Artist Sophia Wallace sheds light on the truth about the clitoris.

Consider this: In over five million years of human evolution, only one organ has come to exist for the sole purpose of providing pleasure – the clitoris.  It is not required for reproduction.  It doesn’t have a urethra running through it like the penis, and thus, does not urinate.  Its sole function – its singular, wonderful purpose – is to make a woman feel good!!

This joyful thought is how the mysterious Miss M. began her lesson on The Internal Clitoris at the Museum of Sex blog. It’s always good to learn something new, especially when it’s about an organ that exists solely to give us women pleasure. Did you know that the clitoris is not just that little button perched atop the vaginal lips? And that the vaginal orgasm is actually an internal clitoral orgasm? If you’re surprised about this, then we’re in the same boat! Let’s discover more about the hitherto unexplored anatomy of the clitoris. Miss M. noted that the size and scope of the clitoris was only studied in recent years, so it’s not surprising the most people don’t know about it:

Try asking the next person you encounter to tell you where the clitoris is located… I’ll guess that the majority of answers you receive will sound something like, “It’s that small bulb at the top of my lips,” or, “That’s the button up under the hood.” Although these responses aren’t exactly wrong, the interesting truth is that the majority of the clitoris is actually within the pelvis – that is, it’s far more internal than external. Even most of the women I coach, women who are generally worldly and well-informed about their own bodies, react with a combination of fascination and confusion when I explain that their clitoris extends deep within them.

Sketch and 3-D image of an erect clitoris via Museum of Sex blog.

What we think of as the clitoris is only the external portion, known as the glans. This is connected to two internal shafts, the corpora cavernosa. Each shaft has a crus and a vestibule attached to it. The vestibules are bulbs located just under the skin of the vaginal lips. Here’s where it gets interesting. When the clitoris is aroused, the corpora cavernosa squeeze the vaginal tube, while the vestibules become swollen and squeeze the vaginal opening. 

CLITERACY, 100 Natural Laws by Sophia Wallace is an art project that explores a paradox: the global obsession with sexualizing female bodies in a world that is illiterate when it comes to female sexuality.

Why are we only learning about this now? It was only in 2009 when Dr. Odile Buisson and Dr. Pierre Foldès completed the first 3-D image of the clitoris. Miss M. noted that they did this work with hardly any pay: