You Say 'Super Man', I Say 'Minute Man': Establishing a Threshold for Premature Climax

The term "Premature Ejaculation" is something which can strike fear into the heart of almost any man. But what exactly does this phrase mean? How do you know for sure whether or not you suffer from this condition? And what can you do about fixing (or at least treating) it? Upon a closer examination of the term, pinpointing a definition for premature ejaculation is more difficult than you might think.

Most people, if you ask them for their definition of the term "premature ejaculation", would mention something about a man achieving his orgasm and ejaculating earlier than expected or desired. However, expectations and desires are relative from one man to another. A male porn star may expect his erection to last for hours in order to fulfill his desire of remaining employed. Pleasing his partner is not a concern. His own orgasm is of little importance. The only thing that matters is whether or not his penis can perform successfully for the camera.

An average Joe, on the other hand, might expect his staying power to at least match his partner, desiring to keep that partner satisfied and coming back for more. But what if his partner can be orgasmically stimulated in ways other than intercourse? Or maybe his lover is so easily orgasmic that only a very brief amount of thrusting is necessary? Then he is free to finish as quickly as he pleases. He may only last mere seconds inside his partner, but if that lover is already satisfied, his endurance is a secondary concern. But for those men not blessed with easily orgasmic lovers, the question still remains unanswered.

Scientists wish to clarify this ambiguity by establishing a more quantifiable means to define premature ejaculation. Masters and Johnson(?) get close, specifying that it doesn't quite qualify as PE unless the male partner 'arrives early' in more than 50% of his sexual encounters. That's right, gentlemen: it doesn't count as premature ejaculation unless it happens more than half the time. Therefore, men suffering from the occasional lack of stamina can breathe a sigh of relief...if they adhere to this definition, that is.

But this still isn't specific enough for some. Other researchers want to pin the definition of premature ejaculation to the amount of time you can avoid ejaculating while thrusting your member within a sexually stimulating orifice; but they refer to it as the IELT for simplicity's sake. Since the average IELT is about six minutes, scientists propose that anyone with an IELT of less than two minutes can officially claim to suffer from premature ejaculation. A man can confidently declare to his partner "It's not premature ejaculation, baby. I lasted a whole seven minutes! Did you know that my performance is above the national average?" His partner, however, may not be entirely convinced.

No matter how you define it, premature ejaculation means different things to different people. The important thing is to understand how it fits into the context of your life. Then and only then can you move forward and establish an effective strategy for surmounting that obstacle.