The curtains of shame, social hangups and pornographic resources cloak the truths of our erotic lives so that we must constantly push away the myths and unveil the reality. And while the search for truth is an innate trait to mankind, what this quest really breaks down to is this: we just want to be good in bed.

For any guy not stuck in the Stone Age, the desire to please their partner is equal to, if not more powerful than, the urge to satisfy their own carnal needs. And there's nothing a guy loves more than an easy shortcut. Enter the mystical Gräfenberg Spot--popularly known as the G-Spot. Named after the German gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg, this spot purportedly found on the front of the vaginal wall is supposed to be the secret to absolute pleasure for women everywhere. Gräfenberg described it as located on the "anterior wall of the vagina along the course of the urethra" and as a constant "erotic zone" in his 1950 article "The Role of Urethra in Female Orgasm."

Despite his exploration of this area, which some call the urethral sponge, many in the medical field remain skeptical. A scan of gynecological and anatomical field guides such as The Merck Manual 18th Edition, The New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine Second Edition, Text Book of Anatomy and Grant's Atlas of Anatomy reveals no mention of the G-Spot or its purported sexual benefits.

Dr. Jennifer Hollander, anatomy professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, says, "I do not teach about it. It's not in our textbooks. It's not in any of the textbooks I know of. Based on that, and the way the nerve-endings are down there, there's no evidence I've seen for it. But I'm not an expert in the subject."

A 2006 study from the Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati reported on the prevalence of nerve endings throughout the vagina in 21 patients. The results of 110 biopsy specimens showed "no site consistently demonstrating the highest nerve density."

But this doesn't stop people from searching for this sexual Shangri-La. Dip into the self-help section of a bookstore and one can find a treasure map to the G-Spot. The rough game plan provided by these "how to love yourself" guides involves inserting a finger one to two inches inside the vagina and enacting a "come hither" motion. Stimulating this area will lead to a deeper vaginal orgasm than can be obtained through clitoral stimulation alone. For those who can't read a map, Pure Fun LLC has built a sexual aid to allow the penis to hit the G-Spot during intercourse. Christened the GPilot, the device can only be described as a vaginal shoehorn.

Once the GPilot is inserted into the vagina, the gentleman caller can guide his penis down the slope like a perverted water slide. However, with the help of a Valentine volunteer, a test of the GPilot found it ineffectual because the rigid plastic was too uncomfortable--and much like the water slide it resembles, some larger riders may not fit down the chute.Whether the G-Spot is fact or fiction, or a little bit of both, the conceptual idea is an important one. Sure, guys may not be able to push a button and send their girlfriend to the moon, but that doesn't mean they should give up messing with the controls. Despite the previous metaphor, it's not rocket science. Explore. Communicate. Pay attention. Have fun. It's the only way we're going to continue to pull the sheets off of sexual secrets.

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