A guide to her vagina

Her sweet spot
That's right, we are shining a spotlight on the almighty vagina. And it's about time. Given the ridiculous amount of time talking about it, you'd think we'd know everything about this attention-getting organ's intricate design, yet most men don't know her labia from a vulva.

The following guide explains a few things you might still wonder about, like the secret to finding the nerve-packed hot spots that make intercourse feel the best it can.

The VIP Lounge
Most people call the whole kit and caboodle between a woman's legs the "vagina" but the compendium of visible outer parts is technically the "vulva". Meant to keep dirt and bacteria out while providing a welcoming environment for worthy partygoers, the vulva is like a VIP lounge where the clitoris is the DJ. "The labia majora (outer lips) are a protective layer of fat covered by the skin and hair," says Dr Lillian Schapiro, a gynaecologist. Their job is to keep sex comfy even if your pelvis is bonier than Iggy Pop's.

Located inside the labia majora (though sometimes extending beyond them), the labia minora, or inner lips, act like a pair of swinging doors guarding the entrance to the vagina and the urethra, the tube that leads from the bladder. "The labia minora are much thinner than the labia majora and even more sensitive," says Dr Schapiro says. Plus, they contain erectile tissue, made up of clusters of tiny blood vessels, which means they become slightly stiffer (though not as stiff as the clitoris) during arousal. The anatomist who named the parts of the vulva must have found it lounge like too, because the area between and including the inner folds of the labia minors is called the "vestibule."

The sprinkler system
Hiding just below the skin of the labia and the clitoral hood (called the prepuce) are hundreds of small glands that secrete oil and sweat to protect those delicate areas from friction and overheating. The inside of the vagina also stays moist to maintain healthy tissue, but as you've no doubt noticed, it gets wetter when you've turned her on.

That's because the lining of the vagina fills with blood during arousal, causing the salt water in blood plasma to push through the vaginal wall. The Bartholin's glands – on either side of the vaginal opening – also pump out a few beads of slippery mucus. In missionary position, most of this fluid collects in the back of the vagina and fails to lubricate the opening, making sex uncomfortable. Unfortunately in some women lubrication occurs for only a few moments then stops. In both case, a water-based lubricant (spit does the job very well too) is key to ensuing a smooth entry.

Pleats and ruffles
The vulva and the vagina feature a variety of textures. Most of the vulva is smooth, but some women's labia minora have a ruffled appearance. "Labias come in all shapes and sizes," says Dr Stewart. "The tips of the nipples and the labia are similar because they both contain small, bumpy-looking glands." When going down on a girl you may also notice that the entrance to the vagina also has a ruffled border or just a few irregular bits of skin.

Those are the remnants of the hymen, a thin membrane that once partially covered the entrance but has been torn or pushed aside by sexual intercourse. As for the texture inside the vagina, it's full of bumpy ridges called rugae. The rugae stretch and retract to accommodate objects ranging from your penis to 10lb babies.

Finding the wishbone
In a body full of hardworking organs the clitoris is like Paris Hilton – it does nothing but party. It's the only part of the human body whose sole purpose is for pleasure. The one thing that the clitoris has that Paris lacks? Depth."The clitoris is larger than it seems," says Dr Laura Berman, a clinical assistant professor of gynaecology at North-western University's medical school. Beneath the visible pink button, called the glans, lies a wish-bone shaped structure comprising a shaft, which extends about an inch up towards the pubic bone, and two three inch arms called crura that reach down and back toward the pelvic bone in an inverted v-shape. Though the shaft and crura send pleasure signals to the brain during sex, the glans is more sensitive. That's why it has a hood – without it a pair of tight jeans would send your missus into overdrive!

Two bulbs of erectile tissue run alongside the crura. Many experts, including Berman and Dr Helen O'Connell, an urologist at Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia and the first person to map the clitoris using magnetic resonance imaging believe that this tissue is part of the clitoris too. In studies, Dr O'Connell found that the clitoris is also connected to erectile tissue surrounding the urethra and extending up to the front wall of the vagina - where the enigmatic G-spot has been known to pop up.

Over the hedge
The hair that covers the pubic mound and outer labia grows in a pattern called the escutcheon (based on the Latin term for an ornamental shield). When allowed to grow wild, some escutcheons will wander up toward the navel and down toward the upper thighs, while others wouldn't breech the borders of a Brazilian Bikini. The shape of the hair shaft differs depending on their ethnicity; in Asian women they're typically round, in women of African decent they are elliptical, and in Caucasians and Latinas they range between the two. "Elliptical shafts are more likely to become ingrown after shaving or waxing as the hair curls in, pierces the skin and creates a bump," says dermatologist Dr Susan Taylor.

X marks the spot
While the vagina is nowhere near as responsive to touch as the vulva, it does contain hundreds of nerve endings. If a woman were lying on her back with a clock placed upright inside the lower part of her vagina (don't ask how it got there), the most sensitive area would be at 12 o'clock, right behind the urethra. In a 1982 study of more than 400 women, Rutgers University sex researcher Dr Beverly Whipple, found that when this area was stimulated after a woman was already sexually aroused, a bump of tissue speared and could sometimes trigger an orgasm. She named the area the G-spot after Ernst Grafenberg, the German doctor who first documented it in 1950.

Further examination of this spongy tissue found it identical to that of the male prostate gland, a well-established pleasure zone. Some doctors believe the G-spot should be renamed the female prostate. Supporting that belief is a study showing the similarity between the fluid expelled by a very small percentage of women through their urethra during G-spot orgasm (aka female ejaculation) and that produced by the male prostate. What if you never found her G-spot? Whipple says, don't sweat it; "There are many sensitive areas inside he vagina that, when stimulated by a finger, vibrator, or penis, can contribute to sexual pleasure."

Tilt-a-whirl
The vagina tilts back 30-degrees from the opening. A side effect of this 30-degree angle is that in missionary position, the penis has little to no contact with the super-sensitive front wall of the vagina. As far as orgasm goes, this is not good. Placing a pillow under her back and getting her to wrap her legs around your lower back, while rocking back and forth to create clitoral friction can help you get the maximum amount of bliss out of missionary, but other positions typically yield better results.

"The best positions for G-spot stimulation include women-on-top and rear entry," says Berman. Woman on top lets you experiment with different angles to find most feel good sensations. "Leaning back targets the anterior wall," adds Berman. Zero in on her G-spot in rear entry getting her to lie flat on her stomach and tucking a pillow under her hips. Or try reverse cowgirl, where she faces your feet – and with that view, you'll be one very happy cowboy.