Talk:Clitoris/Archive 1

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Believe it or not, the clitoris is actually twice the size most textbooks treat it as, and apparently extends considerably back into the vagina. It is further speculated that the "G-spot" and "vaginal orgasms" are really just different regions of the clitoris.

Bloody amazing stuff. You'd reckon that if we discovered that, say, the penis was twice as big as originally thought, they'd be shouting it from the absolute rooftops, but. Anyway, somebody with a bit of an anatomy background should have a look at the following transcript from a TV science show and incorporate the details into the article:


http://www.abc.net.au/quantum/scripts98/9825/clitoris.html

should this page be under "clitoris" or "Clitoris"? doesn't capitalization matter?

The first letter of a Wikipedia article title is always capitalized. --Damian Yerrick

btw, AFAIK, the clitoris extends backwards to around the symphisis pubis, but I've never heard of it extending into the vagina.

It was my understanding that clitoral stimulation --> orgasm, which is important in driving sperm into the vagina and increasing the likelihood of fertilization. Therefore it isn't true that the Clitoris's sole function is sexual pleasure. --corvus13

well, it is my understanding that the female orgasm doesn't always result in driving sperm INTO the vagina and that it usually is actually expulsive. that should be the topic of a node on orgasms though. - firehawk
Studies indicate that when a woman has an orgasm, it often has the effect of dipping the opening of her cervix into the pool of collected semen (if present) at the back of the vaginal canal. This, naturally, has the effect of increasing the likelihood that sperm will reach the egg. This is probably the phenomenon to which corvus was referring. --Dante Alighieri 20:44 10 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Removed from the main article:

Switters, a character Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins says, "This insect is making me feel libidinous", about a moth because it 'resembled a clitoris with wings'.

Am I missing something here, or does this irrelevant nonsense that belongs on the nonsense page? ---Robert Merkel

You're right, Damian... I couldn't let the anatomical inaccuracy stand, and edited the page to include more accurate information about the full extent of the clitoris!!! -- Gjalexei

Do all female mammals have a clitoris? If not, which ones do? AxelBoldt 23:57 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

A few years ago I read a book by some guy who was massively well qualified in every kind of science and maths but appeared to be pretty much insane. His book was about patterns in prime numbers proving the existence of God or something but his argument would wander off into whatever he felt like talking about. He went on for a bit about the fact that evolution couldn't have happened because (I can't remember which monkey-type-thing exactly but I think) the gorilla doesn't have a clitoris and there's no way that humans and gorillas could have evolved from the same species if one has a clitoris and the other doesn't. I don't know for sure if it's true or not (the very premise of the book was poor math nonsense) and I dread to think what a Google search for gorilla clitoris would bring up! It might be a place to start looking though if no-one can give you an answer. -- Ams80 00:31 May 11, 2003 (UTC) (P.S. Apologies for my appalling grasp of biology!)

I did a bit of a web search ("clitoris mammals"), and the most obvious result was:

source: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.lifesci.utexas.edu/courses/bio478L/LecturesPDF/reproduction.pdf&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

In female mammals, the clitoris is the sexual homolog of the penis, and has the same embryonic origin; it also has a corpus cavernosum and corpus spongiosum. However, the urethra passes through the penis, but not through the clitoris. In mammals, the penis of monotremes also develops from cloacal tissue. In Theria, the rectum is separate from the urogenital apparatus, and therfore, the penis does not develop from the cloaca, but from a genital tubercle, which becomes the clitoris of females. In many mammals (male and female carnivores, rodents, bats, and many primates, but not humans), a bone called the baculum develops between the corpora cavernosa of the penis or clitoris.

I think from this I would conclude that at least all female Theria have a clitoris.

Yes. Ever looked at a female dog? Pretty hard to miss it. Tannin
I know hyenas are renowned for the clitoris, although the claim I seem to remember would have it that they're the only ones besides humans to have one, which may be exaggerated in light of the above quote. But it does get a mention in our article on them. -- John Owens 22:19 May 12, 2003 (UTC)
No, they certainly are not the only ones. They just have clitorises that are extremely large, as the article says 'penis-like'. Andre Engels 08:57 May 13, 2003 (UTC)


The name Kasper Bartholin appears to be originated from the Straight Dope article on this subject: I have redirected it to Caspar Bartholin. Does anyone know the right/canonical spelling of this? The Anome 08:11 27 May 2003 (UTC)


Hmm. A chunk of this is a too-close paraphrase of the Straight Dope article on this subject: I haven't got time to fix it right now: could someone else do so, please, preferably with cites from some other source? The Anome 08:14 27 May 2003 (UTC)

"This is becuase it in general, the female is not given a choice in regard to undergoing the operation, and therefore breaks fundamental human rights"

The exact same thing can be said about male circumsision! (replace "female" with "male"). The way that paragraph looks now suggets that unconsentingly circumsising a male is morally superior, or at least more justified for some reason, explain why. -- Rotem Dan 18:23 4 Jun 2003 (UTC)

"(for a cultural, rather than medical, nature)"

Now it may make it look like male circumsision is an essential medical procedure, however, that is highly disputed.

Another question, why would the clitoris be removed out of medical reasons? I guess there may be medical reasons, but I'm not aware of any. -- Rotem Dan 19:04 4 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Clitoridectomy. That is all I have to say. You can assume all you want, but it isn't talking about male circumsision :). MB 19:10 4 Jun 2003 (UTC)
OK, thanks for the information, now I understand it wasn't comparing to male circumisision (which was not clear, by the way), I may slightly reword that.. -- Rotem Dan 21:33 4 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Is this graphic photograph REALLY something we want on Wikipedia? RickK 03:06 29 Jun 2003 (UTC)

I thought we'd reached an understanding that we'd link to it rather than have it on the page... though admittedly I haven't been following the debate too closely. Anyway, as the image was inserted by stealth (by someone who should know better) I've reverted it... Evercat 03:10 29 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Just being bold. I thought the person(s) who objected were no longer contributing, b/c even a link was unacceptable. It seemed to me that it was only a few people speaking loudly that cuased it's removal in the first place, and imho, we shouldn't remove it just to appease a few people. So, I added it back, and waited to see if anyone complained. There is obviously still some resistance to putting a perfectly innocent, perfectly appropriate photo illustration on this page. I have a lot more I could say about the situation, but I will stop there. MB 03:36 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Heh, that's fine, but I object to "test" as an edit summary in such a case. :-) Evercat 17:29 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Well, that is what it was. Couldn't think of anything better at the time. MB 17:53 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Should the pronounciation really be here? It really is more of a Wiktionary thing. - fonzy

For example, The World Book Encyclopedia does contain pronunciations of difficult article titles. --Damian Yerrick

And if you don't believe me about the pronunciations, I present the following evidence:

Nohat 05:29 9 Jul 2003 (UTC)