The clitoris: everything they didn't tell us at school

There's a question I often ask: does anyone remember seeing a clitoris in their school anatomy book? I don't. Instead, there were penises, testicles, uteruses, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. The clitoris, simply, wasn't there. As if it didn't exist.

This absence is not an anecdote. It's the reflection of a history in which female sexuality has only sparked interest when it served to control it, medicalize it, or explain why women shouldn't have access to their own desire. It's not that science couldn't study the clitoris; it's that for whatever reason, for centuries it hasn't been considered a priority to do so.

It wasn't until 1998 that Australian urologist Helen O'Connell described its complete anatomy. That little button we were shown is, in reality, just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger and more complex internal structure that I encourage you to discover. It's hard to believe that we've needed to reach the very end of the 20th century to understand what an organ is that half the population has between their legs.

Recently, a new mapping of the clitoris was published and, of course, the algorithm immediately showed me the news. And I couldn't help but think that we've reached the Moon, explored the entire universe, deciphered the human genome, and developed artificial intelligence before thoroughly studying the only organ in the human body exclusively dedicated to pleasure. It's no coincidence.

When a society doesn't know women's anatomy, it's not because it lacks knowledge, because the tools are there. It's because, for too long, it has been decided that this knowledge is not important.