While sex education in school might not be that great, it is always important to keep yourself informed about your sexual and reproductive anatomy. With pop culture misleading us and referring to literally everything concerning women’s reproductive organs as ‘vagina’, we thought we should step in and clarify things once and for all for you guys. To begin with, sometimes, a lot of people get confused between the terms, vagina and the vulva and use them interchangeably. In reality, they refer to separate structures as a part of the female reproductive anatomy altogether. So, here’s a download of everything that will make things crystal clear.
1. Contrary to popular belief what is visible on the outside is not a part of your vagina. As much as popular culture might try to convince you, all that exists between your legs is a lot more than just the word ‘vagina’. For instance, vulva. a far lesser-used term refers to the external parts of the female sexual anatomy. In fact, the vagina technically refers to the tube that connects the vulva to the cervix and uterus. The vagina also proves to be useful during a woman’s pregnancy. The tube serves as the birth canal amid a woman’s labour at the end of the 9-month term.
2. While the vagina is not really visible from the outside, what you can see with a little bit of effort is the vaginal opening. The opening is one of the three openings (the other two include the opening of the urethra and the anus). The vaginal opening is a part of the vulva, and this is where you insert everything from tampons to menstrual cups to even fingers and penises during penetrative sex.
3. Most women have two sets of labia. These are called the labia Majora (the outer set) and Minora (the inner set). In slang language, some people also might refer to them as bigger and smaller lips as that’s how they’re shaped.
4. For a lot of women, the labia come in a plethora of different shapes and sizes. Moreover, there’s no rhyme or reason as to which set of labia is smaller or larger. One might assume that “Majora = bigger, Minora = smaller,” but that is rarely the case. Labia come in a wide range of sizes, just like every other organ in the human body. If for some reason, your labia are causing a level of discomfort during sex, you can consider a procedure called labiaplasty, a corrective procedure that fixes the labia.
5. If you’re wondering what the function of your labia is? They are responsible for safeguarding your vagina by acting as a protective sheath. It is responsible for keeping your vagina safe and protected from bacteria and other dangerous pathogens. However, the labia are extremely sensitive and one should be mindful of the products that one uses down there to maintain hygiene. The labia especially doesn’t take kindly to products like lotion, scented soaps, or basically anything that scores a strong pH value. Being gentle while maintaining hygiene involves using water and only intimate hygiene products that work down there. A product that is excellent for maintaining intimate hygiene down there is the Hi Life intimate hygiene spray. With a unique Japanese formula, this spray is 100% alcohol-free and keeps your intimate area clean and infection-free.
6. For those of you who didn’t know, the clitoris and the head of the penis have the same function. And just like most penises, the clitoris varies in size for all women and also shape-shifts when aroused. One of the biggest similarities between the two is that they both have similar structures in that both are made up of thousands of nerve endings. This is perhaps the reason why both, in their own way are the most reactive during sexual arousal. What’s different, is the fact, that the clitoris has more than double the number of nerve endings than the head of the penis.
7. As a continuation to the last point, the clitoris is, in fact, much bigger than the head of the penis. Only a fraction of it is visible to us. The visible portion is the little button present on the surface of the vulva that extends deep inside the body. In fact, like a big tree with roots, it has its own structures that extend off of it deep inside.
8. Like we’ve said before, the size of the clitoris varies from person to person. However, the size has nothing to do with the level of sensitivity. In fact, it has no relation with how sensitive you are down there.
10. Here’s where things get interesting, what most people inaccurately refer to as the vagina is actually called the mons pubis. To make things clearer, mons pubis is the mound of skin that directly covers the vulva. This is where the pubic hair grows when a woman hits puberty.
11. The cervix refers to a little structure at the opening of your uterus, it almost looks like a doughnut. The cervix’s primary functions include serving as a passageway for the menstrual blood to come out. It also serves as the gateway for the sperm to go in, the cervix gets dilated during childbirth.
12. When we talk about the uterus, we talk about the organ where the fetus develops during pregnancy. A synonym often used for it is the womb, it is a pear-shaped organ and is close to the size of a closed fist.
13. Fun fact: when you’re aroused, the uterus, in response lifts to elongate your vagina. This phenomenon is called tenting, this occurs to prepare itself for penetrative sex.
14. Lastly, even if you’re sexually active, you most likely still have your hymen, despite the rumours. According to doctors, it doesn’t tear and just goes away. What actually happens is that the hymen stretches a bit, which causes a little bleeding when you have sex for the first time. Further along the way, it remains intact for most women.
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