5 Clitoris Myths Women Wished Men Would Stop Believing
Let's debunk the big one — the "vaginal orgasm."
When men first found the clitoris, they tortured women for it.
In 1486, The Malleus Maleficarum, the witch hunter's guide, taught that if a man found a tiny nub of protruding flesh between her labia, then you better hide her broomsticks. A clitoris was a sign the woman was a witch.
Of course, they didn't call it a clitoris. Medical examiners called it a "devil's teat" because Satan and his imps garnered supernatural powers by suckling off of it. (If only women could have convinced men that they would get magical powers from suckling it too.)
The belief that the clitoris fed the devil continued into the sixteenth century. In 1593, Alice Samuel was accused of witchcraft, stripped naked, and examined for the devil's teat. Unfortunately, the witch hunters found her clitoris, and Alice was hanged for witchcraft.
She wasn't the only one to suffer for her shameful anatomy. In the early twentieth century, doctors believed the clitoris caused "hysteria," or female melancholia. They cured these hysterical ladies (and children) by performing clitorectomies — surgical removal of the clitoris.
Throughout history, women had to hide their shameful clitoris or risk the consequences. It's no wonder it took so long to find it.
So let's start by debunking the most common myths that men (and women) still believe.
Myth 1: The clitoris is a button.
The clitoris has confused medical professionals because ninety percent of it is hidden beneath the surface. The nub or "teat" that people mistake for the whole enchilada is the glans clitoris — similar to the head of your penis. The average size of the entire clitoris is approximately the same as a penis — 5.1 inches or 12.95 centimeters.
This needs a pretty picture from my medical illustration days. (Yes, I used to draw vaginas and penises all day. Don't judge.)
The clitoris contains a bundle of nerves that reaches deep inside her, beyond the glans clitoris.
You are welcome to call the glans clitoris a "button." (I personally prefer "door knocker" because it is rude to enter without knocking first.) But please stop calling the clitoris a button, pea, nub, devil's teat, or anything that ignores the whole structure beneath the surface.
I am sure you would get ornery if a woman only stimulated the head of your penis and ignored the rest.
Myth 2: The vaginal orgasm is separate from a clitoral orgasm.
This one makes me spit flames. So help me, God…If I see one more unsourced junk science article on "different types of female orgasms," I am going to throw my copy of Gray's Anatomy at your head. (And it's a rather heavy tome.)
We can thank Freud and his coke-snorting days for this myth. Freud taught that there were two types of orgasm — "an immature clitoral orgasm" and a "mature vaginal orgasm." Only prepubescent girls high on romance novels experienced the clitoral orgasm. Mature vagina owners experienced a vaginal or "real" orgasm. And, of course, the vaginal orgasm was superior because it required a penis penetrating a vagina.
Over a century later, men still think women have two kinds of orgasms. Even worse, some still erroneously believe that the party doesn't start until a penis penetrates a vagina. Since only 18% of women can orgasm from penetration alone, some never get on the VIP list.
So here's the truth — the vaginal orgasm doesn't exist.
A "vaginal orgasm" is the clitoral network that wraps around the vaginal canal. In other words, when penetration feels pleasurable for vagina owners, she feels the clitoral network through the walls of her vagina. Freud had this one completely wrong.
Think of the clitoris as analogous to the taste buds in your mouth. Does food taste yummy because of your taste buds or because of the hole in your face?
The bottom line is this — the clitoris is not a Thanksgiving turkey. So stop slicing it up. We don't slice and dice a man's penis. You won't find women waxing poetic about a frenulum orgasm, testicle orgasm, or shaft orgasm. And while orgasms vary in intensity and length, it's still the clitoris doing all the work.
Myth 3: The "squirting" G-spot orgasm is separate from the clitoral orgasm.
If a woman is sensitive near her "G-spot," she can again thank her clitoris and not Dr. Gräfenberg.
The G-spot or Gräfenberg spot is located on the front anterior wall of the clitoral network between the Skene's glands. This myth persists because "the front anterior wall of the clitoris" isn't as catchy as G-spot.
Although the pleasure sensation comes from the clitoral network that straddles that area, there is still an ongoing debate on what causes the elusive female ejaculation.
First off, female ejaculation is not the same as "squirting." Most researchers think female ejaculation comes from a combination of the Skene's glands and the urethral sponge. The Skene's glands only release about two tablespoons of milky white liquid, but because of its proximity to the urethral sponge, there may also be some urea in female ejaculation.
Female ejaculation also serves a purpose. Research has found female ejaculation is anti-microbial and may prevent urinary tract infections. So if your partner is prone to UTIs, make sure she orgasms.
Squirting is a different phenomenon. To determine the chemical components of squirting, researchers examined the fluid released from female subjects after orgasm. They chose only subjects prone to produce large amounts of fluid and not the typical ejaculation. (Yes, they watched women masturbate in a laboratory setting. Some people have more interesting jobs.)
They found squirting comes from the urethra and bladder and contains mainly urine with sometimes a tiny amount of prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) produced from the Skene's glands.
What is a myth is the squirting you see in porn videos. Yeah, so I hate to wreck your sexy time, but that is entirely fake. When an actress gushes a fire hydrant of liquid, she is holding water in her vagina and then releasing it for cinematic effect. It's called "squirting," not "flooding" for a reason.
Myth 4: The cervical orgasm is separate from the clitoral orgasm.
The cervix is the cylinder-shaped neck of tissue that connects the vagina and lower end of the uterus.
This needs another pretty picture.
The cervix has pressure nerves but not touch nerves. Many women find the pressure against their cervix pleasurable, and some feel an intense orgasm when a penis or dildo hits that area. Others…will want to punch you in the face if you hit her cervix. Your best bet is to ask which camp she falls in and then experiment with different levels of pressure. (If you have a shorter penis, entry from behind allows for deeper penetration.)
Often when you hit her cervix, it is because she is not fully aroused. When a woman is aroused, her vagina "tents." During vaginal tenting, the vagina dilates, lubrication increases, and the cervix moves upward and back — out of the way.
But again, the key to getting the party tent up is the clitoris.
The pleasure a woman feels from a "cervical orgasm" is not from hitting the cervix but from stimulating the walls of the vagina, which triggers the clitoris' bulbs on either side. (See the first illustration.)
Are you catching a theme yet? Hold that thought…
Myth 5: The clitoris has 8000 nerve endings — twice as many as the penis.
I see this myth repeated in many credible textbooks. And yes, I used to be one of those annoying women bragging to men that my clitoris had magical powers because it had more nerve endings.
Well, the magical powers claim is still true, but the 8000 nerve endings boast is debatable.
The truth is we don't know how many nerve endings the clitoris (or the penis) has because no one has bothered to research it yet. What we do know is how many nerve endings are in a cow's clitoris. Yep. That's right. The original research claiming "8000 nerve endings" studied cows and not women. (I am resisting making a snarky comment right now.)
And while every female mammal has a clitoris, they come in all shapes and sizes. The innocent female dolphin has a giant clitoris. The female hyena gives birth through her clitoris. And kangaroos have three vaginas. (Sorry, no one has counted their clitorises yet.) So studying animals is probably not the best way to learn female anatomy.
Update: In November 2022, the clitoral network was mapped. Researchers found over 10,000 nerve endings — even more than a cow’s clitoris.
The clitoris has not got the respect it deserves. For centuries, the medical community has castigated or ignored it, allowing other parts of a woman's genitalia to upstage the humble clitoris. And it doesn't help matters that the clitoris resembles a turkey wishbone with hanging testicles. (I hope this visual makes your Thanksgiving dinner more appetizing.)
Either way, it's time men celebrated this alien-looking body part like we celebrate the penis.
Let's start with this simple maxim — the vagina rules procreation, but the clitoris rules pleasure. If you care about her pleasure, give her omnipotent devil's teat the attention it deserves.
Carlyn Beccia is an award-winning author and illustrator of 13 books. For past articles grouped by subject, see my Table of Contents.
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