Clitoris

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

The clitoris is a female genital organ that includes erectile tissue, glands, muscles and ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels. Although the parts are placed differently, the clitoris is equal and matching to the male penis. The clitoris functions solely to cause sexual pleasure and create orgasms.

During sexual arousal, the clitoris grows as its erectile tissue fills with blood until orgasm happens. Most of the clitoris is hidden inside the body: only a small portion can be seen from the outside. Including outside and inside parts, the clitoris is similar in size to the penis. The clitoris and penis grow out of the same kind of tissue and share many similar parts.

[edit] Visible parts of the clitoris

Photograph of the visible parts of the clitoris, including the glans, the hood (pulled back), and the inner lips.

The parts of the clitoris which can be seen from the outside stretch from the clitoral junction, the point where the outer lips meet at the base of the pubic mound, to the fork, where the lower edges of the inner lips meet below the vaginal opening.^[1] The outside parts include

• the glans: the head or tip. Filled with nerve endings, the sole purpose of the glans is to produce pleasurable feelings.
• the hood: the fold of skin formed by the outer edges of the inner lips that covers the glans and is the same as the male foreskin.
• the inner lips, which are hairless and very sensitive to touch.

[edit] Hidden parts of the clitoris

The parts of the clitoris inside the body

The parts of the clitoris hidden inside the body include erectile tissue, glands, muscles, blood vessels, and nerves. In both the clitoris and the penis, there are two types of erectile tissue: body of caverns (corpus cavernosum) and spongy body (corpus spongiosum), which fill with blood during sexual response, causing an erection.

The clitoral shaft is attached to the glans, just underneath the surface of the skin. The shaft is a round segment of spongy erectile tissue and is very sensitive like the glans. It feels like a hard ridge about one-half to one inch long, and it rises toward the pubic mound for a short distance, then bends sharply and divides, forming two slender legs which are also made of spongy tissue. The legs flare out like the wishbone of a chicken.

In both women and men, the urethra (the tube through which we urinate), is surrounded by a ring of spongy erectile tissue that is the same type of erectile tissue that surrounds the penis. This urethral sponge becomes erect as it is filled with blood and grows larger. When parts of the sexual organs become erect, they become very sensitive to touch, pressure, and vibration.

[edit] Complete list of clitoral parts

The complete clitoris consists of eighteen parts:^[2]

• the clitoral junction (the point where the outer lips meet at the base of the pubic mound, marking the upper edge of the visible clitoris).
• the glans
• the inner lips, or labia minora.
• the hood
• the bridle, or frenulum, the point where the outer edges of the inner lips meet just below the glans.
• the fork, or fourchette, the membrane stretched above the point where the lower edges of the inner lips meet below the vaginal opening, marking the lower edge of the visible clitoris.
• the hymen, or its remannts, which are visible just inside the vaginal opening.
• the shaft, which connects the glans and the legs.
• the legs, or crura, two stretched out bodies of erectile tissue shaped like a wishbone.
• the bulbs, two large bodies of "body of caverns" erectile tissue which match the single bulb of the penis.
• the urethral sponge, a body of "spongy body" erectile tissue surrounding the urethra.
• the paraurethral glands: the female prostate glands.
• the vulvovaginal, or Bartholin's, glands, which produce a small amount of slippery film (or lubrication) outside of the vagina.
• the perineal sponge, or perineal body: a dense network of blood vessels that lies underneath the perineum.
• the pelvic floor muscles
• the urogenital diaphragm: the flat, triangle-shaped muscle that lies under the pelvic opening.
• the suspensory ligament and the round ligament.
• the nerves: the genital nerve complex (or so-called pudendal nerve) and possibly the hypogastric nerve, which carries messages back and forth from the uterus.
• the blood vessels, which bring a greatly increased blood supply to the pelvis during sexual response.

[edit] References