This book is 1584 pages long. It was published in 2015. The title is really great:
The Anatomical Basis for Clinical Practice
I’d like to let that sit for a second.
This textbook excludes macroscopic anatomy of the clitoris while including microscopic anatomy of the penis. What this means is the anatomical basis of clinical treatment is inequitable.
The Clitoris
This is everything this version of Gray’s Anatomy contains about the clitoris, it’s nerves and vasculature, and female sexual response.
I’m including the labia minora because they, collectively with the clitoris and vestibular bulbs (aka clitoral bulbs), are homologous to the penis.
I’m thinking about going to a medical library with hard copies of these books and just drawing in the nerves.
Realize where it says “skin” that is the clitoral hood!
Everything about the clitoris (excluding bulbs) in one small paragraph. It is not “partially enclosed by bifurcated ends of the labia minora.” The clitoral hood is not part of the labia minora! The labia minora end posterior to the clitoral glans.
This illustration is the first below the section entitled “Clitoris.” It is labeled, “the vessels of the female pelvis.” Why did they leave out the clitoris? Bizarre. Instead, they show it off-center so as to include a vestibular bulb.
Note how the nerves actually in the clitoris are not shown.
Someone artsy created this. They are probably proud of themselves for showing the entire clitoris in all it’s glory. They just completely left out the nerves.
There is no mention of the innervation or vasculature of the clitoris in the chapter on the female reproductive system.
See how the dorsal nerves of the clitoris only get mentioned in this context.
“In males, the dorsal nerve of the penis runs on the dorsum of the penis to end in the glans.”
Do these authors not realize that the dorsal nerve of the clitoris runs on the dorsum of the clitoris to end in the glans as well?!
There is no mention of clitoral vasculature anywhere.
There is no mention of female sexual response or orgasm, other than that contained in the description of the clitoris.
The Penis
This is everything this version of Gray’s Anatomy contains about the penis, it’s nerves and vasculature, and male sexual response.
Note the detail with which the nerves and vessels of the penis are shown. Keep in mind that if you believe the clitoral glans has as many nerve endings as the penile glans, it is mathematically impossible for the dorsal nerves of the clitoris to be smaller.
Oh yay we get MRI’s too! Where was the MRI for the clitors? Oh that’s right - there wasn’t one.
Note that they spend more space on just penile shaft skin than they do on the entire clitoris.
Keep in mind that equivalent illustrations for the clitoris do not exist. Why don’t they exist?
Keep in mind that equivalent illustrations for the clitoris do not exist. Why don’t they exist?
They leave out essential macrostructure of the clitoris but include the microstructure of the penis!
Netter, Clemente, and Grant’s Anatomy are all better than this. Anatomy professors should really start boycotting this textbook until it is updated.
