Clitoral Stimulation

Monica Cortes

I grew up in a religious family, where the word sex was never mentioned. I was constantly chaperoned by my older brother, so I wouldn't talk to boys. That left me very lonely and sexually repressed. I was raised thinking that God saw everything, and that he was everywhere, and that on judgment day everyone was going to see everything I had ever done, and everything I had thought in my entire life. Because of this, I was scared of masturbating. Premarital sex was out of the question.

As I entered puberty I became sexually frustrated. I wanted to explore my body, but I couldn't, because I thought God would be watching. I started rebelling at this time. I was allowed very little freedom, and I started questioning the existence of God. When I realized it was possible that God might not exist, I started changing my behavior. I came to the conclusion that there was probably nobody watching me, and I decided to explore my body.
When I started exploring my body, I noticed that touching my clitoris stimulated me! I thought that there was something wrong with me, because I wasn't stimulated by vaginal penetration. I later found out in my Human Sexuality class that most women masturbate by clitoral stimulation, not by inserting their fingers or objects into their vaginas. I also learned that women are more likely to achieve orgasms through masturbation than they are during sexual intercourse. Interestingly enough, I discovered that the clitoris "is the only sex organ whose only known function is the experiencing of pleasure"(Rathus et. al. 69). The penis and clitoris both develop the same embryonic tissue, which makes them similar in structure, but not in function (Rathus et. al. 69). The penis, like the clitoris, is sexually stimulated. Yet, unlike the clitoris, the penis is "directly involved with reproduction and excretion by serving as a conduit for sperm and urine, respectively" (Rathus et. al. 69). I thought there was something wrong with me because I masturbated and stimulated my clitoris. In fact, there is nothing wrong with me.

Growing up in such a sheltered home did not protect me from myself. To extremely conservative, religious people, there is something wrong with me for indulging in my nature. To other people, I am a normal human, doing normal human things and I have the guts to share it. I am not scared or ashamed of myself.

Sources:
"Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity" by Spencer A Rathus, Jeffrey S Nevid, and Lois Finchner-Rathus