Misconceptions on human anatomy(reproductive)

This paragraph is all introduction, so skip it if you just don't care.Well hello all. As I lay awake at night, unable to sleep as I ponder how I can help improve FAKKU and aid its community(ok, so I love hyperbole so much that it will be the name of my first born, followed by Irony and Sarcasm) I decided to start a new topic. It came down to diet/exercise tips, cheap and easy cooking for college students or this(others may follow in the future). I was considering all the misconceptions or just lack of understanding people have about anatomy regarding reproductive organs so I thought it may be nice to start a thread addressing said misconceptions. Of course, because this is a hentai site and has a primarily male audience, it will be concerning mostly female anatomy. Although I'm sure a couple things regarding male anatomy will be addressed as well. Should there be questions that you would like addressed, just post them . While I have taken a rather good, in depth human sexuality course, there may be others on here with more academic background and qualification regarding anatomy. If that's you, I encourage you to post any additional information or corrections you wish to share.

Ok, on to the first common misunderstanding people have, the hymen. Many guys(myself included when I was a kid) and even some girls(why so many are too embarrassed to grab a hand mirror and take a good look I'll never know) seem to have very little understanding about the hymen. The hymen is essentially just a partial covering of the vaginal opening. It is an external structure, not internal as some porn may lead you to believe. It is usually at least partially open upon birth. Doctors do check it after delivering a baby girl and surgically cut it if it is completely closed. The reason it is important to be open is simply because otherwise fluid would not be able to get out. This is especially important when the girl begins to menstruate as it would result in a deadly infection if the menstrual fluid could not get out. The hymen is not a reliable indicator of virginity because it can be broken any number of ways such as playing sports or just taking a hard fall. On occasion, women can also be born with little or no recognizable hymen. The amount of pain and bleeding upon being broken also varies greatly from one individual to another. For images of possible appearances of hymens, see http://healthystrokes.com/hymengallery.html

While there's no way to be sure where the misconception that the hymen is internal comes from, I have a few theories which I will now describe.
1. porn, plain and simple. Porn(including hentai) tends to often depict the breaking of the hymen something that occurs just inside the vagina.
2. After breaking the hymen, the blood can appear to be coming from inside the vagina.
3. In many cases, the thickest part of the penis is part of the shaft just below the glans. Therefor, the most painful part for the woman would be once the head is already completely in and the thicker shaft is pushed through the hymen. This could be confused as the head breaking something slightly inward, especially since the first 2 or 3 inches of the vagina are relatively tight and tend to contract during intercourse.

Which brings us to the next item, the vagina itself. Due to the depiction of massive insertions in porn(again, hentai included) people are often confused about the length of the vagina. It is typically anywhere from 5 to 7 inches long and can lengthen during arousal. The first few inches are tighter and may constrict during arousal while the deeper section is looser and may considerably expand in width during arousal.

Going deeper, another misconception is in regards to the cervix. I think most people understand that it is the division between the rest of the vagina and the uterus. The part that seems to be unrealistically portrayed on a regular basis is women's attitudes towards it being reached by the penis or any other object. While some women may enjoy it, the majority find it uncomfortable, irritating and even painful to be pressed on, especially with any force. The most sensitive area of a woman's vagina is in those first few inches, specifically the frontal wall(the side facing the belly should there be any confusion on that, also this is where you'll find the g spot).

Average penis size varies is generally considered to be 5 to 6 inches. Some studies in different parts of the world have placed the average size as low as just under 4 inches to very slightly over 6. The variety in these numbers is considered to be due to genetics, nutrition, and other such factors.

As for sperm and semen. You cannot see sperm without a microscope, nor can you estimate the amount of sperm based on the color of ejaculate. Sperm makes up less then 1% of the ejaculate. Sperm is produced and stored in the testes, semen is produced in the seminal vesicles(about 70% of it) and the prostate. The function of semen is simply to provide safe transportation for the sperm, it contains nutrients for the sperm while also protecting it from the acidic environment in the vagina. However, there is not a significant amount of nutrients or calories to provide any benefit for someone to swallow it(i.e. it will neither make your girlfriend fat, nor will it provide her with vitamins to improve her health).

Back to women, female ejaculation is next. It is debated whether or not all women can ejaculate but research suggests it is possible. Research also shows that the ejaculate does indeed come from the urethra but is not urine. While I cannot verify the accuracy of this, wikipedia claims the following: "In the United Kingdom, the British Board of Film Classification denies the existence of the phenomenon of female ejaculation, regarding it instead as urination during sex, thus banning its depiction under its rules. These dictate the removal of anything that could be successfully prosecuted under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act, the current interpretation of which includes the depiction of urolagnia."

The above statements are probably common knowledge to many, but seem to also be misunderstood on a regular basis, I myself was confused about the hymen being internal or external up through middle school or so. As mentioned above, feel free to post comments and/or more information on what you believe to be common misconceptions and/or ask questions. However, please keep in mind that this is meant to be purely educational and is in the serious discussion section.

You mean sources for the information? Well, much of this I got from a human sexuality course. It should also all be readily available at any credible medical website. Even wikipedia should be fairly reliable for it as these topics would be closely monitored and fact checked, and if not, you can always check the sources they use and decide for yourself if they seem credible. Is there anything in particular that you doubt the credibility of?

fair enough, I tend to be very skeptical of anything I learn as well. All the details above come from the human sexuality course I took. I double checked my notes on wikipedia and checked wikipedia's cited sources that directly related to what I was looking up since wikipedia itself isn't necessarily as credible as I would like since much of it is open to the public for editing.

Well, I've taken a variety of courses in college. I took the human sexuality class last summer because I needed another upper division class(meaning classes reserved for 3rd year or higher students) and it just sounded interesting. My girlfriend had taken the class a few semesters before that(prior to her graduating obviously) and recommended it as a fun class.



Well of course, it's always important to consider the credibility of new things you learn. Anything in particular that you found interesting or surprising? Feedback on such a topic as this is always appreciated.

Is that serious? I've never heard of that one. It's true that if a pregnant woman drinks then the kid has a lot higher chance of certain deformities and conditions, i.e. FAS, and alcoholism later in life, but I would doubt the yeast thing. The problems arise when the kid is introduced to alcohol through the blood(via umbilical cord), not yeast. Brewer's yeast, or baker's yeast depending on what you're using it for, does not contain alcohol, its just a fungus that encourages fermentation.

Besides, something in the vagina isn't directly getting to the baby. The cervix is sealed off by a mucus like substance during pregnancy(maybe in general, I forget) and the vagina itself doesn't necessarily absorb substances very well.

That being said, I would still suggest not putting anything in a vagina if it doesn't belong, whether she's pregnant or not. Even if it's a penis, finger or dildo, you should still make sure it's been well cleaned. The vagina has a very acidic environment in order to protect it from infection, but it can still happen and often does. A chick with a vaginal infection is not a happy woman. Actually, that's the reason why some women choose to only use pads even though tampons may be seen as more comfortable and convenient, it is possible to get an infection from a tampon.

Sorta, I had considered doing it before but the IRC conversation kinda jogged my memory on it.

Yeah, there are far too many confusions when it comes to sex for a variety of reasons. I'd like to expand this to include more info people may not know but probably should. Anyone have other things you'd like addressed? Maybe about contraceptive methods?