A WOMAN’S GENITALS: LABIA MAJORA, LABIA MINORA AND PUBIC HAIR

March 27th, 2009

The pubic hair covers all the vulva (the outer part of the sex organs) and forms a fairly neat triangle with its base just above the pubic bone. The extent of the spread of the hair is very variable and some women’s hair grows on to the tops of their legs and even up the abdominal wall a little. Both are perfectly normal. Some women like to keep their pubic hair trimmed. A few shave their pubic hair completely. If a couple enjoy oral sex the woman’s pubic hair will have to be kept fairly short or it will get in the way of oral stimulation of her clitoris. Under the pubic hair the pubic bone can be felt.

Between the legs there are two fairly thick, fleshy lips, the labia majora, which are covered with hair. There are two inner lips inside. Sometimes one lip is longer than the other and the inner ones sometimes hang down more than the outer ones. The inner lips are much thinner than the outer ones and come together at the top around the clitoris. At the bottom the lips separate to go around the vagina. Three structures can be seen between these lips. First the clitoris, a little knob-like structure covered with a hood of tissue; second, the urinary opening (very small and closed off except when passing urine) which lies in the front wall of the vagina; and third, the opening of the vagina itself, an opening that will admit a finger tip even in a virgin. There is a veil of thin skin almost closing off the vaginal opening in a virgin. This is called the hymen and can come in lots of different shapes. Many girls today use tampons and some put things inside their vaginas when they masturbate so, even if they have not had intercourse, they may not have much in the way of a hymen left. Usually in such girls and all women who have had intercourse, all that remains are a few tags of pinkish skin around the vaginal opening. Almost all hymens break (or the hole stretches) with heavy petting or on first intercourse, but if there is any difficulty consult your doctor.