Penetrating Questions | V-Week: A special introduction to the parts of the Vulva

Jina Ashlene Staff Writer

V-Week is about many different things, but for me it is mostly about celebrating the beauty of the Vulva. I bet you thought I was going to say Vagina, didn’t you? That is because our culture has the habit of throwing around “Vagina” to mean all of the female genitalia. While the Va-jay-jay is wonderful, there is so much more to external female genitalia; the Vagina is only one part of the whole, while the Vulva is the whole. It is composed of the outer and inner lips (labia), the clitoral hood and tip, the urethral opening, the opening of the vagina, and the mons.

This week for your learning pleasure I’ve taken the liberty of making a few drawings and writing up the most essential parts that make up the Vulva. Please read on to find out about the Vulva and to find its parts. Think of this as your personal GPS Navigator that is going to take you directly to Pleasure! Cut out these maps, color them, and then post them next to your bed or anonymously mail them to someone who you feel could really do with becoming acquainted with the magic of the Vulva!

I hope they will help you and your partner communicate clearly with each other and make your Valentine’s Night wonderful!

I’ve chosen this picture of the Vulva because it is much more realistic than the typical “scientific” diagram made with abstract circles and lines that is so commonly used to show what the Vulva looks like. Growing-up, males have opportunities to see other penises in the locker room or in more realistic drawings than what exists for the Vulva, so they know what “normal” penises look like. Because of the location of the Vulva and social restraints, women rarely see their own Vulva, let alone other women’s, so we have no frame of reference for what “normal” is, the variation and reality of what Vulvas actually look like. It’s much more helpful to see a realistic image that helps a woman to understand what she has and looks like. For everyone, knowing our own bodies helps us to know more about what is healthy for us and to understand our own sexuality and what we find pleasurable and why. I hope every woman (and every person who partners with a woman) will take the time to look at her own Vulva. Get a mirror and find each of these parts in your own (or a partner’s) body so you can really understand them. We wouldn’t think of calling the whole face the nose because that leaves out the eyes, mouth, eyebrows, nostrils, and chin. In the same way, we should know all the parts that make up the Vulva, not just the Vagina.

Mons pubis (mons veneris, or just called the mons): This mound of fatty tissue covers the joint of the pubic bones in front of the body, just below the abdomen and above the clitoris. The name means “mount or hill of Venus” in Latin. This is the place where most pubic hair sprouts from, hair that captures chemical secretion that come from the vagina during arousal and may help attract partners. The mons helps to act as a cushion for a woman during sex, protecting the pelvic bone from pressure.

It’s very easy to ignore the mons, but don’t be fooled - it can be a source of unexpected pleasure! Because the suspensory ligament of the clitoris has its base in the mons, some women enjoy it if a partner stimulates the mons by massaging, rubbing in a circular motion, tapping with the fingertips, or applying some pressure against the area.

Clitoris: Remarkably, the clitoris is the only known human organ whose only known function is experiencing pleasure. It is the most sensitive parts of all of the female genitalia with an estimated 8,000 nerve endings all compacted in a small space. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the clitoris was recognized as a central location of orgasmic pleasure for women. Vaginal sex only offers indirect clitoral stimulation, so to reach orgasm it’s important to incorporate clitoral stimulation into foreplay and during sex. Today, many people know how important stimulating the clitoris is, but don’t know much about it (including its location!) or how to tell their partner about it.

To begin with, the clitoris is not a small “button” as many mistakenly believe. The clitoris extends into the body far beyond what is visible to the naked eye. What you see is merely the tip of an iceberg – the rest extends in two directions on either side of the vagina. While it is called “the” clitoris, many structures together make it up, connecting like a branching system of spongy erectile tissue, like that of the penis, which becomes erect and hard when aroused.

There is still much mystery that surrounds the clitoris, and much is still being figured out.

The clitoris varies in size from woman to woman and can be stimulated in a number of different ways, including rubbing, sucking, applying gentle pressure, gentle rolling the tip between fingers, stoking internally, or using a vibrator directly on the clitoris. It should be noted that it is a sensitive area that is different for every woman, and some do not like direct stimulation during certain states of arousal (or at all) even with ample amounts of lubrication – if you feel pain let your partner know! Don’t go right for the clitoris, but rather ease your way in after you’ve already generously aroused yourself or your partner. Focusing too much attention on the clitoris can dim some sensation, so be sure not to limit yourself to the one area.

Clitoral Prepuce (Hood): A hood of skin that covers and protects the clitoris. It can be carefully pulled back to see and stimulate the tip of the clitoris.

Glans (tip) of clitoris: The glans, or tip of the clitoris (the part you can see) attaches to the shaft. It varies from woman to woman how far it protrudes.

Shaft: Runs internally from the glans to the vaginal opening and is connected to the pelvic bone by a suspensory ligament.

Crura/legs of clitoris: When you no longer can feel the shaft, the clitoris has divided into two parts, spread in a wide angle that are the crura, the end of the sponge-like erectile tissue (also called corpora cavernosa) of the clitoris that attach to the pelvic bones. The crura are about three inches long each and are often described as “wing-like” structures.

Vestibule: The “entranceway”, the area within the inner lips that contains the opening to the vagina and the urethra, an area rich with nerve endings that is very sensitive to sexual stimulation.

Vestibular (or, clitoral) bulbs: They are elastic and cavernous structures that are attached to the clitoris at the top and extend downward on the sides of the vaginal opening and swelling with blood and lengthening the vagina during arousal, increasing sexual sensations in the vulva. You can feel the vestibular bulbs by running two fingers along the upper vaginal wall, from back to front.

Labia: The folds of skin surrounding the vaginal opening, acting as protection to the inner genitals. They vary greatly in size and color among women, with no one kind of “normal” lips, and they are often depicted as flowers in art. They are full of sensitive nerve endings and respond very well to stimulation (becoming engorged with blood), such as with gentle tugging, pushing, and rubbing. The lips may be a medium of transmission of stimulating messages to the clitoris.

Outer lips (Labia Majora): Literally called the “large/major lips” the Latin term is misleading because of the wide variation in labia among women, meaning that the labia “majora” are not always the larger lips. A more accurate description is outer lips, which refers to the folds of skin with hair on them that run downward from the mons along the sides of the vulva.

Inner Lips (Labia Minora): Literally called the “small or minor lips”, but more accurately the inner lips. They are hairless, light-colored folds located between the outer lips. They surround the urethra and vaginal opening and join together at the top with the clitoral hood.

Urinary opening: The outer opening of the urethra that is a short (about an inch and a half long), thin tube that leads to the bladder. Because it is so close to the vaginal opening, it can become irritated and infected during sex.

Vagina: The tubular female sex organ that is usually 3 to 5 inches in length when not aroused. When it is relaxed it is like a collapsed muscular tube (like when two hands are pressed flat together). When aroused, the vagina expands in length and width, and can open to allow fingers, a penis, or a dildo to penetrate, which the vagina will tightly encompass. The vaginal walls are made up of three layers and are rich in blood vessels, but have few nerve endings, which is why it is very difficult for a woman to have vaginal orgasms (verses the ease of clitoral orgasms). Nonetheless, pressure against the vaginal walls is pleasurable. The vagina does not require douching or “feminine deodorants” because the vagina is a self-cleaning machine that regularly secretes chemicals.

Lubrication comes from the “sweating” by the vaginal walls during sexual arousal because engorgement causes moisture (lubricant) from many small blood vessels that lie in the vaginal wall to be forced out and to pass through the vaginal lining. These beads of lubrication begin to appear along the interior lining of the vagina within 10 to 30 seconds of sexual stimulus. This lubricant secretion varies in taste and odor from woman to woman and based on the point in the menstrual cycle a woman is in.

Sphincters (pelvic floor muscles): Ring-shaped muscles that surround bodily opening like the vagina and anus that can open and close by expanding and contracting, both voluntarily and involuntarily, during orgasm. They are the key to Kegel exercises.

Perineum: The skin and underlying tissue that lies between the vaginal opening and the anus. It is rich in nerve endings (for men and women) and may heighten sexual arousal when stimulated with gentle pressure or rubbing.

Grafenberg-spot (“G-spot”): Named after Ernest Grafenberg who “discovered” it, some women prefer to call it the “Goddess spot” or something similar. It is believed to be a bean shaped structure 1-2 inches deep in the vagina that is on the anterior (upper) wall and doubles in size with swelling when prolonged stimulation occurs. It is believed to cause particularly intense orgasms and female ejaculation. There is much controversy over its existence, and many suggest that it is not found in one spot for all women, but it is more accurately a description of any part of the anterior vaginal wall that is richly supplied with nerve endings and sensitive to the touch.

Skene’s glands: The glands that are the source of ejaculate in female ejaculation (please see my “Female Ejaculation” column in the archives at misc.vassar.edu for more information).

Bartholin’s glands: Two small rounded bodies on either side of the vaginal opening, just inside the inner lips and to the rear of the vestibular bulbs. The glands secrete some fluid just before orgasm. It is not clear what the purpose of the glands is.

Cervix: Located at the base of the uterus and a little before the end of the vagina. You can feel the cervix with your fingers by reaching deep into the vagina. It is described as feeling like a nose with a small dimple (which is the middle of the cervix and opening of the uterus, the Os) in the center. It may feel more like a chin for women who have had a baby. It is sensitive to pressure, but it does not contain nerve endings on its surface.

Diaphragms, female condoms, cervical caps, and the contraception (“Nuva”) ring are all contraceptive devices that lay on the cervix. The entrance to the uterus is through the cervix, and it is very small, with a diameter about the size of a very thin straw and closed with mucus. Things like tampons, fingers, and penises are not able to pass through the cervix, but it is able to expand tremendously for a baby during labor.

Uterus (womb): Located beyond the cervix, where fetal development occurs during pregnancy. The uterus may also have a role to play in orgasms. The uterus changes position, color, and shape during different phases in the menstrual cycle, sexual excitement, puberty, and menopause. As a result, you may be able to easily feel the cervix one day, and can barely reach it other days.

Hymen: A thin membrane surrounding the vaginal opening that almost never completely covers the opening. The “intact-ness” of the hymen is uses as a marker of virginity in different cultures, however they are very imprecise markers because they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and sometimes not at all, and can be broken through tampon use, fingering, or doing some activities like horseback riding or gymnastics.

There is a lot I’ve covered, and some things I didn’t have the space for. I hope this offered a good roadmap so you can start your intimate journey down the Vulva highway today! If you’d like some more information, check out afraidtoask.com, created by two Vassar alums from the class of ’86! Have a very happy V-Week!