The anterior sections of the bulbs unite to create the bulbar commissure, which forms a long strip of erectile tissue dubbed the infra-corporeal residual spongy part (RSP)[51][52] that expands from the ventral shaft and terminates as the glans.

[50] There is no identified correlation between the size of the glans or clitoris as a whole, and a woman's age, height, weight, use of hormonal contraception, or being postmenopausal, although women who have given birth may have significantly larger clitoral measurements.

[81][82][83] During sexual arousal, the clitoris and the rest of the vulva engorge and change color as the erectile tissues fill with blood (vasocongestion), and the individual experiences vaginal contractions.

[92] General statistics indicate that 70–80 percent of women require direct clitoral stimulation (consistent manual, oral, or other concentrated friction against the external parts of the clitoris) to reach orgasm.

Believing that vaginal orgasms are "a physiological impossibility" because the vagina has insufficient nerve endings for sexual pleasure or climax, he "concluded that satisfaction from penile penetration [is] mainly psychological or perhaps the result of referred sensation".

In their 2009 published study, it states the "coronal planes during perineal contraction and finger penetration demonstrated a close relationship between the root of the clitoris and the anterior vaginal wall".

[114][121] Barry Komisaruk, head of the research findings, stated that he feels that "the bulk of the evidence shows that the G-spot is not a particular thing" and that it is "a region, it's a convergence of many different structures".

[124] Like Lynn Margulis and Natalie Angier, Miller believes, "The human clitoris shows no apparent signs of having evolved directly through male mate choice.

He added that the "male biologists who fretted over [the adaptionist questions] simply assumed that a deeply vaginal site, nearer the region of fertilization, would offer greater selective benefit" due to their Darwinian, summum bonum beliefs about enhanced reproductive success.

[129] In clitoridectomy, the clitoris may be removed as part of a radical vulvectomy to treat cancer such as vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia; however, modern treatments favor more conservative approaches, as invasive surgery can have psychosexual consequences.

[25] One way to preserve the clitoris with its innervations and function is to imbricate and bury the glans; however, Şenaylı et al. state that "pain during stimulus because of trapped tissue under the scarring is nearly routine.

[149] The ancient Greeks, ancient Romans, and Greek and Roman generations up to and throughout the Renaissance, were aware that male and female sex organs are anatomically similar,[150][151] but prominent anatomists such as Galen and Vesalius regarded the vagina as the structural equivalent of the penis, except for being inverted; Vesalius argued against the existence of the clitoris in normal women, and his anatomical model described how the penis corresponds with the vagina, without a role for the clitoris.

[21] Following this study, Realdo Colombo (also known as Renaldus Columbus), a lecturer in surgery at the University of Padua, Italy, published a book called De re anatomica in 1559, in which he describes the "seat of woman's delight".

[155] In his role as researcher, Colombo concluded, "Since no one has discerned these projections and their workings, if it is permissible to give names to things discovered by me, it should be called the love or sweetness of Venus.

[159] However, Albertus Magnus, one of the most prolific writers of the Middle Ages, felt that it was important to highlight "homologies between male and female structures and function" by adding "a psychology of sexual arousal" that Aristotle had not used to detail the clitoris.

While in Constantine's treatise Liber de Coitu, the clitoris is referred to a few times, Magnus gave an equal amount of attention to male and female organs.

[21] Like Falloppio and Bartholin, de Graaf criticized Colombo's claim of having discovered the clitoris; his work appears to have provided the first comprehensive account of clitoral anatomy.

[151][165] Toward the end of World War I, a maverick British MP named Noel Pemberton Billing published an article entitled "The Cult of the Clitoris", furthering his conspiracy theories and attacking the actress Maud Allan and Margot Asquith, wife of the prime minister.

[166] Jodie Medd argues regarding "The Cult of the Clitoris" that "the female non-reproductive but desiring body [...] simultaneously demands and refuses interpretative attention, inciting scandal through its very resistance to representation".

[21] MRI measurements, which provide a live and multi-planar method of examination, now complement the FFWHC's, as well as O'Connell's, research efforts concerning the clitoris, showing that the volume of clitoral erectile tissue is ten times that which is shown in doctors' offices and anatomy textbooks.

Clitoraid spokesperson Nadine Gary stated that the group's mission is to raise public awareness about the clitoris because it has "been ignored, vilified, made taboo, and considered sinful and shameful for centuries".

[11][12] (See also Vulva activism) Odile Fillod created a 3D printable, open source, full-size model of the clitoris, for use in a set of anti-sexist videos she had been commissioned to produce.

Fillod was interviewed by Stephanie Theobald, whose article in The Guardian stated that the 3D model would be used for sex education in French schools, from primary to secondary level, from September 2016 onwards;[175] this was not the case, but the story went viral across the world.

[176] A questionnaire in a 2019 study was administered to a sample of educational sciences postgraduate students to trace the level of their knowledge concerning the organs of the female and male reproductive system.

"It is a curious dilemma to observe the paradox that on the one hand, the female body is the primary metaphor for sexuality, its use saturates advertising, art, and the mainstream erotic imaginary", she said.

[179] Another project started in New York, in 2016, street art that has since spread to almost 100 cities: Clitorosity, a "community-driven effort to celebrate the full structure of the clitoris", combining chalk drawings and words to spark interaction and conversation with passers-by, which the team documents on social media.

[136] The practice has existed at one point or another in almost all human civilizations,[160] most commonly to exert control over the sexual behavior, including masturbation, of girls and women, but also to change the clitoris' appearance.

[198][199] The clitoris is found in other amniotic creatures[200] including reptiles such as turtles and crocodilians,[201] and birds such as ratites (e.g., cassowaries, ostriches)[202][203] and anatids (e.g., swans, ducks).

[207] Because spider monkeys of South America have pendulous and erectile clitorises long enough to be mistaken for a penis, researchers and observers of the species look for a scrotum to determine the animal's sex; a similar approach is to identify scent-marking glands that may also be present on the clitoris.

[216] These "masculinized" genitalia are often found alongside other traits, such as female-dominated social groups, reduced sexual dimorphism that makes females the same size as males, and even ratios of sexes in adult populations.