vagina, in virgins, that is, in girls or women who have not had sexual
intercourse, is almost entirely closed by a membrane called the hymen.
The vulgar name for hymen is "maidenhead." The hymen may be of various
shapes, and of different consistency. In some girls it is a very thin
membrane, which tears very readily; in others it is quite tough. On
the upper margin or in the center of the hymen there is an opening
which permits any secretion from the vagina and the blood from the
uterus to come through. In rare cases there is no opening in the
hymen, that is, the vagina is entirely closed. Such a hymen is called
_imperforate_ (not perforated). When the girl begins to menstruate,
the blood cannot come out and it accumulates in the vagina. In such
cases the hymen must be opened or slit by a doctor. In some cases the
hymen is congenitally absent; that is, the girl is born without any
hymen. While the hymen is usually ruptured during the first
intercourse, it, in some cases, being elastic and stretchable,
persists untorn after sexual intercourse. It will therefore be seen
that just as the presence of the hymen is no absolute proof of
virginity, so is the absence of the hymen no absolute proof that the
girl has had sexual relations, She might have been born without any
hymen, or it might have been ruptured by vaginal examination, by a
vaginal douche, by scratching to relieve itching, or by some accident.
The remains of the hymen after it is ruptured shrink and form little
elevations which can be easily felt; they are known as caruncles.
[In Latin, _carunculæ myrtiformes_, which means in English
myrtleberry-shaped caruncles; caruncle is a small fleshy elevation;
derived from _caro_, which in Latin means flesh.]
SUBCHAPTER B
THE EXTERNAL GENITALS
=The Vulva.= The external genitals of the female are called the
_vulva_. The vulva consists of the labia majora (meaning the larger
lips), which are on the outside and which in the grown-up girl are
covered with hair, and the labia minora (the smaller lips), which are
on the inside and which are usually only seen when the labia majora
are taken apart.
[Vulva in Latin means folding-door. The ancients Were fond of giving
fancy names to things.]
=The Mons Veneris.= The elevation above the vulva, which during
puberty becomes covered with hair, is called by the fanciful name,
_mons Veneris_, or Venus' mountain. It is usually well padded with
fatty tissue.
=The Clitoris.= The clitoris is a small body about an inch in length,
situated beneath the mons Veneris and partly or entirely covered by
the upper borders of the labia minora.
=The Urethra.= Between the clitoris above and the opening of the
vagina below is situated the opening of the _urethra_, or the urinary
meatus, through which the urine passes. Many women are so ignorant,
or, let us say innocent, that they think the urine passes out through
the vagina. This is not so. The vagina has nothing to do with the
process of urination.
Again enumerating the female sex organs, but in the reverse order,
from before backward, or from out inward, we have: The mons Veneris
and the labia majora, or the external lips of the vulva; these are the
plainly visible parts of the female genital organs. When the labia
majora are taken apart we see the labia minora; when the labia majora
and minora are taken apart we can see or feel the clitoris and the
hymen, or the remains of the hymen. We then have the vagina, a large,
stretchable musculo-membranous canal, in the upper portion of which
the neck of the womb, or the cervix, can be seen (when a speculum is
used), or felt by the finger. Only the cervix, or neck of the womb,
can be seen, but the rest of the womb, the broader portion, can be
easily felt and examined by one hand in the vagina and the other hand
over the abdomen. Continuous with the uterus are the Fallopian tubes,
and below the trumpet-shaped ends of the Fallopian tubes are the
ovaries, embedded in the broad ligaments, one on each side.
=The Breasts.= The breasts, also called mammary glands, or mammæ
[mamma in Latin, breast], may be considered as accessory organs of
reproduction. They are of no importance in the male, in whom they are
usually rudimentary, but they are of great importance in the female.
They manufacture milk, which is necessary for the proper nutrition of
the infant, and they add a great deal to the beauty and attractiveness
of the woman. They are thus a help to the woman in getting a mate or a
husband. The projecting elevation of the breast, which the child takes
in his mouth when nursing, is called the nipple; the darker colored
area surrounding the nipple is called the areola.
[Illustration: THE PELVIS OF THE MALE.]
[Illustration: THE PELVIS OF THE FEMALE.]
SUBCHAPTER C
THE PELVIS
The internal sex organs are situated in the lower part of the
abdominal cavity, the part that is called the _pelvis_, or pelvic
cavity. The meaning of the word pelvis in Latin is basin. The pelvis,
also referred to as the pelvic girdle or pelvic arch, forms a bony
basin, and is composed of three powerful bones: the sacrum, consisting
of five vertebræ fused together and constituting the solid part of the
spine, or vertebral column, in the back, and the two hipbones, one on
each side. The two hipbones meet in front, forming the _pubic arch_.
The hipbones are called in Latin the ossa innominata (nameless bones)
and each hipbone is composed of three bones: the ilium, the ischium,
and the os pubis. The thighs are attached to the hipbones, and to the
hipbones are also attached the large _gluteal_ muscles, which form the
buttocks, or the "seat."
The pelvis of the female differs considerably from the pelvis of the
male. The female pelvis is shallower and wider, less massive, the
margins of the bones are more widely separated, thus giving greater
prominence to the hips; the sacrum is shorter and less curved, and the
pubic arch is wider and more rounded. All this is necessary in order
to permit the child's head to pass through. If the female pelvis were
exactly like the male pelvis, a full-term living child could never
pass through it. The two illustrations show the differences between
the male and female pelvis very clearly.
Note particularly the differences in the pubic arches: in the male
pelvis it is really more of an angle than an arch. Also note how much
longer and more solid the sacrum (with its attached bone, called the
coccyx[2]) is in the male pelvis. The differences in the pelves (the
plural of pelvis is pelves) of the male and female become fully marked
at puberty, but they are present as early as the fourth month of
intra-uterine life.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Mucous membrane--briefly a membrane which secretes mucus or some
other fluid.
[2] The coccyx consists of three rudimentary vertebræ; it is the
vestige of an organ which we once possessed in common with many other
animals, namely--a tail.
CHAPTER THREE
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE FEMALE SEX ORGANS
Function of the Ovaries--Internal Secretion of the
Ovaries--Function of the Internal Secretion--Number of Ova in the
Ovaries--The Graafian Follicles--Ovulation--Corpora
Lutea--Function of the Fallopian Tubes--Function of the
Vagina--Functions of the Vulva, Clitoris and Mons
Veneris--Function of the Breasts--Besides Secreting Milk Breast
Has Sexual Function--The Orgasm--Pollutions in Women--Secondary
Sex Characters--Differences Between Woman and Man.
The importance of an organ depends upon its _function_, upon what it
does, and not so much upon what it is. It is important to know the
size, structure and location of an organ, but it is still more
important to know its function; in other words, for our purpose it is
more important to know the _physiology_ than the anatomy of the sex
organs.
SUBCHAPTER A
FUNCTION OF THE OVARIES
Like the testicles in man, so the ovaries in woman are the essential
sexual organs. They are the fundamental organs, without which the
other sexual organs are useless. Also like the testicles in man, the
ovaries have two distinct functions, manufacturing two distinct
substances. One function is to manufacture eggs; this, called the
oögenetic or egg-producing function, is its _racial_ function; without
it the race could not perpetuate itself. But the ovary has also an
_individual_ function. Besides the ova, the ovary manufactures what we
call an _internal_ secretion which is absorbed by the blood, and which
is of the greatest importance to the woman herself. While the
manufacture of ova begins only at puberty, with menstruation, and
closes at the menopause, the manufacture of the internal secretion
lasts throughout the woman's entire life. This secretion, which
consists of various chemical substances, has a tremendous influence
not only on the development of the woman's body, but also on her
feelings.
First of all it is necessary for the development of the woman's
special characteristics, or _secondary sexual characters_. Without
that internal secretion of the ovaries, a woman would look more or
less like a man; she would not develop her beautiful rounded form, her
pretty long hair, her breasts, her broad pelvis, her feminine voice,
etc. _Second_, the secretion is necessary to the proper development of
her other sexual organs; if the ovaries are cut out, then the uterus
and the vagina and even the vulva shrivel up. _Third_, it is that
internal secretion that excites in woman sexual desire and makes her
enjoy relations with the male sex. If the ovaries are cut away,
particularly if it is done early in life, the woman has no sexual
desire and no enjoyment. _Fourth_, it contributes to the general
health, wellbeing, energy, and mental alertness of the woman.
You see the importance of the internal ovarian secretion, and you will
readily understand why, when the ovaries are removed by operation, the
woman, particularly if she is young, undergoes such marked changes. It
is because we recognize now the great importance of the ovaries that
we always, when operating on diseased ovaries leave at least a small
piece of ovary, if at all possible.
=Number of Ova.= When the female infant is born, her ovaries contain
as many ova or eggs as they ever will contain. In fact, they contain
more than they will at puberty. For it is estimated that at birth each
ovary contains about 100,000 ova; the majority of these, however,
disappear so that at the age of puberty each ovary contains only about
30,000 ova. As only one ovum ripens each month from the time of
puberty to the time of the menopause (i.e., about 300 to 400 ova at
the utmost during a lifetime), and as only a dozen or two ova would
be necessary for the propagation of the race, it seems a
superabundance of ova, an unnecessary lavishness. But nature _is_
lavish where the propagation of the species is concerned. A portion of
an ovary or of both ovaries might become diseased, and thousands of
ova might become unfit for fertilization; nature therefore puts in an
extra reserve supply. We see a still more striking example of this
extreme extravagant lavishness in man; only one spermatozoön is
necessary to impregnate the ovum, and only one spermatozoön can
penetrate the ovum; nevertheless each normal ejaculation of semen
contains between a quarter and half a million spermatozoa.
=The Graafian Follicles.= Each primitive or primordial ovum[3] is
imbedded in a little vesicle or follicle, which is generally known as
_Graafian follicle_, and there are as many Graafian follicles as there
are ova. (The Graafian follicles were first described about 250 years
ago--in 1672--by a Delft physician named De Graaf, hence the name.)
Until puberty, that is the commencement of menstruation, the Graafian
follicles with the oöcytes or primitive ova are in a more or less
dormant condition. But with the onset of puberty there commences a
period of intense activity in the ovaries. This period of activity is
repeated regularly once a month, and it constitutes the process of
_ovulation_ and _menstruation_. The two processes are closely though
not causally connected. Ovulation consists in the monthly maturation
and extrusion of a ripe ovum; menstruation, which will be further
discussed in a separate chapter, consists in the monthly discharge of
blood, mixed with mucus from the inside lining of the uterus. Every
twenty-eight days, from the time of puberty to the time of the
menopause, a Graafian follicle bursts and an ovum is extruded from the
ovary. Before the follicle bursts, it swells and enlarges and reaches
the surface of the ovary; the whole follicle is congested with blood,
but at one point near the surface of the ovary it is pale and thin,
and here the rupture takes place.
[Illustration: SECTION OF OVARY.
1. Graafian follicle in the earliest stage. 2, 3, 4. Follicles in
more advanced stages. 5, 7. Almost mature follicle. 6. Follicle
from which the ovum has escaped. 8. Corpus luteum.]
=Corpora Lutea.= After the Graafian follicle has burst and the ovum
has been pushed out, the cavity that is left does not remain empty and
functionless; there is a further process going on there; there is a
growth of cells, of a yellowish color, and the follicle becomes filled
with a yellowish body, which on account of its color is called the
_corpus luteum_ (plural--corpora lutea; luteum in Latin--yellow,
corpus--body). This corpus luteum grows in size until it sometimes
occupies as much as one-third of the ovary. But there is considerable
difference between the corpora lutea of non-pregnant and pregnant
women. Up to the end of about a month the corpora lutea are the same,
but after that the corpus luteum of the non-pregnant woman begins to
get smaller, to shrink, so that at the end of two or three months it
is reduced to a small scar and later cannot be noticed at all. The
corpus luteum of the pregnant woman keeps on increasing until the end
of the second month, remains about the same size until the end of the
sixth month, and only then begins gradually to diminish. The corpus
luteum of the non-pregnant woman, that is, the one following
menstruation, is called false corpus luteum; the corpus luteum
following pregnancy is called a true corpus luteum. The corpus luteum
acts like a gland and elaborates a secretion which has an influence on
the circulation in the uterus and on menstruation. It probably
possesses other properties, with which we are not yet quite familiar.
The corpora lutea of various animals are now prepared in powder or
tablet form and used in medicine in the treatment of certain diseases
of women.
SUBCHAPTER B
FUNCTION OF THE OTHER GENITAL ORGANS
=Function of the Fallopian Tubes.= The function of the Fallopian tubes
or oviducts as they are sometimes called is to catch the ovum as it
bursts through the ovary and to conduct it from the ovary into the
uterus. It is while the ovum is in the narrow lumen of the tube that
the spermatozoön which has travelled up from the uterus usually finds
it, and it is in the tube, near its entrance to the womb, that
impregnation usually takes place. After the ovum is impregnated or
fecundated, it slowly moves down to the uterus, where it attaches
itself and remains and grows for nine months, until it is ready to
come out and start an independent life.
The uterus or womb is the house of the embryo almost from the moment
of conception to the moment of birth. Within the thick warm sheltered
walls of the uterus the child grows, develops, eats and breathes,
until all its organs and functions have reached such a stage of
perfection that it can live by itself and for itself. And this may be
said to be the sole function of the uterus, or at least its sole
useful function. For the other function of the uterus, menstruation,
cannot be said to be a necessary or a useful function. It is a normal
function because it occurs regularly in every healthy woman during her
child-bearing period, but not every normal function is a necessary or
useful function. Not everything that is is right or useful.
=Function of the Vagina.= The vagina is the canal in which sexual
intercourse takes place. It receives the male organ (penis) during the
sexual act, and serves as a temporary repository for the male semen.
After the spermatozoa have reached the uterus, the vagina has no
further function to perform.
=Functions of the Vulva, Clitoris=, and =Mons Veneris.= The vulva and
the clitoris have no special functions to perform; but in them, in the
clitoris particularly, but also in the labia minora, resides the
feeling of voluptuousness, the pleasurable sensation experienced
during the sexual act. Another seat of voluptuousness in the woman is
located in the cervix of the uterus.
The mons Veneris has no special physiological function to perform, but
it as well as the vulva serve as strong points of attraction for the
male sex. While the entire female body is attractive to the male, and
vice versa, there are certain zones which are especially attractive or
exciting. Such zones or areas are called _erogenous zones_--the word
erogenous means love-generating. The vulva and the mons Veneris are
the strongest erogenous zones; other erogenous zones are the lips, the
breasts, etc.
=Function of the Breasts.= The function of the breasts is to nurse or
suckle the young on the mother's milk until they are able to live on
other food. The other name for breasts is mammary gland (in Latin,
mamma--breast), and all animals who suckle their young are called
mammals or mammalia. Besides its milk secreting function, the breasts
constitute a strong erogenous zone; they are a point of strong
attraction for the male sex, many men being more attracted by
well-developed breasts than by a pretty face. There is a good
biological reason for this. Well developed breasts indicate that the
other sexual organs are well developed and that the woman will make a
satisfactory wife and satisfactory mother. Considering then the
importance of the breasts in attracting a husband and their function
in nursing the young, also their erogenous properties, it is perfectly
proper to class them among the reproductive organs.
SUBCHAPTER C
THE ORGASM
The culmination of the act of sexual intercourse is called the orgasm.
It is the moment at which the pleasurable sensation is at its highest
point, the body experiences a thrill, there is a spasmodic contraction
in the genital organs, and there is a secretion of fluid from the
genital glands and mucous membranes. This fluid in women is not a
vital fluid like the semen in man; it is merely mucus, and in some
women it is very slight in amount or altogether absent. Adult women
who live without sexual relations occasionally have sexual or erotic
dreams; that is, they dream that they are in the company of men,
playing or having relations with them. Such dreams are usually
accompanied by an orgasm or an orgastic feeling, and by a discharge of
mucus, the same as in sexual intercourse. Such a discharge of mucus
during sleep is called an emission or pollution.
In the male sex pollutions play an important rôle (see the author's
"Sex Knowledge for men"), because the semen is a vital fluid, and if
it is lost too frequently the system is put under a heavy drain. In
boys and men the pollutions or night losses may occur several times a
week or even every night, or several times a night. When they occur
with such frequency the man may become a wreck. Not so with women.
First, pollutions or night dreams in women are much more rare than
they are in men; and second, as just mentioned, the fluid secreted by
woman during intercourse or during an erotic dream is not of a vital
character, as the semen is in man; it is mucus, and the secretion of a
mucous fluid, even if somewhat excessive, does not constitute a drain
on the system. For this reason women can stand frequently repeated sex
relations and emissions or pollutions much better than men can.
SUBCHAPTER D
THE SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERS
The sex organs constitute the primary sex characters. It is they that
distinguish primarily one sex from another. But there are numerous
other sex characters or sex differences which while not so important
serve to differentiate the sexes, at the same time forming points of
attraction between one sex and another. For instance, the beard and
mustache are a distinct male characteristic and constitute one of the
secondary male sex characters. The secondary sex characters are very
numerous; one might say that each one of the billions of cells in the
body bears the impress of the sex to which it belongs.
First, the skeleton. The entire female skeleton differs from the male
skeleton; all the bones are smaller and more gracile; the pelvis, as
we have seen before, is shallower and wider. Then the muscles are
smaller and more rounded. The entire contour of the body is rounded
rather than angular as in man. The skin is finer, softer, more
delicate. The hair on the head is longer and of a finer texture, while
over the body the hair is also finer and less abundant. The voice is
finer, more pleasant, and of a higher pitch (soprano). The breasts are
well developed, and serve an important purpose, while in men they are
rudimentary. The breathing is also different; woman breathes
principally with the upper part of the chest, man with the lower. The
brain is smaller and its convolutions somewhat less complex in woman.
Woman differs considerably from man not only physically, as we have
seen, but also mentally and emotionally. But into this phase of the
subject we will not enter, except to remark that it is foolish to
speak of the superiority or inferiority of one sex to another. In some
respects man is greatly superior to woman, in others he is inferior;
on the whole the sexes balance one another pretty well, and while the
sexes are not and never will be exactly alike, we have no right to
speak of the inferiority of one sex to another. We recognize that the
sexes are different, but they complement one another, and the claim of
the reactionary and of the woman-hater that woman is an inferior
creature is just as senseless as is the claim made by some
ultra-militant feminists that woman is the superior and man the
inferior.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] The ovum is really the fully mature egg ready for fecundation;
before maturity it should not be called ovum but oöcyte; and in
advanced treatises it is so referred to. But here ovum will do for
both the unripe and ripe egg.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE SEX INSTINCT
Universality of the Sex Instinct--Not Responsible for Our Thoughts
and Feelings.
THE sex instinct, which runs all through nature from the lowest animal
to the highest, is the inborn impulse, craving or desire which one sex
has for the other: the male for the female and the female for the
male. This instinct, this desire for the opposite sex, which is born
with us and which manifests itself at a very early age, is not
anything to be ashamed of. There is nothing disgraceful, nothing
sinful in it. It is a normal, natural, healthy instinct, implanted in
us by nature for various reasons, and absolutely indispensable for the
perpetuation of the race. If there were anything to be ashamed of, it
would be the lack of this sex instinct, for without it the race would
quickly die out.
=Not Responsible for Thoughts and Feelings.= It is necessary to
impress this point, because many girls and women, whose minds have
been perverted by a vicious so-called morality, worry themselves to
illness, brood and become hypochondriac because they think they have
committed a grievous sin in experiencing a desire for sexual relations
or for the embrace of a certain man. Altogether it is necessary to
impress upon the growing girl, when the occasion presents itself, that
a thought or a feeling can never be sinful. An action may be, but a
thought or a feeling cannot. Why? Because we are not responsible for
our thoughts and feelings; they are not under our control. Though it
does not mean that when they do arise we are to give them full sway.
We should attempt to combat them and drive them away, but there is
nothing to be ashamed of, because for their origin we are not
responsible.