Male/Female Similarities
As we conclude this section on physiology, it is interesting to realize that the female and the male sex organs develop out of the same structures. The most obvious of these similar structures are the clitoris and the penis. The clitoris repeats—reduced and modified—the chief elements of the male penis. The spongy tissues of the clitoris that engorge with blood are similar to the glans of the penis with its numerous nerve endings and great sensitivity. The muscles at the base of the penis are repeated in the pubococcygeus (P.C.) muscles surrounding the vagina. The female major lips are the counterpart of the male scrotum. In some degree, the meeting of the outer folds of the inner lips over the clitoris corresponds to the foreskin over the glans of the penis.
It is clear that the sex organs, both male and female, have other functions besides the propagation of the race. Even before the human being is fully mature and able to reproduce, the sexual glands (the ovaries in the female and the testes in the male) have begun their work of making a woman or making a man, as they manufacture some of the hormones that encourage and control the rate of physical development, mental growth, and psychological maturation.
As we describe sex technique and response in the next few chapters, you will appreciate the reason for this detailed study of the anatomy of the sex organs.
Posted in Understanding the Basics
To Ed Wheat Sr. and Gladys Gibson Wheat, whose commitment, devotion, warmth, generosity, and integrity stood for fifty years as a beautiful picture of genuine agape love.