Women have been experts in being women since the dawn of time, but that hasn’t stopped men from insisting they know better. And that goes double when it comes to female sexuality. Not only have we been told how we physically experience sexual pleasure, with an emphasis on vaginal penetration, (thanks for nothing Freud!) the true star of the show, the clitoris, has had thousands of years of being variously discovered, disappeared and disparaged. In an article published in the journal Sex Roles in 2000, researchers Shirley Mattel Ogletree and Harvey J. Ginsburg noted that in a culture focused on the importance of reproduction, the clitoris’s role as pleasure powerhouse was often relegated to the down low.
The Iceburg Effect
In the 1990’s, Australian Urologist Professor Helen O’Connell, began challenging the 20th century anatomical status quo. Through microdissection of cadavers and magnetic resonance imaging of living (and aroused) women she identified that the clitoris was not only connected to both the urethra and vagina, but a whole lot bigger than the tiny pearl that’s visible externally. Much like the scale of an iceberg, some 90% of the clitoris lies beneath the surface. Underneath the pearl, called the glans clitoris, lies a wishbone -like shape that goes around the vagina, and thinner legs that reach out into the pelvis. Oh, and everything beneath the surface is made of erectile tissue, meaning it expands, becoming filled with blood when encouraged. Not to mention it has two to three times as many nerve endings as the penis.
Still Playing Catch Up
Despite Dr. O’Connell’s work, the clitoris has remained absent from many anatomy texts and illustrations, including course materials for health professionals. “The lack of accurate representation of the clitoris in medical and surgical textbooks and the associated silence concerning female orgasm and sexual agency continue into this century.1 Anatomical textbooks still do not discuss female erection, female orgasm, or anatomical variations of the female genitalia.2
A better understanding of the true nature of the clitoris can have wide ranging impact on not just women’s sexual satisfaction, but also for gynaecological procedures including mitigating the risk of trauma to the clitoral vestibular bulb during an episiotomy through to the possible negative impact of cosmetic labial surgery.3
O’Connell’s research has reinforced the importance of the clitoris in women’s sexual satisfaction. In an article published in the Guardian, she mused that centuries of sexism, fed by unrealistic depictions of sex in Hollywood, contributed to the expectation of vaginal penetration and G-spot orgasm while and minimizing the role of the clitoris. “People want kind of a magical thing, where he gets off through penetration of the vagina and exactly what causes his joy causes her joy. Almost everyone is going to fall short on the goal because the organs just don’t seem to be designed in this magical way that would fit with the kind of thrusting behaviour causing an orgasm.”4
The Clitoris in Art
Meanwhile the clitoral form has been warmly embraced by artists and feminists. Conceptual artist Sophia Wallace regularly depicts the clitoris in her work, through a variety of media and featured in evocative sculptures, textiles, installation art and jewellery. Melissa Barron’s “The Tip of the Iceburg” depicts a monumental 30-foot tall clitoris of stone, steel and cement, mounted at 2023’s Burning Man.
If you’re looking for a slightly more intimate model, O’Connor worked with another Australian doctor, Ea Mulligan, who with her collaborators is manufacturing and distributing anatomically correct clitorises through Anatomical Education. When you unbox yours, ask the men in your life what it is.
References:
The Clitoris, Uncovered: An Intimate History
By Rachel E Gross
Kept Under the Hood: Neglect of the Clitoris in Common Vernacular
ShirleyMatile Ogletree & Harvey J Ginsburg
December 2000Volume 43, pages 917–926, (2000)
The sole function of the clitoris is female orgasm. Is that why it’s ignored by medical science?
By Calla Wahlquist
Are stereotypes in decline? The portrayal of female anatomy in e-learning
Dogus Darici, Agnes Yueh, Dan Schneider, Markus Missler, Bettina Pfleiderer
First published: 18 July 2022 Anatomical Sciences Education
Found it! The fascinating history of the discovery and rediscovery of the clitoris
June 2023
Female genital cosmetic surgery: a social trend driving surgical practice
Magdalena Simonis & Helen E O’Connell
October 2024 BUJ International
