I’ll go further than that and say the majority of women I’ve heard discussing the subject are not getting to yes by inserting anything. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/18 "2011-09-05T01:42:13Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Where you experiencing male orgasms before???:D:D Sort of. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/19 "2011-09-05T01:43:39Z")
Maybe we do, but we’re just \*better \*at it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185/20 "2011-09-05T01:53:13Z")
I found the two to be utterly dissimilar. Sorry for causing a divergence from the OP. As for the OP, I dunno, the idea seems so utterly bizarre that it would never enter my head. It’s like asking why don’t I get off by sitting on tacks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-few-women-practice-auto-erotic-asphyxiation/595185.md?page=2)