You know that tiny feel-good button between a woman’s legs? That’s the  clitoris and, speaking figuratively, it’s anything but tiny. In fact, it’s a powerful organ of sexual pleasure that comes complete with a surprising number of fun facts. You’ll be surprised by how much this tiny organ’s got going on under the hood. Here’s a list of our top picks. (For more amazing info,  “Woman: An Intimate Geography” is a great resource.)

 It’s Exquisitely Sensitive

 The clitoris contains at least 8,000 sensory nerve endings. To put that into perspective, the penis has about 4,000. That makes this tiny area the most sensitive part of a woman’s erogenous zone. And while the clitoris is quite small, its powerful sensations can spread across a woman’s pelvic area by affecting 15,000 other nerve endings!

 It’s Bigger Than You Think

 Did you know that Marie Bonaparte – great grand niece to the Napoleon Bonaparte – had her clitoris surgically moved? Not removed (thank goodness), but moved. Closer to her vagina, that is. The reason was simple. Like many women, she couldn’t  orgasm from vaginal sex. At the time there was – and still is – evidence that if the space between the clitoris and vaginal opening is less than an inch, a woman is more likely to be able to orgasm through penetrative sex alone. 

 The sad part, for Bonaparte at least, is that the surgery didn’t work.

 Here’s what she didn’t know: Only one quarter of the clitoris is visible. The rest of it is inside the body, which means this organ can’t really be picked up and moved. The clitoris is made up of many different parts, including the clitoral head, the hood the clitoral shaft, the urethral sponge, erectile tissue, glands, vestibular bulbs and the crura (or the clitoral legs). Only the clitoral head and the hood are located outside the body. (If you want to read more about Marie Bonaparte – along with an array of other amazing sex studies and facts – check out ” Bonk.” You will laugh, you will cringe and, boy, will you will learn a lot of fun and unexpected facts about human couplings.)

 It’s a Lot Like a Penis

 Yeah, there’s the whole “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” camp, but in reality, men and women are a lot more alike than most of us realize. Or, at least we start out that way. In fact, all babies, upon conception, have the exact same genital tissue. At about 12 weeks, each baby’s genitalia begin to differentiate into a penis or labia. So, in a sense, the clitoris and penis are the same materials put together in a different way. The clitoris has a glans, a foreskin (also known as the hood), erectile tissue and a teeny-tiny shaft. It even swells when it’s aroused! Good thing it’s mostly hidden – it saves the ladies from having to measure and compare with their friends … (Check out some other amazing facts about the female anatomy in  10 Things You Don’t Know About Vaginas.)

 It Grows

 The clitoris actually grows during a woman’s lifetime. No, it isn’t getting stretched out from too much sexy fun. The growth occurs as a result of hormonal changes in the body. When a girl’s puberty begins, the clitoris will start increasing in size. By the time puberty ends, the clitoris will be about 1.8 times larger. By the time a woman is 32 years old, the clitoris will be almost four times as big as it was at the onset of puberty. It doesn’t end there. After menopause, the clitoris will be about seven times larger than it was at birth! Don’t freak out – this is still a very small area, so the change in size won’t be very noticeable. And hey, it might help to explain why  older women often report such hot sex!

AlterNet
Kinkly / By Chiara Laurie
http://www.alternet.org/9-interesting-things-you-may-not-know-about-clitoris

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