Where Is the Clitoris …A Straightforward Guide For Men

Understanding the clitoris is easily one of the most important knowledge bases to have if you want to deliver amazing pleasure and mind-blowing orgasms to female-bodied partners. It is truly the epicenter of pleasure for clit-owners.

‘The clitoris and the penis are considered homologous structures – they develop from the same embryonic tissue,’ explains Laurie Mintz, PhD, a licensed psychologist, AASECT-certified sex therapist, and author of Becoming Cliterate. So, to put this into perspective, the clitoris is as important to female pleasure as the penis is to male pleasure (yes, seriously). The issue? So many people don’t actually know where it is, how important it is, and how to stimulate it properly.

Look, you’re not alone for wanting to know about the clitoris – and the fact that you’re here shows you care about female pleasure. This is a common question, and we’re here to offer some answers.

What Is the Clitoris, Exactly?

Firstly, let’s start with one of our favourite facts of all: the clitoris is the only organ in the human body that’s sole functional purpose is pleasure. Which is pretty cool, if you ask us.

It is just absolutely chock-full of nerve-endings. ‘It contains approximately 10,000 nerve endings, which is just as many as the head of the penis, but much more concentrated because it’s a much smaller surface area,’ explains Lucy Rowett, a certified sex coach and clinical sexologist.

It’s important to understand that the clitoris is absolutely essential to female-bodied pleasure. Mintz says we should be considering clitoral stimulation as just as important as penetrative sex. ‘Stop hoping and expecting that your partner orgasms during intercourse and instead take turns orgasming,’ Mintz says, ‘This way you and your partner both get to immerse in your own pleasure when it’s your turn and get to experience the joy of the other person’s pleasure when it’s their turn.’

Where Is the Clitoris Located?

The clitoris is actually pretty enormous – which might be shocking to some people. ‘It might look small on the outside – despite it actually being an entire organ where the nerve endings go into the whole pelvic bowl,’ Rowett says.

When we think of the clit, we often think of the glans – that small, bud-like structure at the top of the vulva. The glans clitoris is about one half to two centimeters in size. As with most things in the human body, size will vary from person to person. Every single clitoris, regardless of colour, size, or shape is natural and normal.

Many of us missed the lesson on the internal clitoris – probably because no one ever told us (thanks, sex ed). It extends beneath the labia and into the abdomen. You can’t see it when you simply look directly at a vulva. The internal clitoris, or clitoral body, can reach up to five inches in some women (with the average being about seven centimeters). Ironically, five inches is actually the average size of the male penis.

The clit contains bulbous internal extensions (the vestibular bulbs) and wings on either side (the cura). The whole thing actually looks a lot like a wishbone.

To get even more interesting, the clitoris is actually not part of the vagina (which only refers to the vaginal canal); it’s a part of the vulva, the external part of female sexual anatomy. Like the penis, the clitoris experiences erections, as it contains similar erectile tissue to that of the penis, which becomes engorged during sexual excitement and arousal.

The clitoris and penis are both sensory organs. In a sexual sense, this means they are sensitive to touch, arousal, and have the ability to produce lots of orgasms. What’s more, both sex organs have corresponding regions. The head of the penis is homologous to the glans clitoris, with the foreskin and clitoral hood related in a similar way.

Why This Matters in the Bedroom

The clitoris, if we haven’t made this perfectly clear yet, is central to female orgasm. If we ignore the clitoris, we are highly unlikely to offer our female-bodied partners much pleasure, let alone orgasms.

Penetrative sex, we hate to tell you, doesn’t often offer the stimulation necessary to provide orgasms. According to data from OMGYes, only 5-15% of female-bodied people orgasm through penetration alone. Research on female masturbation also suggests that most female-bodied people masturbate by stimulating their vulva and clitoris. What this tells us is that external stimulation is the way most people with clitorises experience orgasm.

So, yes, it’s pretty important for good sex! We have to stop thinking about it as ‘foreplay’ or some kind of prelude to the ‘main event’ (PIV intercourse). Clitoral stimulation through hands, fingers, mouths, and toys is just as important to sex as (if not more than) penetration.

Credit: menshealth