Abstract
Although the purpose of our study is the anatomical analysis of the bulbo-clitoral organ, we must also mention the abominable mutilations which are undergone by certain young girls, at the level of the exteriorised parts of this organ and sometimes also of the vulva. Such mutilations are still practised today. These mutilations are referred to by the general term of SGM (sexual genital mutilations).
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Notes
- 1.
Even today, the excision continues to wreak havoc; an example: 70 % of the Mauritanian women are victims (Unicef Report 2013).
- 2.
Type 1 is the sunna operation, sometimes called…. “symbolic excision”.
- 3.
Type 3, still called the “pharaonic excision”, is the most serious type of excision: It only leaves a narrow orifice for urine and menstrual flow.
- 4.
It is entirely different for masculine circumcisions in Egypt, for which papyrus and engravings provide irrefutable proof.
- 5.
Aetius calls the clitoris “the nymph” and the labia minora “the small wings”. For the majority of authors from the same period, the term nymphs (plural) is only used for the labia minora.
- 6.
“These large clitorises create a lot of trouble for women, because while they are walking or doing their housework, they rub against their clothes, which tickles them so much that they get excited and throw themselves at men in a shameless manner…”
- 7.
The speeches made by psychiatrists, and especially child psychiatrists, are currently and very fortunately of a very different nature: Masturbation is physiological in children: discovering their body is normal for young girls, as well as for little boys, and allows them “to develop” correctly.
- 8.
At present, the exceptional clitoroplasties, indicated for treating certain cases of clitoral hypertrophies, in a context of hermaphroditism or female pseudo-hermaphroditism, are performed by specialised surgeons, who know how to dissect and respect the vasculo-nerve pedicles and preserve the distal part of the clitoris, which bears the corpuscles of pleasure.
- 9.
The Indonesian Ministry of Health is preoccupied by the increasing trend of female sexual mutilations performed by physicians (Source: WHO).
- 10.
If the victim is a minor, the excision is considered as a crime and is therefore punished by a penalty of 15 years of rigorous imprisonment (20 years if the culprit is a legitimate ascendant), with or without a banned entry into France for 5 years (French Penal Code).
- 11.
According to researchers from the INED, “one excised woman out of ten is hindered on a daily basis when urinating, walking or wearing certain clothes”.
- 12.
Dyspareunia with intromission is a major problem in the case of a type 3 excision and we can imagine the atrocity of the first sexual relationships of infibulated women.
Deep dyspareunia is often related to vestibular or vaginal stenosis when corrosive substances have been inserted inside the vestibule or the vaginal tract.
- 13.
It is probable that women, who have undergone clitoral reconstruction, have other satisfaction motives of a psychological nature. Through the reconstruction, they can forget about the trauma resulting from a horrible mutilation and rediscover their female identity.
- 14.
We have used the term “relatively”, as the poor glans has already been exposed to a certain trauma during piercings which obviously destroy nervous ramifications and corpuscles and thus sadly damage the lovely jewel that nature has given to women (in addition to the infections and vascular risks which may affect this fragile organ and cause discomfort to women with a piercing)!
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Di Marino, V., Lepidi, H. (2014). Mutilations of the Clitoris. In: Anatomic Study of the Clitoris and the Bulbo-Clitoral Organ. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04894-9_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04894-9_16
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