Don't Miss the Clitoris

Are you able to draw a clitoris? If not, you’re not alone. We know far too little about the female pleasure organ. Back in the 19th century, though, things were different. Scientists knew that the clitoris was at least as big as the penis, or rather, the average penis is actually a little smaller than the clitoris. The clitoris has a glans that is externally visible – and beneath the skin, it has four regions of erectile tissue. As social mores shifted, though, scientific knowledge of the potent organ of the female orgasm was repressed, with wide-reaching consequences for our perceptions of female pleasure and desire. Because it is not true that women want less sex than men, it's just that they often don’t want the sex that is offered to them. It is not the penis and vagina that correspond to one another, as our penetration-obsessed culture would have us think, but the penis and the clitoris: indeed, they both develop from the same embryonic primordia.

Drawing on recent scientific findings, Mandy Mangler provides an entertaining explanation of anatomy and possibilities – for a clitorally savvy, egalitarian society, with more satisfying sex for all.