Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living / Some Things That All Sane People Ought to Know About Sex Nature and Sex Functioning; Its Place in the Economy of Life, Its Proper Training and Righteous Exercise

by H. W. Long

And now, although so much has been said, there is much that remains to be said, and which ought to be said, to do the subject justice. Some of these things are as follows:

Something more ought to be told about the second part of the act of coitus, the union of the organs, when this occurs for the first time on the part of the woman.

At the first meeting of the husband and wife, if the woman be a virgin, there are certain conditions which exist, on her part, that are not present in after-meetings, and these must be understood and rightly dealt with, or the worst of bad results may ensue.

Of course, at such first meeting, all the preliminaries prescribed as forming the first movement of the act should be carried out to the limit. It is not too much to say that these should be prolonged for some days! Do not start, young husband, at this statement! Well did Alexander Dumas, père, write: "Oh, young husband, have a care in the first overtures you make toward your bride! She may shrink from what she feels must come; she may put her hands over her eyes to shut out the sight; but do not forget that she is a woman, and so is filled with curiosity, under any and all circumstances! And you may set it down as sure, that, though she blinds herself with her hands as she scales the dizzy heights you are leading her over, nevertheless, she will peek through her fingers! So she will watch you with most critical eyes, and note every show of selfishness or blundering on your part! So have a care! You may think you are aiming your arrow at the sun. See to it that it does not alight in the mud!" Good words these, and to be heeded, come what may!

As a rule, if the bride be a virgin, it is well to let plenty of time elapse before engaging in the full act of coitus! Delay here will lead to a possible loving speed, later on. The young people should take time enough to get better acquainted with each other than ever before; to become, in a measure, accustomed to the uncovered presence of each other, and to the new possibilities of "courting" and "playing together" that their new conditions offer. In any case, full coitus should not be attempted till the bride is at least willing. If she can be brought to become anxious for the meeting, so much the better.

And so, with plenty of time taken for making ready for the act, we come to the first union of the organs for a newly married couple, the bride being a virgin. And here is where an explanation is called for.

The vulva, or external part of the female sex organs, is a mouth shaped aperture, located laterally between the forward part of the thighs. In shape, size and structure, it much resembles the external parts of the mouth proper. It begins just in front of the anus, and extends forward above the pubic bone and a little ways up the belly. Its entire lateral length is about four or more inches.

This organ is made up of several parts, as follows: The lips, or labiae, as they are technically known, the clitoris, and the vaginal opening. The lips are a double row, two on either side, and are known as labiae major and labiae minor, that is, the thicker and thinner, or larger and smaller lips. They extend almost the entire length of the vulva, the outer lips folding over the inner ones when the thighs are together. The outer parts of the larger lips are covered with hair. In thickness and quality these labiae are much like the lips of the face of each individual, a large mouth and thick lips indicate a large vulva and thick labiae and vice-versa. The clitoris is a gland that is located forward, on the upper part of the vulva. It corresponds, almost exactly, in make-up and function, with the glans penis of the male organ. The vaginal opening is at the rear, or lower part of the vulva, and leads directly into the vagina proper.

All these parts are composed of most keenly responsive nerves, and they are covered with a thin, delicate and exceedingly sensitive skin, almost exactly such as lines the cheeks and the mouth. Both the clitoris and the lips are filled with expandable blood vessels, and in a state of tumescence they are greatly enlarged by a flow of blood into the parts. The clitoris, in this condition, undergoes an enlargement, or "erection," which is exactly like that of the glans penis. So much as to the physiology of this part of the female sex organs, all of which should be well understood by every bride and bridegroom, though often it is not.

Now, in its virgin state, the vulva has another part, not yet named, and this is the hymen, or "maiden-head" as it is commonly known. This is a membrane that grows across the forward, or upper part of the vaginal opening, and so closes up nearly all that part of the vulva. This hymen is not always present, however, even in a state of undoubted virginity. Sometimes it is torn away in childhood by the little girl's fingers, as she "plays with herself." Sometimes it is ruptured by lifting, again it is broken away by the use of a large-sized female syringe. For all these reasons, it is not right to conclude that a bride is not a virgin because the hymen is not present and in evidence at the first coition.