Celebrating body diversity!
When you’re shopping for a new sex toy, you’re probably looking to check a few key factors in terms of the specific physical attributes. For insertable sex toys, length and girth are naturally very important. Material is vital no matter what you’re buying — you want something that’s body-safe and easy to clean. Most sex toy shops have this information on their websites, and many will also include extra details such as which are the best and safest lubes to use with the toy.
But there’s one question that not all sex toy sites — or manufacturers — can answer: what assumptions have they made about the average user’s clitoris?
You might think — particularly if you’re somewhere in the ‘average’ range for your country — that clitoral placement isn’t a particularly variable thing. But you’d be surprised — not only can the distance from clitoris to vaginal opening vary greatly from person to person, but clitoral girth can vary a lot too.
Clitoral distance and girth
When we were working with designers on Crescendo — our vibrator that allows you to personalize your pleasure — we wanted to make sure that we weren’t making the same mistake as some other vibes, and assuming that everyone had the same clitoral size, shape and placement.
We used research commissioned by Durex, from the website The Vagina Institute – a fascinating site that collates research and studies on the human body and sexual organs. Check out the diagram below: it shows the difference between average clitoral size and distance from the vaginal opening in the UK versus Thailand.
The distance varies by over 13 mm — a fairly large difference if you’re trying to create a vibrator that delivers pinpoint accuracy. The variation is apparent when you look at clitoral circumference, too — anywhere from 29.9mm to 50.9mm.
Dominant ‘sides’ of your clitoris?
And clitoral variation isn’t just about body shape — many people report that their clitoris responds better to pressure and stimulation on one side or the other. Sex blogger Dangerous Lilly has written a detailed blog post about her experience of having a ‘righty’ — a clitoris with a particularly sensitive spot on the right-hand side.
“I first noticed this years ago when I found the first vibrator that mostly worked for me — a cheap pocket rocket — and noticed that I had to angle it just so to hit that tiny little spot on the right side of my clitoral shaft. This spot is so sensitive that a vibrator that is only semi-powerful and mostly rumbly can bring me to orgasm yet a super-powered broad-stimulation wand style vibrator is hit-or-miss.”
And Lilly is definitely not alone — many other people report having a more sensitive left or right side. Add that to the huge variety in clitoral placement and circumference, plus the huge variety in stimulation techniques and preferences that we’ve tackled here before, and it’s easy to see why each individual has a uniquely complex set of needs.
So there you have it: sex toys shouldn’t be judged purely on size, power or material — the way they stimulate your clitoris is vital too. Whether you’re considering a rabbit vibrator with well-placed ears that work for you or a personalizable vibrator like Crescendo, that can be adjusted to make sure it reaches just the right place, clitoral preference is an important criteria that could help you pick the perfect vibrator for you.
