Did you know that the closest thing a female has to a penis is her clitoris? Men do not have anything at all that resembles a uterus, not that most men care. The clitoris and the penis are made of similar tissue and both have nerve endings which is where we get our sensations from. A clitoris has 8,000 nerve endings but a penis only has about 4,000. In utero up until the embryo is 12 weeks the genitalia for what will be a girl or what will be a boy are identical. At about 12 weeks the genitalia develops either into a penis or labia.
Ella is 5 and is at that age when she really is trying to understand the differences between men and woman. And when she found out that her dad had a penis and she didn’t, she was really upset. She cried to us and told us that she wanted to have a penis. Then one day, Ella tells me, “Mommy, I have a penis!” I say to her curiously, “You do!? Where?” She pulls down her pants and points to her inner labia, “See it’s a penis!” I tell her that that body part is called her labia and then I add, “It’s like lips for your vagina.” She thinks that is hilarious and for now she seems to be ok with having a labia and not a penis.
