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Terms:
· Vulva: When people refer to the "vagina," what they usually mean is the vulva, which includes all the external parts, including the inner and outer lips.
· Labia Majora/Outer Lips: These are the first things you see, and hair grows on them naturally. According to Davis, the labia majora's job is to protect the more sensitive parts inside.
· Labia Minora/Inner Lips: The labia minora provide the second layer of protection for the underlying structures and openings, and they also have oil glands that secrete lubrication to keep you comfortable.
· Clitoris and Clitoral Hood: According to Davis, the tiny clitoris, which is the little nub you see at the top of your external area when you spread the labia, contains 8,000 nerve endings. That means it's really sensitive, and for many women, stimulating it is the best way to orgasm. The hood, a flap of skin that slides back and forth, functions to protect the clitoris and prevent irritation and arousal when you don't want it. When you are aroused, however, the hood slips back to expose the clitoris. The outer clitoris that you can see and feel is actually connected to an inner clitoris (!!), but more on that shortly.
· Urethra: This small opening, which is where urine comes out, is right below the clitoris. It's hard to see, and you can't really feel anything there. Davis says that many young women think the clitoris is actually the urethra, but don't be fooled.
· Vestibule: Right below the urethra lies the introitus, also called the vestibule or the opening to the vagina. Think of it as a foyer. "When we go into an office building, we go into that little area where there are two sets of doors," she says. Basically, the vestibule is the lobby leading to the vagina, which is inside your body. We should also say here that there are many color variations in the whole external vulva area, depending on your skin tone and whether or not you're sexually excited.
· Internal Clitoris: This concept is mind-blowing and a relatively recent anatomical discovery. You have a wishbone-shaped structure extending from your clitoris on the outside of your body—the top of the wishbone—to the area under your labia majora deep inside. "It's tissue that engorges during sexual arousal and that is excitable," Davis says. So there's literally much more to female sexual excitement than meets the eye.
· Cervix: The cervix is the necklike part of your uterus that extends into the vagina. It's the place where your gyne takes a sample from for a Pap smear. It's also the part that dilates before a woman gives birth. Otherwise it stays closed, opening only enough to release blood and other fluids from the uterus when you have your period. If you reach in to touch it, it feels sort of like a clenched fist with a dimple at the bottom.
· Uterus: Your uterus is the place where a future baby (should you choose to have one) will live for nine months. It sheds its lining every 28 days or so when there's no pregnancy, otherwise known as getting your period. You can't feel the uterus from outside your body...it's buried pretty deeply in your lower abdomen.
· Fallopian Tubes and Ovaries: Every month your ovaries shoot out an egg and send it floating happily down the uterus, where it will hang around in hopes of meeting up with some sperm to make a baby.
