If your sex education classes were anything like mine, it involved condoms being stretched over bananas and tampons being dropped into glasses of water to see how they would expand. Various words were repeated over and over: sperm, eggs, love, relationships, reproduction. One word never mentioned was the holy grail of female sexual pleasure. The clitoris.
In France, at least, sex education is changing. This month, pupils will be able to use a full size anatomical model of a clitoris in their classes. Wondering what this model might look like? You are not alone. I always thought of it as a pea, or a button. How wrong I was. It actually resembles a wishbone, or the tulip emoji. Watch this short clip to see this incredible organ close up:
(Video credit: Youtube)
Thanks to the sociomedical researcher Odile Fillod, pupils can get close and personal with an organ that has been shrouded in mystery. “It’s important that women have a mental image of what is actually happening in their body when they’re stimulated,” Fillod asserts. She believes that it is vital for everyone to know that “the equivalent of a penis in a woman is not a vagina, it’s her clitoris. Women get erections when they’re excited, only you can’t see them because most of the clitoris is internal. I wanted to show that men and women are not fundamentally different” (Source: The Guardian). Preach, Fillod, is all I have to add to those words.
And really, it is about time the clitoris got some press. It is the only part of the body designed solely for pleasure. Surprised? Here are some more facts that might surprise you. The clitoris is made up of the same tissue as the penis- it is just the female erectile tissue is internal- and that it is longer, at 8 inches. It has 8,000 sensory nerve endings, while the penis has about 4,000- not that it is a competition or anything (Source: Medical Daily). But think about how much value our society places on the penis opposed to the clitoris. About time for a change, I think.
(Photo Credit: Pinterest)
Hopefully this French revolution in sex education will spread worldwide, so girls can learn from a young age just exactly what is inside their own bodies, and how they can have great sex. Have you finished the article surprised by a few things? Don’t worry, though you are no longer in the classroom, it is never too late to get to know your own clit.
(Photo Credit: Tumblr)