I found this Guardian article on the mapping of the clitoral nerves amazing. Unfortunately, I don’t mean that in a good way. The bits that amazed me were…
- The clitoris did not even make it into standard anatomy textbooks until the 20th century.
- In the 38th edition of Gray’s Anatomy in 1995 it was introduced as just “a small version of the penis”
- The nerves of the penis were mapped 30 years ago, but it’s taken till now for the clitoris to get the same attention.
That’s an amazing lack of attention to a major organ possessed by 4+ billion people. According to this article it actual did get some minimal coverage in Gray’s early anatomy textbooks but was removed in 1948! Then it re-appeared in the 1960’s, but incorrectly described.
Imagine if medical researchers paid a similar lack of attention to other major body parts? “We’ve heard of these odd knee things, but we’re not sure if they’re really worth covering. Something to do with the bending of the legs? Seems a bit of a niche interest.”
Image features someone doing their own hands on anatomical research. Although maybe that should be mouth on research. Not sure of the original source. I located it via tumblr.