Reasons why so many women fake orgasms as Halle Berry vows to never do it again

With age comes wisdom and self-knowledge, something Halle Berry displayed in spades this week as she shared how society's expectations were no longer dictating how she behaves in the bedroom.

The 59-year-old Academy Award winning actress pointed out one of the main sexual inequalities in our world, one that especially affects straight women, while speaking candidly on the Sex with Emily podcast - and she's having no part in it anymore.

That is, the great orgasm gap. Unlike for men where this sexual response is fairly straightforward and inevitable, this gratification for many women is not so easy to reach every time, causing many to fake their climax to bring disappointing proceedings to a close.

Or, as Berry pointed out to host Emily Morse, 'everybody has faked it because you just want it to be done'. Something that is backed up by psychological studies, which suggest that the majority of women across all age groups have, at one point or another, chosen to fake it.

Some women will fake an orgasm so as to not hurt their partner's feelings (Getty Stock Image)

While part of the reason for this is not wanting to hurt your partner's feelings, Berry also pointed out that many women will imitate the real thing simply because 'sometimes you just want the pounding to stop.'

According to Psychology Today, as many as 59 percent of heterosexual women admit to faking an orgasm at least once with a sexual partner, something the publication argues stems from unrealistic social expectations and how women's bodies work.

This is, in part, influenced by the prevalence of pornography use in men, a medium where orgasms and sexual enjoyment are almost immediate and frequent. This representation of sex is not informed by reality, but has become how some men view intercourse.

Berry took a stand against this social dynamic on the Sex with Emily podcast, stating that she had faked it in the past because of 'what we see in porn' and that sex was frequently 'very performative' as a result.

Halle Berry told Emily that sex used to feel 'performative' because of the influence of pornography (Mario Ruiz/Getty Images)

She said: "I don't do that anymore. We had to get there so that he felt good about bringing us to orgasm. We had to say that we did it so that he would feel good about himself. Because what is that doing?

"That's putting his needs before our own."

While not wanting to hurt your partner's feelings is a valid concern, pretending that what they are doing is driving you wild can double down on a core sexual malfunction, rather than act as a learning moment in your relationship that improves your sex life.

Communication in the bedroom should be about what you like, not what your partner expects you to like. And it is important to remember, even though they come thick and fast in pornography, climaxing from penetration every time is not a common experience for women.

Berry added: "I'm like, 'No, I come first like you come first to you.'

"We both deserve to have this be a mutually enjoyable experience, so we both can roll over and go to sleep because we feel good—not one snoring and the other one looking at the ceiling, going, 'What the hell?'"

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