It would take forever, or at least too long, to list the gyrations inherent in the patriarchal definition of penetrative phallic sexuality, much more the history of the clitoris. How did we get here? How did parts of the body most pleasurable come to be so identified with shame and disgust? But, revealingly, the pudenda–often used to name the entire genital area– is from the Latin, pudenda, meaning “wrongful,” to feel “shame.” It came into usage toward the late 17th century, and all its variants reflect that basic definition: it shames. Of course, it’s also been called everything from the pinnacle of heaven to the seat of Satan. Beginning, as I often do, with etymology, I can tell you that the word clitoris is from the Ancient Greek word key, or alternately Ancient Greek words for “little hill,” “to shut” latch, or hook, and possibly (and amusingly) a verb meaning, to “touch lightly or lasciviously.”
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