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While working on the “Asexual’s Guide To …” series, I realized that it would be helpful to give an overview of anatomy, so that all readers will have a common reference point. (Even those readers who slept through or skipped out on their eighth grade sex-ed class…) Not an overview of general anatomy, mind you. I’m not going to talk about your philtrum or your medial phalanges here. Specifically, I’m going to act as the tour guide as we travel to the points of interest found in the land of genitalia, along with other potentially erogenous zones.
This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive review of reproductive biology. There are other sites about all that stuff. Here, I’m going to focus mostly on what you can see and touch and what’s relevant to the rest of the series. (By the way, if you’re not already familiar with what’s downstairs, and if you’re able to safely and comfortably do so, I encourage you actually look at and touch the bits and pieces you own as we go along. You might even want to get a mirror to get a look at the harder to see bits. It’s your body, so you might as well know where things are on it. But if you’d rather not, that’s perfectly okay, too.)
Since asexuality has no physical effects, there’s nothing specific about asexuality that’s going to be discussed in this post. So, if you already know your way around the land down under, you can skip this without worrying about missing out on anything.
And finally, I’m going to write this talking to “you” in the second person. That does not necessarily imply that you actually do have all of the pieces and parts that I’m going to talk about.
A Few Notes Before We Begin
These are just a few things I’d like to get out of the way before continuing with the tour.
- Don’t worry about the size or shape of your genitals or any other part of your body. You’re not in competition with anyone else. Most people aren’t going to care about your endowments. There isn’t going to be a day where everyone with a short cock or flat chest is going to be rounded up and kicked off the island. Fretting over matters of size will get you nowhere. There’s always going to be someone bigger than you and there’s always going to be someone smaller than you, so it’s best to be comfortable with where you are and not worry about measuring up to others.
- Porn lies to you. I’m not saying that as some kind of moral stand against pornography. I’m saying it as objective truth. Many performers in porn are in porn specifically because they’re several standard deviations away from most other people. Comparing your body to people in porn is a bit like trying to determine whether or not you’re in good shape by comparing yourself to a Super Bowl Quarterback. It’s very unfortunate that the most readily available source of anatomical references is pornography.
- If it hurts, STOP. Nothing I mention should be the source of pain. If something does hurt, you’re either doing it wrong or you should consult a doctor about the pain.
- If you have any questions whether something is “normal” or if you think that something may be a sign of some medical condition, talk to a doctor. This is just an article by some random guy on the Internet who has absolutely no medical training (I didn’t even take high school biology), and should not be considered an accurate and reliable source of medical information. If in doubt, get it checked out. It could save your life.
- And most importantly, please remain seated and keep your hands and arms inside the car until the ride comes to a full and complete stop.
I’ve stuck most of the content on separate pages, so you don’t have to scroll around the page to find what applies to you.
An Asexual’s Guide To … Male Anatomy (For most men, most boys, and anyone else who happens to have a penis.)
An Asexual’s Guide To … Female Anatomy (For most women, most girls, and anyone else who happens to have a clitoris and/or vagina.)
But wait! There’s more!
So, while most people fit into nice, orderly buckets of “female bodied” or “male bodied”, not everyone does. Some intersex people are born with ambiguous genitalia, that is, genitals that do not fit into the preconceived notions regarding how large a clitoris or penis should be. Unfortunately, intersex infants are often subjected to “corrective” genital surgery because of this. Some transgender people choose to physically transition in order to make their physical sex match their gender. This can involve surgery or hormones to change the body.
Unfortunately, it would be impossible for me to go into detail about all of these possible variations of anatomical configuration here. In many cases, there will be enough similarities between your body and what’s described in the sections above to be helpful. However, if you are intersex or are transitioning, there’s a very good chance that you know more about your anatomy than I could ever teach you, anyway. For the rest of you who are merely curious about these cases, there are other, more specific resources out there that can give you the information you want.
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