Menstruation (also referred to as a “period”) is the name for the monthly bleeding that the majority of healthy women of reproductive age experience. The menstrual cycle lasts from 24 to 35 days, but the average is 28 (meaning there are 28 days from the first day of bleeding to the next first day of […]

Now that we’ve discussed the female sexual and reproductive system, let’s explore female maturation. The female reproductive system undergoes cyclic hormonal events that lead to pubertal changes, menstruation, and eventually, menopause. Female Puberty After birth, the female’s sexual development progresses slowly until puberty. The first stirrings of puberty, usually begin at about age 8, but […]

Breasts, or mammary glands, are modified sweat glands that produce milk to nourish a newborn child. The breasts contain fatty tissue and milk-producing glands and are capped by a nipple surrounded by a round, pigmented area called the areola (ah-REE — oh-luh). Each breast contains between 15 and 20 lobes, made up of a number […]

The mature ovary is a light-gray structure most commonly described as the size and shape of a large almond shell. With age, the ovaries become smaller and firmer, and after menopause they become difficult for gynecologists to feel. The ovaries have a dual responsibility—to produce ova and to secrete hormones.

Fallopian (fuh-LOH-pee-un) tubes, also called oviducts, are 4-inch-long trumpet­shaped tubes that extend laterally from the sides of the uterus. From the side of the uterus, the tube expands into an ampulla, or widening, which curves around to a trum­pet-shaped end, the infundibulum (in-fun-DIB-bue-lum). At the end of the infundibu­lum there are fingerlike projections that curl […]

The Grafenberg spot (G-spot) and female ejaculation are two controversial issues in the field of human sexuality. The G-spot, first described by Ernest Grafenberg in 1950, is a spot about the size of a dime or quarter in the lower third of the front part of the vagina and is particularly sensitive to stimulation (Whipple, […]

Now that we’ve covered the female’s external sex organs, let’s move inside and explore the internal sex organs. The internal female sex organs include the vagina, uterus, Fallopian tubes, and the ovaries (see Figures 4.2 and 4.3). The Vagina The vagina is a thin-walled tube extending from the cervix of the uterus to the external […]

Female Genital Mutilation Prince Charles was made public. In reality, many activities can shred the hymen, in­cluding vigorous exercise, horseback or bike riding, masturbation, or the insertion of tampons or other objects into the vagina. Still, in many cultures during many historical eras, the absence of bloodstained sheets on the wedding night was enough to […]

Urinary Tract Infections goes through the penis. This is the reason that women are much more susceptible to urinary tract infections (see Sex in Real Life, “Urinary Tract Infections”). The Introitus and the Hymen The entrance, or introitus (in-TROID-us), of the vagina also lies in the vestibule. The introitus is usually covered at birth by […]

The clitoris (KLIT-uh-rus) is a small cylindrical erectile tissue located under the prepuce (PREE-peus). Homologous to the penis, the clitoris is richly supplied with blood vessels as well as nerve endings, and the glans is a particularly sensitive receptor and transmit­ter of sexual stimuli. In fact, the clitoris, though much smaller, has twice the number […]