At the Body Electric workshop during the last weekend of March (about which I haven’t written yet, I know, but I will), I was reminded about how little we are educated about female anatomy – especially in regards to the clit.
This is a video of sex educator and badass Betty Dodson drawing the cunt from the inside out – starting with the internal parts of the clitoris (did you know it’s got a shape like a wishbone?) and then drawing layers out to the external.
The book to which Betty is referring is The New View of a Woman’s Body, and many writings on feminism account this book as the first official medical reference to the internal clitoris -it’s definitely the first one I ever came across. The drawings in it are still fascinating to me, and definitely worth studying.
Ah, sex ed is so fun.
(I won’t ruin the end for you, but I just want to say, I like it.)
It has also been speculated that the so-called “g-spot” or “urethral sponge” are actually part of the clitoris, as well. Rebecca Chalker writes about this in her book The Clitoral Truth, though man, doesn’t it seem like this is important knowledge? Doesn’t it seem like somebody would’ve studied this by now, and figured it out? Even just a few months ago, I remember yet another study coming out saying “aha! We’ve proved the G-spot exists!” and I thought, huh. Pretty sure somebody already did that, for one. And for two, I’m pretty sure what you’re calling the Gräfenberg spot – named after the man who discovered it, of course – is actually that little bitty organ with 8,000 nerve endings that you’ve thought was smaller than a dime all these years.
I guess it goes to show you there’s a lot of work to do in sex studies, still.
I believe the latest G-spot study showed that not every woman has one (maybe some are too small to be of significance).
I think what i love best about this video is of course the heart in the end. Love for the clit and vagina. <3
love your blog by the way :)
ah, sex ed. the first place i read about the clit (and a whole lotta other stuff) was in a book i found tucked away in the attic of a new house. it was called "the sensuous man" and detailed techniques with nifty names like "the velvet buzzsaw" and "strawberry suckle". on the clit, i recall, it helpfully noted that it feels like a pea and it might disappear, but don't worry, just keep on manipulating. or, you know, velvet buzzsawing.
ok, off to click the link!
have you watched Betty's "Viva La Vulva"? I want that video pretty much more than anything else. I also want to start offering "Petal Parties" (I'm a nerd, and that's what I'd call them) to women and female bodied people.
I read the clitoral truth in college. great book. Also recommend Woman: An Intimate Geography, by Natalie Angier. (sp?)
I really think this kind of thing should be a part of sex ed. I had no idea what my own cervix looked like, let alone where the hell it was, until my 20s. And I felt like a foreigner in my own body until my 30s. I'm thinking maybe if I'd have learned more in the beginning, it wouldn't have taken me so long to get to know myself.