Possibly the worst treated organ in the history of Medicine, displaced in medical treatises and popular culture for centuries, and unfairly relegated to a mere preliminary ‘button’ of sexual intercourse , the clitoris is now trying to regain its status as an organ. central to women’s sexual pleasure.
Giving the clitoris the place it deserves, and publicizing about this historically abused organ is the objective of Between my lips, my clitoris: Confidences of a mysterious organ , by Alexandra Hubin and Caroline Michel. This book reviews the first advances in anatomy of the clitoris, and how it experienced advances and retreats until it was where it should be, at the center of female pleasure.
However, it has taken centuries to do so. Although we have come a long way since its first dissection in 1559, there are still false beliefs about the clitoris that have done much harm to women as the owner of their own pleasure independent of their reproductive function, centered on intercourse.
Â
History of an abused organ
The fact that the clitoris is an organ that serves exclusively sexual pleasure has frustrated scientists for centuries, who tried to search for a reproductive function, related to intercourse; for these, it made much more sense that pleasure was derived from vaginal stimulation.
Centuries of history of discrimination against the primary source of female pleasure has resulted in a collection of myths, fallacies, frustrations, and misconceptions. One of them is the G-spot, which has caused so much frustration to millions of women trying to find it.
Today we know that the clitoris is not just a small visible area, as we said, but that it is a much larger and more complex organ, which extends several centimeters under the skin , and that can be stimulated from different angles. Of course, although indirectly, also from inside the vagina.
However, the most effective way to obtain an orgasm is the direct stimulation of the external part of the clitoris, the glans, manually or through the practice of cunnilingus . This visible area is just the tip of the iceberg. It is actually the glans of a much more complex apparatus, which extends inwardly in ramifications on both sides of the entrance to the vagina.
Therefore, it is easy that some areas of this complex organ can be stimulated from within it, but everything will depend on the size and shape of the clitoris, which varies in each woman, and its proximity to the vaginal walls.
The mechanism of female pleasure depends on many factors: there are many erogenous zones and sexual pleasure (whether or not orgasm culminates) can be obtained in many ways. What scientists can no longer deny is that the clitoral organ is the source of this pleasure.
But, to reach this conclusion, the clitoris has had to suffer abuse and discrimination. Here are some facts that everyone should know about the clitoris, curiosities, and some history.
