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littlemissmartypants

(33,476 posts)
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 11:04 AM 10 hrs ago

Full network of clitoral nerves mapped out for first time

Anatomy of one of least studied human organs could improve outcomes for women who have pelvic surgery

Chris Simms
Sun 29 Mar 2026 07.02 EDT

Almost 30 years after the intricate web of nerves inside the penis was plotted out, the same mapping has finally been completed for one of the least-studied organs in the human body – the clitoris.

As well as revealing the extent of the nerves that are crucial to orgasms, the work shows that some of what medics are learning about the anatomy of the clitoris is wrong, and could help prevent women who have pelvic operations from ending up with poorer sexual function.

The clitoris, responsible for sexual pleasure, is one of the least studied organs of the human body. Cultural taboo around female sexuality has held back scientific investigations and the clitoris did not even make it into standard anatomy textbooks until the 38th edition of Gray’s Anatomy was published in 1995.

A Melbourne urologist, Helen O’Connell, says the clitoris has been ignored by researchers for far too long. “It has been deleted intellectually by the medical and scientific community, presumably aligning attitude to a societal ignorance,” she said.
...
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/29/full-network-clitoral-nerves-mapped-out-first-time-women-pelvic-surgery

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Full network of clitoral nerves mapped out for first time (Original Post) littlemissmartypants 10 hrs ago OP
Finally! I'll tell my wife i can find it now. Lochloosa 9 hrs ago #1
Get Directions 2na fisherman 8 hrs ago #7
Rachel Rubin, MD, also a urologist, has said medical schools don't teach about the clitoris dlk 8 hrs ago #2
Finally... SirReal69 8 hrs ago #3
It is what we are. Best to know all we can. Humans struggling to be less, well, weird. twodogsbarking 8 hrs ago #4
One of the mistakes science and medicine have made in studies of the clitoris is regarding it as an organ that is Martin68 8 hrs ago #5
Rachel Gross' 2022 book, "Vagina Obscura", covers the basic dismissal, niyad 8 hrs ago #6
Thanks for this. orangecrush 8 hrs ago #8
You'd think that Figarosmom 7 hrs ago #9
Men Still Won't Find It Deep State Witch 7 hrs ago #10
Thank you lmsp 😁 Clouds Passing 7 hrs ago #11
Just in time. They have just run out of subjects multigraincracker 7 hrs ago #12
Akin to discovering the Northwest Passage. Sneederbunk 7 hrs ago #13
Nothing new. I have been mapping it myself for years. Blumancru 7 hrs ago #14
Took them longenough Warpy 6 hrs ago #15
The mutilation pattyloutwo 4 hrs ago #16

dlk

(13,247 posts)
2. Rachel Rubin, MD, also a urologist, has said medical schools don't teach about the clitoris
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 12:46 PM
8 hrs ago

So doctors are left in the dark. This impacts their women patients and not in a good way.

We can do better.

Martin68

(27,712 posts)
5. One of the mistakes science and medicine have made in studies of the clitoris is regarding it as an organ that is
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 01:07 PM
8 hrs ago

separate from the tissue and and organs that surround it. We've know for a long time that the clitoris has vital roots and connections that connect to the rest of the female genitalia and urogenital complex. If these are cut or damaged, it can negatively impact sexual function.

niyad

(132,302 posts)
6. Rachel Gross' 2022 book, "Vagina Obscura", covers the basic dismissal,
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 01:09 PM
8 hrs ago

ignorance, fear and hatred of women's anatomy, particularly as it relates to her entire reproductive system, by the entire medical, research, scientific communities, as well as religious and political communities.

It is but one example of the misogyny that infects every area of society, even in the third decade of the 21st century.

Thank you for posting this breakthrough.

Figarosmom

(11,936 posts)
9. You'd think that
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 01:45 PM
7 hrs ago

It would be the most studied instead of least.

I've known men that really studied it. Too bad they weren't doctors.

Warpy

(114,603 posts)
15. Took them longenough
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 03:07 PM
6 hrs ago

It is a clear demonstration of how deeply unimportant women have been to medical science and how thousands of years of religious bullshit declaring women to be the source of all sin and that the idea of women enjoying any part of sex was the proof.

Oh, they haven't ignored it completely since the 70s when those of us who had been raised under The Rules kicked over the apple cart and demanded a lot better than we'd been getting. The structure was mapped, at least, although much of the function is still unknown.

It's more than that little head, it's huge, bigger than the average penis, and with more nerve endings in the tip However, because women have always been such a low priority research will likely take decades to be funded, if alt all.

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