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7 Clitoris Myths Women Wished Men Would Stop Believing

7 Clitoris Myths Women Wished Men Would Stop Believing

Let's debunk the big one — the "vaginal orgasm."

Carlyn Beccia's avatar
Carlyn Beccia
Mar 30, 2025
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7 Clitoris Myths Women Wished Men Would Stop Believing
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I apologize for not getting Wednesday’s free article out. Book deadline…

This article originally appeared in Sexography in November of 2021. I have since updated it with more recent research on squirting, clitoral age-related changes, and a few more myths.

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When men first found the clitoris, they tortured women for it.

In 1486, The Malleus Maleficarum, the witch hunter's guide, taught that if a man found a tiny nub of protruding flesh between a woman’s labia, he better hide her broomsticks. A clitoris was a sign the woman was a witch.

Of course, they didn't call it a clitoris. Medical examiners called it a "devil's teat" because Satan and his imps garnered supernatural powers by suckling off of it. (If only women could have convinced men they would also get magical powers from suckling it.)

The belief that the clitoris fed the devil continued into the sixteenth century. In 1593, Alice Samuel was accused of witchcraft, stripped naked, and examined for the devil's teat. Unfortunately, the witch hunters found her clitoris, and Alice was hanged for witchcraft.

She wasn't the only one to suffer for her shameful anatomy. In the early twentieth century, doctors believed the clitoris caused "hysteria," or female melancholia. They cured these hysterical ladies (and children) by performing clitorectomies — surgical removal of the clitoris.

Throughout history, women have had to hide their shameful clitoris or risk the consequences. It's no wonder it took so long to find it.

So let's start by debunking the most common myths that men (and women) still believe.

Myth 1: The clitoris is a tiny button.

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