Magical Clits and Where to Find Them

Your clitoris won't disappear from non-use, I promise

This weekend we watched She Said. The new movie stars Zoe Kasdan and Carey Mulligan as Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the New York Times reporters whose investigative journalism brought down Harvey Weinstein in 2017. I love a good newspaper story. This one was done in the classic slow and deliberate style of All the President’s Men (only this time Woodward and Bernstein were women).

It was a fascinating account of the system behind the movie mogul that assured all of his victims were too intimated to talk publicly and, in many cases, even to their own families. Weinstein is an undisputable predator and the worst kind of powerful human, but the people who enabled him for years deserve a special place in hell next to him (if not in his prison cell).

After watching the movie, I’m even more surprised that we hadn’t learned about Harvey’s deformed scrotum sooner (it did come out in the first rape trial in 2020, but to the best of my knowledge it was not part of the original article or the many follow-up stories). I’m not saying that people should gossip about other people’s genitals on a regular basis, but it does seem like an important piece of corroborating evidence that the women he assaulted post-gangrene might have mentioned to reporters.   

We still don’t have a verdict in Weinstein’s Los Angeles rape trial as jurors were on their eighth day of deliberations yesterday. Harvey is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York but faces two counts of rape, two counts of “forcible oral copulation,” two counts of “sexual battery by restraint,” and one count of “sexual penetration by force.” If convicted on all counts, he could face 60 more years in jail.

Let’s hope deliberations are going slowly because jurors are taking their civic duty seriously and carefully going over the testimony from the 50 witnesses called at trial, and not because any of them have believed his attorney’s argument that these encounters were consensual and transactional. The movie made it perfectly clear that none of these women consented to what happened to them and that despite the payouts they might have gotten, their lives and careers suffered greatly from being in Harvey’s hotel room.

France Makes Condoms Free to Everyone Under 25

I challenge all Americans to imagine this. The government decides to make condoms free to young people ages 18 to 25; activists say, “Thanks but you know people younger than 18 need condoms too;” and the president says “Oh, good point, we’ll do it.”

What, you can’t picture it?  

Yeah, neither can I, but that’s exactly what happened in France.

President Emmanuel Macron explained on television last Thursday that the government was concerned about rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies, and to combat these issues it would be making free condoms available in pharmacies across the country to young adults ages 18 to 25 starting January 1st. France already makes free birth control available to young women in this age group, but those methods do not protect against STIs. Moreover, people need access to protection methods regardless of gender.   

The announcement was met with some criticism on social media from those who felt that starting at age 18 missed a large portion of those in need. Macron responded in a video selfie that he apparently shot from the sidelines of a summit in Spain. He said simply, “Let's do it!” In a follow up tweet, he wrote: “A lot of minors also have sex ... they need to protect themselves too.”

The swift reply, the logic, the sex positiveness—it all feels so refreshing.

Don’t get me wrong, France has far right political problems. Marine Le Pen—Macron’s opponent in the last two elections—is more draconian than Trump. She ran on a nationalist, anti-immigration platform that would have outlawed Muslim head scarves, systematically expelled immigrants who had been living in the country, and denied social services to any immigrant who hadn’t been steadily employed for five years. She also wanted to put all school children in uniform, give the police more power, and change the constitution to be able to bypass other elected officials.

An American politician running on this kind of platform would undoubtedly also be opposed to abortion and sex education in schools, but this didn’t seem to be part of the Le Pen’s brand of far rightness. Abortion is legal and free in France. In fact, the country just expanded abortion rights by keeping the procedure legal through 14 weeks of pregnancy (as opposed to 12).

Like many Europeans, the French seem far less prudish than Americans. (My husband constantly reminds me that our country was founded by people who were so uptight they were kicked out of England.) Studies of European sex education—both in school and at home—have found that adults are open to the idea that young people could have healthy, meaningful sexual relationships. While we try to stop teen sex, European parents and educators acknowledge it, accept it, and try to make it safer.   

One noticeable difference is in condom ads which remain highly restricted here. European ads often rely on humor and sometimes target teens directly. This oldie rightly assumes that other people’s whiny children are the best birth control.

It will be great to watch the progress in France to see if free, readily accessible condoms help bring down rates of STIs and unintended pregnancy. Of course, even amazing results in that country won’t help us here. We’ve shown remarkable indifference to science and were founded by people so uptight they were kicked out of England.

Use It or Lose It Doesn’t Apply to the Clitoris

The clitoris is an amazing organ. It’s the only body part that has no function other than to bring us pleasure. It has the same number of nerve endings as in the head of the penis, concentrated in a much smaller surface area, and it also extends far beneath what we see on the surface. It can get erect like a penis, or it can hide under a protective hood. It’s almost magical.

And, it’s not going to just disappear if you go through a sexual dry spell, as one TikToker representing a brand seemed to suggest.

Ovira, a brand that promises drug-free period pain relief, posted a video suggesting that people with vulvas should use their clitorises (clitori?) before the organs disappear. Against the backdrop of a suggestive grapefruit, Alice Williams (a brand ambassador, maybe?) with a great accent (New Zealand, I think?) says:

Use your clitoris before it disappears. If the clitoris is not regularly stimulated, it can lose its function, and this is called clitoral atrophy. It occurs when there is inadequate blood flow to the clitoris, and this can significantly decrease your sex drive. So, make sure to use your clitoris, or you could lose it forever.

I applaud the notion that people who have a clitoris might as well put it to good use. It’s a shame to waste the unicorn of body parts, and one doesn’t need a partner to get a lot out of their clitoris. Fingers, vibrators, and suction sex toys (known as clit suckers) are all good options.   

People with vulvas shouldn’t be doing this out of fear, however. It’s not like the old toothpaste commercial that told us to take care of our teeth or we would lose them, and then showed someone with a mouth full of George Washington-style wooden chompers. We should use our clitorises because doing so feels good not because we’re scared of what will happen if we don’t.

Yes, clitoral atrophy—a condition in which the clitoris stops responding to sexual arousal—is a thing, but it’s not the result of a dry spell alone. Atrophy occurs when the clitoris isn’t getting enough hormones which can be caused by hormone blockers, hormonal birth control, skin conditions, or menopause. Increased blood flow to the area—like what happens during arousal—is good for the clitoris and the vulva, but blood continues to flow to that part of your body even on a sexless day (or week or month).

Though healthline uses the word disappear in its article as well, an atrophied clitoris does not disappear. It doesn’t shrivel up and fall off, run away to join the circus, or try to find a new owner who will play with it more often. It may retreat further under the clitoral hood, and this could make it harder to find, but it’s still there. I promise.

The good news is that this TikTok was not being used to sell a snake oil product concocted to solve this problem (though snake oil itself—if rubbed on in the right way—could actually solve this problem); Ovira’s product looks like a TENS unit for the lower abdomen. For those who have never been to physical therapy, TENS stand for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Electrodes are put on the ouchy muscles and the unit sends a mild electric current that is thought to stimulate the release of endorphins and other feel-better brain chemicals. There is still a lack of research on how well these products work, but many people swear by them, and they carry very few risks. The product doesn’t go on the vulva or the clitoris and wasn’t mentioned in the video.

Comments—including one from actress Lili Reinhart who posted the video on her own TikTok—suggested that viewers were now concerned this could happen to them. It’s very unlikely, but if you are worried, feel free to stick your hands down your pants; masturbation can help with anxiety as well.