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The
Real Story and History of the Clitoris
In June 1998
the Journal of Urology published a report by Dr Helen
O'Connell and her associates which has challenged orthodox anatomical
thinking. Her research found that the clitoris is far
larger than previously thought, although most of it is internal,
and disguised by fat and bone. This camouflage is one
reason why no-one had "discovered" it earlier, but,
as Dr O'Connell says "just because you can't see the rest
doesn't mean it is not there."
After
performing autopsies on several cadavers, O'Connell deduced
that "current anatomical descriptions of female human urethral
and genital anatomy are inaccurate." She found that
the visible tip of the clitoris, or glans, is linked to a pyramid-like
structure of erectile tissue, which surrounds the urethra on
three sides. Previous anatomy texts asserted that the
clitoris had nothing to do with the urethra. She also
found two "arms" running from the tip back into the
body, accompanied by two "bulbs" flanking the vagina.
The research recommended changing the name of these from the
"Bulbs of the Vagina" to the "Bulbs of the Clitoris".
The main nerve servicing the clitoris was found to be much bigger
- as big as the nerve in the penis - and a gland that produces
lubrication was in a different place to that previously described.
As
the study was performed by urology surgeons, the most immediate
result will be a change in surgical procedures. Cindy
Amundsen, an American gynaecologist, explained to New Scientist.
"Lots of operations involve dissections around the urethra.
That could affect patients' sexual function." Detailed
knowledge of the area should help doctors better preserve their
patient's nerve endings, and thus, their sex lives.
But why is
it there? "The purpose of erectile tissue is not fully
understood, especially in women," says Dr O'Connell.
"We know erectile tissue swells, is associated with arousal,
pleasure and probably lubrication. There may also be a protective
role in preventing urinary infection. We know very little
about the functional application of this anatomical research,
and we were keen to present the anatomy as we found it.
Functional studies will follow."
A
Clitoral History...
It
seems almost ridiculous that it should take until the late 20th
century for medicine to document an important part of the anatomy.
A study of history, however, makes it perfectly clear that women's
pudenda have been neglected, ignored, dismissed, not to mention
mutilated, for many many years.
Aristotle
started it, by claiming that women's genitals were merely an
inferior inversion of the penis, and this perception coloured
anatomical study up until very recently. An enduring prudishness
towards looking at the privy parts, combined with the biblical
belief in the inferiority of women, helped to slow scientific
progress.
In
the 16th century Gabriel Fallopius boldly claimed to be the
modern chronicler of the clitoris - "it is so hidden that
I was the first to discover it, several years ago" - although
Renaldus Columbus is also thought to be the anatomical equivalent
of his namesake, boldly finding and exploring new lands.
(No-one seems to have asked the women about it.) At the
time Pietro d'Abano was the only one who understood the point
of it. "Women are driven to desire... by having the
upper orifice near their pubis rubbed... For the pleasure
that can be obtained from this part of the body is comparable
to that obtained from the tip of the penis."
Despite
this apparent burst of understanding, medicine bumbled on for
another four hundred years. In this time Agnes Sampson was put
to death for alleviating labour pains, wombs were believed to
"wander" around the body causing every ailment conceivable
(at one point the cure was leeches - internally applied, which
sometimes got lost), and masturbation caused insanity in one
century, and relieved it in another. In the 19th century,
clitoridectory was widely recommended in Britain as a cure for
"nervous diseases" and unruly behaviour. "I
always prefer scissors," said Dr Isaac Baker Brown, who
later conceded that the procedure needed to be accompanied by
careful "moral retraining" in order for it to work.
In
1905 Freud further confused everybody by declaring that the
clitoral orgasm was an immature method of pleasure, and the
fully developed woman should receive stimulation only from the
vagina. Despite the fact that Kinsey debunked the myth
of the vaginal orgasm in 1953, gynaecologists and sexologists
alike perpetuated the theory right up until the 80's, further
debasing the clitoris in the process.
From
an article that first appeared in Australian Women's Forum
The full text of this article can be found at For
The Girls Ezine and Erotica for Women
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