Try out PMC Labs and tell us what you think. Learn More. Management of the enlarged clitoris, because of its import for sexual function, has been and remains one of the most controversial topics in pediatric urology. Early controversy surrounding clitoroplasty resulted from many factors including an incomplete understanding of clitoral anatomy and incorrect assumptions of the role of the clitoris in sexual function. With a better understanding of anatomy and function, procedures have evolved to preserve clitoral tissue, especially with respect to the neurovascular bundles. These changes have been made in an effort to preserve clitoral sensation and preserve orgasmic potential. It is the goal of this manuscript to describe the different procedures that have been developed for the surgical management of clitoromegally, with emphasis on the risks and benefits of each. Equally important to any discussion of such a sensitive topic is an understanding of long-term patient outcomes. As we will see, despite its importance, there has been a dearth of data in this regard.
We made a diagram for you
It starts in the uterus
Debate has raged for years as to whether female sexual pleasure exists for its own sake or has a role in reproduction. But the two views need not be at war. T he results are finally in — a study in Clinical Anatomy has found that the clitoris does play an important role in reproduction, activating a series of brain effects taking as read, incidentally, that it is done right: so we are talking about a female orgasm, not about an ignored clitoris, sitting there, minding its own business. Those brain effects in brief: enhancement of vaginal blood flow, increased lubrication, oxygen and temperature, and an altered position of the cervix, which paradoxically slows down the sperm and improves their motility. From a lay perspective, this feels pretty uncontroversial. The clitoris is right there in the reproductive ballpark; it would be weird if it did not at least try to help. Yet this — perhaps predictably, since female sexuality is involved — is a highly contested space. It was a popular view in the 70s, that female orgasms were important to egg fertilisation, thanks to the suction effect of the muscle contractions, ensuring that sperm went in the right direction, and did not get distracted by, you know, open air.
A very recent science
Genital flap. The author is quoting Carl Linnaeus. At the top, Homo sapiens europaeus , then Homo sapiens asiaticus , then Homo sapiens americanus. Black kinky hair. Silky skin. Flat nose. Thick lips.
Nonetheless, acknowledging the shape, size, or even existence of this essential body part has not always been par for the course—even in the medical profession. To a major extent its study has been dominated by social factors. Free to download , the life-size model was designed by the French engineer, sociologist, and independent researcher Odile Fillod and released early last year. Historical accounts of the clitoris are plagued by disparagement or ignorance. Though Magnus, a renowned scholar in the Middle Ages, considered the clitoris as homologous to the penis, not all who succeeded him agreed. Decades later, in , the first 3-D sonography of the stimulated clitoris was completed by French Researchers. Ignorance persists today. As the University of Western Sydney clinician and physiotherapy researcher Jane Chalmers explains, the subject of the clitoris is still avoided or ignored.
