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The next step to becoming fully orgasmic - A look at female sexual anatomyTo make sure that you understand the function and arrangement of your body, we'll quickly review the various parts and what they do. Women's sexual anatomy: The vulva, vagina and G-spot
Let's start with the visible bits, which are called the vulva (or pudendum) in women. First is the mons pubis, or mound of Venus. In adult women this is the area above the genitals which is covered in pubic hair. Underneath the skin are layers of fatty tissue which absorb and cushion some of the pressure during intercourse. Further down lie two sets of skin folds, which surround the vaginal opening. The outside set of skin folds, or labia majora (a single one is known as a labium majus), are covered with pubic hair on the outside and are made up of a large bulk of fatty tissue. They contain oil and sweat glands, which help to keep the area moist on the inside. The labia majora are derived from the same fetal tissue as the male scrotum.
The clitoris is located at the junction of the labia minora. It's a small, two or three cm long cylindrical body which is doubled over on itself. Like the glans of the penis in men it is made up of erectile tissue and full of nerve endings. The clitoris enlarges during sex and is the focus of much of the sexual stimulation registered by a woman's brain. A layer of skin called the "hood" or "prepuce", which is formed from the joining of the labia minora, covers the clitoris, though it can be pushed back to reveal the shiny surface of the clitoral glans. The clitoris can be extremely sensitive to touch, especially friction, which can result in pain rather than pleasure if a woman is not sexually aroused. Touch becomes more pleasurable when the tissues are aroused and filled with blood, a fact which is true of much of the female genitals. As with other parts of the female body, the genitals are really individual in their shape, size and look. There is no standard way your genitals need to look - whatever they look like, they are OK as they are, and like millions of other women's.
The vaginal opening leads into the muscular cavity of the vagina. The paired paraurethral glands, which open externally next to the outlet of the urethra, are derived from the same tissue as the male prostate. The glands themselves are embedded in the wall of the urethra. They provide mucus as lubrication during intercourse. Other glands, greater and lesser vestibular glands, open up just inside the labia minora and also provide mucus for lubrication. The VaginaNow we are starting our journey into the female body. The word vagina literally means sheath, which is a pretty good description of this organ. The vagina is a long, fairly thin tube of muscles and fibrous tissue, lined on the inside by mucous membranes. It accommodates the penis during intercourse and receives the ejaculated sperm. Additionally, it's the passage through which babies are born (except for those which are born by Caesarean section) and it acts as a conduit for the discharge of the monthly menstrual fluids from the uterus. The size of the vagina is very flexible: so much so that it can accommodate almost any size and shape of penis. It is about 10 cm long and forms a kind of H-shaped cavity inside, though during sexual intercourse it expands and molds itself around the penis. The vagina is actually quite an active organ, since it's made up of an outer layer of circular muscles and an inner layer of longitudinal muscles. However, only the first third of the vagina has plenty of nerve endings, which leaves the inner two thirds fairly insensitive. This is yet another reason why "big penis" does not equal "big thrill" for most women. Most of the muscles making up the vagina are smooth muscles, which means they are not under conscious control (similar to the muscles in your digestive system). However, a woman can contract the muscles around the vagina found in her pelvic floor: this is the pubococcygeus, or for short, PC muscle. This muscle can be trained and strengthened (with "Kegel exercises"), which will increase the strength of a woman's orgasms. The inside of the vagina is lined by a mucous membrane which secretes a sugar called glycogen. This provides energy for the normal, healthy bacteria of the vagina, which ferment the sugar and produce lactic acid as a by-product. This lactic acid results in the interior of the vagina being slightly acidic, which protects it from microbes, and also, rather oddly, sperm. (Semen therefore has to contain substances which neutralize the acidic environment of the vagina.) It is important that this natural balance of healthy bacteria is maintained inside the vagina, otherwise a woman may experience frequent infections such as Candida (also known as thrush).
At the back end of the vagina lies the cervix, the narrow opening of the uterus into the vagina, situated in the front wall of the vagina. The vagina does not lead straight into the cervix; rather, the uterus sits next to the vagina at a right angle to the front and upwards from it. This arrangement leaves a little pouch at the end of the vagina called the fornix. The fornix is much less sensitive than the cervix. It absorbs the main thrusts during intercourse and forms a reservoir for the pool of sperm which is left behind in the vagina after a man has ejaculated. The location of the cervix means it is conveniently bathed in the pool of ejaculate if the woman is lying on her back after or during intercourse.
The G-spot
So, the G-spot is a particularly sensitive area in the front wall of the vagina, often situated quite close to the vaginal opening, but always in the first third of the vagina. However, it's not a single spot, but a small area, which is more sensitive than other parts of the vaginal wall. Deborah Sundahl, author of the book Female Ejaculation And The G-Spot, sees the G-spot as the area of the vaginal wall which touches most closely on a vast network of erectile tissue around the vagina made up in part of a gland which is equivalent to the prostate gland in men (therefore she calls it the female prostate). I think this makes a lot of sense. However I also believe many women and men doubt the existence of the G-spot because they have exaggerated ideas about how it should work. If you think of the G-spot as a convenient button which you can push at any time to be rewarded by instantaneous, gigantic orgasms, you're only going to be disappointed! As with other erectile sexual tissue in women's genitals, the area of the G-spot needs time and stimulation to become filled with blood; it then becomes receptive to stronger stimuli and produces stronger, more pleasurable sensations. The G-spot area enlarges and protrudes more obviously into the vagina, the more aroused and sexually excited the tissues are. Therefore, if you want to look for your G-spot, give it time: you need to play with it for a while until your body responds with arousal. Another challenge is that many women are very cut off from the sensations in their genitals, which can then end up feeling numb or uncomfortable. You may need to massage your G-spot area gently over time to nurture it back into its full capacity for sexual sensitivity. Women's sexual anatomy: The uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovariesAs we move deeper into the female body, we move away from what can be seen from the outside or felt during intercourse. The uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries are essential for female hormone production and fertility.
The uterusThe uterus (or womb) is the organ that houses and nourishes a growing baby inside a woman's body. It is roughly the size and shape of a pear, which sits upside down in the body between the bladder and the final parts of the digestive tract at the back. The top of the uterus is dome shaped and is called the fundus. The main section, which slowly narrows down, is called the body and the end, which connects uterus and vagina, is the cervix. The uterus is held in position in the body by various ligaments which pull it to the back of the body during sex. Some women experience uterine contractions during orgasm. The uterus is built up of layers of tissues with the uterine cavity in its center. Three layers of muscles constitute most of the uterine wall. They are arranged in circular and longitudinal consecutive layers, making the uterus a powerful, muscular organ. The inner layer, or endometrium, is rich in blood vessels, which are able to bring nourishment to the fetus as it grows through pregnancy. During each menstrual cycle the outermost layer of the endometrium thickens and builds up in preparation for a possible pregnancy. If no egg is fertilized and "nests" in the uterine wall, this layer is shed by the body, resulting in the bleeding which constitutes a woman's menstruation. The uterus also functions as a passageway for sperm to reach an egg which is traveling from the ovaries down the Fallopian tubes on its way to the uterus. An interesting detail is that there are special cells at the cervix, the part where the uterus connects with the vagina, which secrete cervical mucus. This mucus builds a natural barrier like a plug, which does not allow sperm to enter when no egg needs fertilizing. However, after ovulation (i.e. when an egg cell which could be fertilized has been released) the mucus becomes supportive to sperm motility and survival. As you can see, the female reproductive system is a finely tuned system, optimizing for fertilization when that's possible, but protecting its owner from infection or contamination from the outside world at other times. The Fallopian tubesThe Fallopian tubes are the next element in the reproductive system beyond the uterus. They are a pair of 10 cm long tubes linking the uterus with the ovaries, where the egg cells are produced. The Fallopian tubes join the uterus at its side towards the top. At first, the tubes are fairly narrow, but then they widen more over two thirds of their length. This section is called the ampulla. At the end, the tubes do not attach themselves seamlessly to the ovaries; rather, they terminate in a ring of fingerlike protrusions which surround the ovary, but also leave the tubes open to the pelvic cavity. The protrusions, or fimbriae, move and are normally able to sweep an egg cell which is released from an ovary into the tubes. If the egg does not enter the tubes successfully but is still fertilized, a fetus can start to grow in the pelvic cavity, which results in major health risks for the mother and baby. Once an egg cell has entered a Fallopian tube it is slowly pushed along by small hair-like structures on the inside of the tubes. Normally, sperm will meet an egg cell in the tubes and fertilization will take place there and then. The whole journey for an egg cell to the uterus takes about seven days. Another point of interest is that healthy Fallopian tubes are essential for a woman to get pregnant. As the tubes are long and thin it's hardly surprising that they can get blocked. This is often the result of scar tissue which forms after a woman has acquired the sexually transmitted infection known as Chlamydia. Once a tube is blocked it cannot be unblocked again, and if both tubes become blocked the woman in question will be infertile, unless she resorts to IVF treatment. The OvariesThe ovaries are paired glands, which are the centerpiece of the female reproductive system. They are small and oval shaped and are located to the side of and above the uterus, behind the bladder. The ovaries release egg cells and hormones during the fertile years of a woman's life. The formation of an egg cell from primordial germ cells is highly complex. When a girl is born her ovaries will contain between 200,000 and 2,000,000 precursor cells that can produce eggs; only 40,000 will make it to puberty, and the others will die off progressively. In fact, out of the 40,000 left at puberty only 400 will mature successfully and be released for potential fertilization. Each potential egg cell is surrounded by supportive cells constituting a primordial follicle. Some of these follicles start to grow and develop into cells surrounding a potential egg cell in the middle. This structure is then called a primary follicle. It develops further into cells surrounding a tiny liquid-filled bubble with the egg cell in the middle, a secondary follicle. Each month the pituitary gland in the brain releases hormones which stimulate the development of follicles and prepare the genetic material in each egg cell so it can merge with a completely different set of genes from the sperm cell. Each month, one of the follicles matures (after which it's known as a Graafian follicle), ruptures, and releases its egg cell, which is then swept into the Fallopian tubes. This process is called ovulation. Normally, only one mature follicle ruptures each month, but if two happen to do so at the same time, there is the potential for non-identical twins. This will of course only happen if both egg cells are fertilized and grow into healthy babies. Once the egg cell has been released from the Graafian follicle, this tiny bubble in the ovaries changes into a Corpus luteum, a cluster of cells, which releases progesterone and estrogen, the female sex hormones. The hormones control the condition of the tissues lining the uterus, which is waiting for a fertilized egg to nest in it. If no egg is fertilized, the Corpus luteum dies. As it stops producing hormones the tissue in the uterus is shed, which results in menstruation. The next step on the route to becoming orgasmic: Finding Out About Your Body By Touch [ How
to have an orgasm - home page ]
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Women's
sexual organs are, apart from the breasts,
not very visible, and are mostly located
inside the body. Somehow, there also seems
to be less clarity about what the different
parts are and how they work compared to men.
This is especially true for the G-spot and
female erectile tissues, the very existence
of which is questioned by some people.
The
next set of skin folds, which protect the
vaginal opening, are the labia minora
(singular: labium minus). These smaller
labia do not have hair or contain fatty
tissue, and they have only a few sweat
glands. What they do contain is erectile
tissue and oil glands. During sexual arousal
the labia minora will fill with blood and
change size and color. They are derived from
the tissues which go on to build the spongy
penile urethra in male babies.
The
area between the labia minora is called the
vestibule. It contains the vaginal opening,
the external opening of the urethra (the
outlet through which you pee), and the
openings for the paraurethral and greater
vestibular glands, plus a few other smaller
glands as well. The opening of the urethra
lies above the vaginal opening and below the
clitoris. You may not be able to see this
small opening, but you might be able to feel
it when you touch it: the sensations
connected with it are similar to those
associated with peeing. And even if you
don't find it, looking for it can be a
pretty pleasurable endeavor! (Use of a
mirror and a bright light are recommended
here, and perhaps the assistance of a
sympathetic partner as well, if you have
one.)
The
G-spot must be the most contentious and
hotly debated part of women's sexual
anatomy. Some say it is the most important
part of the female sex organs, others say
there is no scientific evidence for its
existence. It's named after the German
gynecologist Ernst Grafenberg, who found it
while looking into new methods of
contraception (that's where the G in
G-spot comes from). For the sake of this
work, we shall assume it exists. 