Genitals most searched human anatomy on Wikipedia.

From Slate:

The incredibly popular, highly contentious Wikipedia pages for penis and vagina. Plus: Meet a guy who uploaded one of the penis photos. By Ben Blatt

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has described his vision for the free encyclopedia as "the sum of all human knowledge." It's a noble goal, but it turns out that many Wikipedia users—readers and editors alike—are less interested in the sum than the parts. Two parts, in particular: the human penis and vagina.

Wikipedia keeps detailed records of page views and edit history so it’s easy to measure how often readers visit each article and how much work editors have put into each page. You might guess the entries for brain and human brain would be the most popular anatomy pages, given the brain’s importance and complexity. But together they average a total of only 215,000 views a month—considerably less than one-half the monthly page views either the penis or vagina page receive. The penis page is so popular it receives four times as many views as head, shoulders, knees, and toes—combined.

Here’s a graphic that shows the popularity of different anatomy related pages on Wikipedia

Wikipedia Genitals

Read the rest here.

Intersex.

Guess which one of us has testes? Intersex Youth Advocacy Group: http://www.interactyouth.org Legal Advocacy Group: http://www.aiclegal.org Support Group for intersex youth, adults, & families: http://aisdsd.org/ FEATURING Sean Saifa Wall: http://saifaemerges.com Pidgeon Pagonis: https://www.facebook.com/pidgeon Emily Quinn: https://twitter.com/emilord Alice Alvarez: http://alicemaggie.tumblr.com/ Check out more awesome BuzzFeedYellow videos!

Women describe their vulva.

These descriptions come from a fun study done by the people that run LargeLabiaProject.org. The sample is clearly not representative, and the study is not peer-reviewed. Nonetheless, they report some interesting findings. The section in which they provide women's descriptions of their vulva is particularly compelling. You can read the whole paper here. And some of he descriptions (check the main document for many, many more):

Page from Labia Minora and Vulvar Appearance

Facts about vaginas.

Surprisingly accurate. Buzzfeed has historically taken a beating for click-bait and credibility, but this is pretty spot on.

29 Things Everyone With A Vagina Should Definitely Know by Carolyn Kylstra

1. The clitoris is not a button — it’s more like a wishbone. When most people think of the clitoris, they think of the small visible part. But research indicates that it actually has branches that extend down underneath the skin, along either side of the vulva, kind of in a wishbone shape. “These branches can potentially be stimulated from the outside,” Debby Herbenick, Ph.D., associate professor at Indiana University and author of The Coregasm Workout (Seal Press, 2015), told BuzzFeed Life. GOOD TO KNOW.

2. What you think is your vagina is probably actually your vulva. The vulva refers to the outside, visible parts of your genitalia. It encompasses basically everything you can see — the labia, the clitoris, the urethra, the vaginal opening, and so on — and it’s usually what most people mean when they say “vagina.” The vagina, on the other hand, is the muscular passageway that connects the vulva to the cervix.

3. Vaginas (and vulvas) come in lots of different shapes, sizes, and colors. There’s a good deal of variation from person to person, and there’s no such thing as a “standard” vulva — and that’s according to science.

4. When aroused, the vagina can expand to around twice its normal size. Unaroused, the average vagina is about three to four inches deep. But during sex it can expand to about twice as big, Dr. Herbenick told BuzzFeed Life. That’s partially because of a process called vaginal tenting, which is what happens when you get aroused. “When women become aroused, there’s more muscular tension in the body,” Dr. Herbenick says. “That muscular tension draws the uterus upward, creating more space in the vagina lengthwise.”

Go read the rest here.

Vajazzling.

The interview that made it famous. Take it away Ms. Hewitt...

J-Love getting naughty on the January 12, 2010 episode of Lopez Tonight on TBS.

And a more recent clip from Conan:

Jennifer Love Hewitt talks about the art of vajazzling.

Check the reply section for a student's account of the vajazzling experience.

Ethnocentrism and female circumcision (FGM).

There are two main types of female circumcision: clitoridectomy and infibulation. Clitoridectomy is the removal of the clitoris, while infibulation is the removal of the entire vulva and the suturing of the vaginal opening. The procedures are predominant and culturally important in parts of Africa and the Middle East. Both are considered genital mutilation by the World Health Organization (WHO). More information from the WHO can be found here. As Westerners, we are typically horrified by this tradition. The vulva, especially the clitoris, are considered essential anatomy for experiencing sexual pleasure. The procedures seem cruel and misogynistic, and it's impossible for us to imagine how female circumcision could be a good thing, from any perspective.

But, is this a case of ethnocentrism, and should we mind our own business?

In these videos, women talk about the importance of female circumcision, as both a ritual and in terms of women's worth as future brides.

*Disclaimer* I have no idea how accurate the translations are.

Female circumsicion is not just a problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. About 6,000 girls fall victim to genital mutilation every day, that's about 2 million a year. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 100 and 140 million women worldwide are circumcised.

A discussion in Ethiopia about the issue of female genital mutilation (FGM). Language: Amharic & Somali w/ English Subtitles

http://www.DRDAPO.COM for more eye-opening content Documentary on female genital cutting

A group of Italian researchers who examined the effects of female circumcision on sexual functioning cautiously reported some surprisingly and remarkably positive results:

The group of 137 women, affected by different types of FGM/C, reported orgasm in almost 86%, always 69.23%; 58 mutilated young women reported orgasm in 91.43%, always 8.57%; after defibulation 14 out of 15 infibulated women reported orgasm; the group of 57 infibulated women investigated with the FSFI questionnaire showed significant differences between group of study and an equivalent group of control in desire, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction with mean scores higher in the group of mutilated women. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in lubrication and pain.

The entire article can be downloaded here: Catania et al., 2007.

Their results are hard to believe, as the circumcised women reported better sexual functioning than what you'd find in a typical Western population.

The study has been criticized for several reasons, including: poor control group; measures normed for Western cultures; and bias associated with self-reports. However, similar findings have been reported before. In these cultures, it's likely that female circumcision is a key part of women's identities as sexual beings. And perhaps that strengthened identity is associated with better sexual functioning.

Some have suggested that a possible compromise might be genital nicking. Rather than removing the vulva, the vulva are nicked instead. A description and background can be found in this New York Times article.

The New York Times has reported extensively on female circumcision. All the articles can be found here.

The origins of labia insecurity.

There have been several theories proposed as to the root causes of labia insecurity, one being the effect of pornography. This theory is particularly pertinent in Australia, where censorship laws are such that softcore porn cannot display inner labia (which appears to be entirely arbitrary - since when are inner labia more explicit???). Here's a brief clip describing the state of affairs (NSFW): 

Subscribe for more Hungry Beast: http://bit.ly/HungryBeast Theres one part of the female body that most of us have seen more in pictures than in real life. But has censorship skewed our idea of what a normal vagina looks like? And could it be contributing to a new trend in cosmetic surgery?

Seinfeld: Name?

Jerry dates a girl that he has forgotten her name. She says it rhymes with a part of the female anatomy. Jerry and George then try to figure it out.

Clip: Anatomically Correct Slow Jam.

From College Humor:

Vulva cookies gone wrong.

From NewsLinQ:

Mom Bakes Vagina Cookies For Second Grade Class. Wait….What?

The parent of a second grade student brought some very questionable cookies to her child’s class recently. The cookies were so strange that someone in the class couldn’t help but share the story behind them on reddit.

Posting on behalf of the teacher, reddit user JPstudly writes that the teacher asks a volunteer parent to bring snacks in for her students each week to reward good behavior. This week, a parent going by the pseudonym Autumn volunteered to bake some cookies and bring them to the class. When Autumn delivered the cookies, she told the teacher to use them as an opportunity to teach her students about vaginas. What do cookies have to do with vaginas? Our teacher was about to find out. Here’s what happened next.

“Baffled and completely caught off guard I slowly peel the aluminum foil off the pan to behold a plethora of sugar cookie and frosting vaginas,” the teacher writes. “Not just any old vagina, but ALL KINDS OF VAGINAS. There were small, puffy, white, brown, shaved, bald, and even a fire crotch with beef curtains. Perplexed, I give the parent the most professional look I can muster and quietly reply ‘I’m sorry Autumn, but I can’t give these to my students. This just isn’t appropriate.’”

That’s when things got ugly.

Autumn snapped back and said the teacher “should be proud of [her] vagina,” and accused her of “settling for woman’s role in life.” Mind you, all of this happened in front of the students.

The teacher says she had no choice but to “stand and stare at the woman as the word ‘vagina’ is yelled in front of my second grade class about 987,000 times. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, she storms out of the class leaving her vagina cookies on my desk.”

Later that night, the teacher received a scathing email from Autumn. In it, Autumns says the teacher is “closed minded” and “settled for less when you became a teacher because that is known for a women’s job.” She says that women need to stand together and “inform people about the vagina and how to please it.” She closes the email by saying “I hope you end up with an abusive husband that beats on you every night.”

Check out the email here and the Reddit thread here.

Strange animal genitals.

What is the world's weirdest genitalia? WATCH 'Does Penis Size Matter?': http://bit.ly/1wA4R8x SUBSCRIBE! It's free :) http://bit.ly/1eA5JCm ----Links To Follow Us Below!!---- Instagram: Gregs(http://bit.ly/16F1jeC) Mitch(http://bit.ly/15J7ube) Twitter: Greg @whalewatchmeplz and Mitch @mitchellmoffit AsapTHOUGHT Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsapTHOUGHT

G-Spot a myth?

From Salon:

The Truth About The “G-spot”: Why It’s Time To Put This Sex Myth To Bed New research suggests that our ideas about orgasms are missing the mark By Anna Pulley

Take a collective sigh of relief, humanity. If you’ve been one of the countless people searching in vain for the elusive Gräfenburg spot (aka the G-spot) or wondering why you aren’t gushing like Old Faithful each time someone makes a “come hither” motion in your vagina, then search and wonder no more. Once lauded as a “magic button” and the ultimate female pleasure enhancer, an Italian scientist’s recent report claims once and for all that the controversial G-spot is nothing but a myth (with a really good PR campaign). The study — published in the journal Nature Reviews Urology by Emmanuele Jannini, Professor of Endocrinology and Medical Sexology at Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy — found that, essentially, the G-spot is just a sensitive area that’s part of the larger pleasure center that includes the vagina, clitoris, and urethra, or as the study sexily put it, the “clitourethrovaginal (CUV) complex.”

[…]

The “intimate area” that allows women to experience a heightened sexual pleasure includes the complete reproductive system, the study notes — including tissues, muscles, glands, and even the uterus. “Compared to the male erogenous zones, it is much more variable and complex, and also varies from woman to woman depending on the hormonal cycle,” Jannini told The Local, Italy’s English-written news site.

Jannini’s study is by no means the first to claim the G-spot’s pleasure capabilities have been overblown. In 2012, a study by urology resident Dr. Amichai Kilchevsky published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found no conclusive evidence of the G-spot’s existence. Kilchevsky looked at 96 published studies from the past 60 years, concluding that science couldn’t definitively find the G. “Without a doubt, a discrete anatomic entity called the G-spot does not exist,” Kilchevsky said. But he also notes that women who experience heightened pleasure around the G-spot area aren’t crazy or making it up. Indeed, biopsies of vaginal wall tissue have shown that in some women, there are more nerve endings in the purported G-spot than in surrounding areas, but even those studies are inconclusive. “What they’re likely experiencing is a continuation of the clitoris,” he said, adding that nerve endings alone do not an orgasm make (otherwise far more people would be studying the virtues of the perineum, aka the loner at your body’s prom).

Read the rest here.

Merkins.

From Wikipedia:

A merkin is a pubic wig. Merkins were originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia, and are now used as decorative items, erotic devices, or in films, by both men and women. The female version is usually made of fur, beaver pelts, linen or some soft version of cloth, while the male version is usually made of loops, chains or metal, much more closely related to the codpiece.

[…]

The Oxford Companion to the Body dates the origin of the pubic wig to the 1450s. According to the publication, women would shave their pubic hair for personal hygiene and to combat pubic lice. They would then don a merkin. Also, prostitutes would wear a merkin to cover up signs of disease, such as syphilis. It has also been suggested that when male actors played female parts onstage, they would cover their genitals with a merkin so they could pose as women in nude scenes.

Straight men prefer some muff.

From the Daily Mail Online:

When it comes to 'ladyscaping' the Brazilian and the Hollywood are old news as it is revealed that men prefer a more natural look

• Just 12% admitted to liking the Hollywood where all hair is removed
• Most popular was the 'Bermuda triangle' - a neat, trimmed style
• Least liked was the 'G Wax' which leaves a small square of hair

For years women have been convinced that porn star style waxing and vajazzles are the quickest way to impress their other halves in bed, with nearly two thirds saying that their look down below is calculated to please their man.

But it appears that it's time to wave goodbye to painful waxing for good, after a new survey found that men actually prefer a natural look.

According to the poll, which canvassed 1,000 men, the most popular look is is 'trimmed and tidy' – a far cry from the Hollywood, which involves having all hair removed.

Nearly half (43 per cent) of those who took part in the survey, which was commissioned by waxing brand, Nads, said they preferred their women to look as natural as possible but with a 'Bermuda triangle' - trimmed hair and waxed edges leaving no bikini hair overspill.

17 per cent plumped for the Brazilian, a landing strip of pubic hair, while 15 per cent liked the heart shaped 'Heart Breaker'.

Just 12 per cent chose the full Hollywood, with most men saying they preferred their women to have some hair 'down there'.

The style that men hated the most was the 'G Wax' – a closely trimmed small square of hair that most felt looked a bit silly and a bit of a turn off.

Among the men who took part in the poll was Sidcup father of two, Mark Tailworth, who said: 'I’d hate my wife not to have some hair, I much prefer her to be well trimmed than sporting some ridiculous, unsexy design.'

Others, including 27-year-old Daniel Smith from Essex, said that they did enjoy seeing the odd Hollywood or vajazzle on their girlfriends.

'I like it interesting - like unwrapping a present and finding a surprise,' said Daniel. 'I do prefer some hair so a design like the landing strip or heart shape is good for me and no surprise, vajazzling is popular in our town.'

Nads CEO Sue Ismiel said: 'Pubic hair styles are fast becoming just as important as the hair on your head.

'Popular designs for women and it seems men are the landing strip, heart shape and triangle patch indicating some hair is sexier to sport than "the all-off". But make sure you know what you’re doing as once styling begins there is no turning back.'

Women see their vaginas for the first time.

The YouTuber is DaveyWavey, who has made a slew of hilarious and informative videos, almost exclusively related to sex.

Subscribe to Davey! ♥ http://bit.ly/1gpkiJ5 Watch more reaction videos: http://bit.ly/1kkCqEB A special thanks to the brave women who participated in this video. Sharing their stories and being a part of this project took a lot of courage. And a big thank you to the many women who participated in this project but whose stories didn't make it into this cut of the video.

Kitty Carpet.

From Fashion First Aid:

Botched brazilian? Misbehaved shave? Unveiled va-jay-jay?

thesolution is Kitty Carpet: reusable downstairs toupee

For the prodigal hippie, the French-web-footed-prostitute-in-another-life, and the woman who wants to bring some spice into the bedroom, the wait is over! Long gone are the days of picking up hairs from the bathroom floor and saving them to make your own merkin. Now you can buy a rug for Mrs. Downstairs in the color you want, cut it to the shape you need, and experience life to the fullest. Each Kitty Carpet measures 3.5" wide on top and is 4.5" long. Infinitely reusable, it comes with one sheet of Quick Fix Sticks (medical grade double-sided tape) with 16-24 pieces of tape to start you out. And don't fret, no actual kitties were harmed in making this product, as Kitty Carpet is 100% polyester faux fur.

Choose between the following 3 colors:

Michael Jackson's Hair The Carpet Matches the Drapes Natural Pink Using Kitty Carpet is easy as:

1) Trim your Kitty Carpet to the desired shape. (Stencils available at solutionsthatstick.com/downstairscarpet) 2) Peel off at least one included Quick Fix Stick and stick it to the non-fuzzy side of Kitty Carpet. 3) Adhere your Kitty Carpet exactly where yo uthink it should go. Contains: 1 carpet with 16-24 pieces of Quick Fix Sticks Measures: 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 1/5" (11.5 x 9 x 0.5 cm)

Check it out here.

Designer vulvas and vaginas.

From the Atlantic:

Designer Parts: Inside the Strange, Fascinating World of Vaginoplasty

Why are some women spending upwards of $10,000 for complete "vaginal rejuvenation"? A visit to one plastic surgeon for a evaluation and sizing.

Dr. Ronald Blatt squats on the stool between the fuzzy pink stirrups propping up my legs. As I brace for the gynecologist to start poking around with his lubricated, latex encased paws, my eyes dart from a garage sale castaway of a seascape painting to an anatomy chart then back to the sole odd aspect of this setup: a mirror positioned so I can see my lady parts alongside Blatt's pink necktie-adorned head. Thank goodness I remembered to trim.

But the doctor I'm straddling isn't about to inspect my ovaries or administer a routine pap smear test. Blatt runs the Manhattan Center for Vaginal Surgery, and he's preparing to assess my vaginal tightness and to demonstrate how he might alter my labia.

I scheduled this complimentary consultation under the guise of wanting "to understand my options." Secretly, I want to explore why a growing number of women are modifying a body part so few can see by undergoing the elective surgeries in which Blatt specializes: vaginoplasty (removal of excess lining and tightening of surrounding tissue and muscles) and labiaplasty (reshaping of the labia minora, and sometimes the labia majora and/or clitoral hood). The former is often pursued by women who believe their capacity to enjoy sex is compromised by a loose vagina, which can be the result of a congenital condition -- as it was for Lucy Mancini in a Godfather plot point neglected by Francis Ford Coppola for the screen -- or childbirth. I'm especially interested in the latter, which is typically endured for purely cosmetic reasons. Although statistics on these operations are difficult to come by since most are performed by OB/GYN's rather than plastic surgeons, it is believed that the number of women having them is increasing rapidly -- some estimate by fivefold over the last decade. Perhaps most interestingly, an August 2011 study in the British Journal of Medicine showed that 40 percent of women who inquired about genital reconstruction reported the desire to go through with it even after being informed that their labia were normal.

[...]

Moments later, a middle-aged lady with a black bob in a white lab coat bounces toward me wielding pamphlets. She hugs me then steps back.

"You like my doctor? I love this man," she begins, eyes hypnotizingly wide.

"Have you had it done?"

She confesses that she hasn't, but not before reassuring, "I don't have one dissatisfied lady." Continuing, "This is a life changing surgery. You're saying boyfriend now? After this he's going to marry you. I'm telling you, my love. I'm telling you."

Blatt's hype woman escorts me on a tour of the facilities before wishing me well.

[...]

Luckily, the very World Wide Web that hosts all that porn also bestows us with Show Your Vagina, a Tumblr I chance upon while researching. Launched in September 2010, the site encourages women to post anonymous photos of their vaginas. Though shocking at first, the disparities are fixating, and I feel a whiff of empowerment for every female participant while browsing. It seems wrong not to upload my own spread eagle portrait.

Show Your Vagina is an overwhelmingly simple concept that highlights the importance of sharing and openness in combating body-related shame. Unfortunately, we can't rely upon our frighteningly remedial sex-ed programs. Nor can we rely upon popular women's magazines. When I naively pitched this piece to one such glossy, I was told: "Our EIC probably wouldn't take well to an idea that so prominently involves the word 'vagina.'" Exactly.

Read the whole thing here.

Art: The Great Wall of Vagina (vulva?).

It isn't entirely clear what is driving the increased anxiety many women are now experiencing about their vulva. One theory is that pornography is driving this trend, and that there is some sort of ideal vulva represented in porn. But as Stoya, a prominent porn star, has noted, pornography, in general, may not unequivocally be the culprit (post here - not that she's claiming that pornography doesn't have an effect on preferences). She also notes that men don't really seem to care about the size of their partners' labia.

Another theory suggests that the increase in labiaplasties is the result of marketing by plastic surgeons. So, for example, a woman visits a plastic surgeon's website for some other procedure, and sees marketing for labiaplasty, which presumably indicates that larger or asymmetrical labia are problematic. This is potentially internalized, leading to a desire to seek out labiaplasty.

Assuming pornography is responsible, however, it isn't clear if women are feeling down on their vulva because they're watching pornography and comparing themselves (specifically to those actresses with small inner labia - most actresses have average or larger labia), or if men's consumption of pornography is affecting male preferences, leading to demands about their partners' vulva (perhaps the more likely explanation?). If average and smaller labia are supposedly more desirable, then why are there very popular web sites out there dedicated to the worship of large labia (e.g., here - very NSFW)? It's also possible that the vulva is simply another part of the body that can cause anxiety, and that the more media exposure vulva dissatisfaction gets, the more anxiety that is created.

There's very little good data addressing this issue. Here is one of the few studies:

Miklos, J. R., & Moore R. D. (2008). Labiaplasty of the labia minora: Patients’ indications for pursuing surgery. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 5, 1492–5.

They found that 37% of women who underwent labiaplasty did so only for cosmetic reasons. Another 31% went through the procedure for both functional and cosmetic reasons. The other 32% had labiaplasty only for functional reasons. Overall, 6.9% stated that they were influenced by their partners (in 2 of 9 cases, by female partners!).

The paper can be found here.

Anyway, another project about labiaplasty and women's relationships with their vulva, despite the misleading name (vagina?):

From the artist's (Jamie McCartney) statement:

For this, my latest major sculpture, I cast, over the course of 5 years, the vaginas (well the vulva area in fact) of hundreds of volunteers. The Great Wall of Vagina is an exploration of women's relationships with their genitals. When I assembled the first panel of 40 casts in summer 2008, I stepped back disappointed. I realised the sculpture would need to be much bigger to have the impact I wanted. From this original piece (called Design A Vagina) has grown an epic sculpture. The final piece now has 400 casts arranged in 10 panels of 40.

"Why did I do it and what's it all about?" I hear you ask. Well, it became clear to me whilst working on a not dissimilar piece for a sex museum that many women have anxiety about their genital appearance. It appalled me that our society has created yet one more way to make women feel bad about themselves. I decided that I was uniquely placed to do something about it.

The sculpture comments on the trend for surgery to create the 'perfect' vagina. This modern day equivalent of female genital mutilation is a bizarre practice which suggests that one is better than another. Taste in nothing is universal and any desire for 'homogyny' could be very misguided. 400 casts arranged in this manner is in no way pornographic, as it might have been if photographs had been used. One is able to stare without shame but in wonder and amazement at this exposé of human variety. For the first time for many women they will be able to see their own genitals in relation to other women's. In doing so they may dispel many misconceptions they may have been carrying about what women look like 'down there'. The sculpture is serene and intricate and it works on many levels.

His website is here.

Stoya on vulva.

From her blog:

Stoya vs. Lady Porn Day

I am a porn star.

I am a lady that makes porn.

I hear a lot from women about how they are uncomfortable with their vaginas. They wonder if it looks right, smells right, is the right color, shape, size, proportionate, if their labia stick out too much (or even not enough).

I hear that they appreciate my comfort with my own protruding labia and take it as validation that they don’t need a hairless “coin slot” vulva where everything is all tucked in in order to be attractive.

It’s nice to hear that ladies like my body and like that I run around with no clothing on sometimes, but seriously, you need to understand something.

Dudes do not give a fuck.

I’m focusing on female/male sexual interaction here because men that only have sex with men have reasons for not wanting to touch your pretty lap flower that have nothing to do with its scent or aesthetic value, and I really hope that women who have sex with women are already openly down with the fact that pussies come in a wide and beautiful array of looks, feels and smells.

But seriously, dudes that are into chicks don’t give a fuck.

Read the rest of the entry here.

TED: Carin Bondar presents The Birds And The Bees Are Just The Beginning.

From TED:

Think you know a thing or two about sex? Think again. In this fascinating talk, biologist Carin Bondar lays out the surprising science behind how animals get it on. (This talk describes explicit and aggressive sexual content.)

Think you know a thing or two about sex? Think again. In this fascinating talk, biologist Carin Bondar lays out the surprising science behind how animals get it on. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less).