The clitoris is a feat of nature designed purely for pleasure. But where is it? How does it work? And what does it mean for female orgasms? In an animated documentary, Montreal filmmaker Lori Malépart-Traversy sheds light on all the clitoris' mysterious properties.
The adorable three-minute video, titled "Le Clitoris," uses humour to educate — or "womansplain," as Vice puts it — the biological function of the clitoris.
"The small part we can see is only the gland of the clitoris," the doc begins. "Like an iceberg, its biggest part is hidden inside the body."
Fascinating, no?
The clip goes on to explain that the clit works very much like a penis in that it grows when aroused. However, it contains 8,000 nerve endings, which is double that of a penis, making women's orgasms that much better (#sorrynotsorry).
The documentary also delves into a brief history of the clitoris. Of course, women have known of its existence since the dawn of time. The video, however, reveals that men have claimed to "discover" and "rediscover" it plenty of times, dating back to ancient Greece.
"It wasn't until 1559 that Italian surgeon Realdo Colombo officially identified [the clitoris]," the video explained. "Two years later, another man proclaimed that it was he who discovered it! Since then, the clitoris has continued to be forgotten or misrepresented in literature. Many men have squabbled around the subject of the clitoris and the female orgasm."
It wasn't until 1559 that Italian surgeon Realdo Colombo officially identified [the clitoris].
The most intriguing part of the documentary is when Malépart-Traversy labels Sigmund Freud as "the Number One enemy of the clitoris." He was the one who invented the concept of the vaginal orgasm, claiming women should only reach climax via penetration.
While research has shown that vaginal orgasms are a lie, this hasn't stopped the clitoris from being overlooked.
"This dear clitoris asks only to be loved," the video concludes. "Since it exists only for your pleasure, why not use it?"
Since creating the video, Malépart-Traversy has won a number of awards for her documentary, including the Best Short Film Award at Festival Vues d'en face 2017 and the Best Documentary at Chicago Feminist Film Festival 2017.
Since it exists only for your pleasure, why not use it?
According to Short of the Week, Malépart-Traversy originally created the video for her grad film project at Concordia University. She wanted to explore female sexuality in her film and decided to focus on the clitoris after discovering a lot of "funny and weird information" while conducting research.
With her video, the Canadian filmmaker hopes more people will start to see the clitoris as "something more alive than just a flap, or vulva, or hole, or vagina," she told Vice.
This isn't the first time a video starring genitals has warmed our hearts and spread an educational message. Last year, a cheeky video of a dancing vagina and penis went viral for its message of teaching consent.
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