A 3D clitoris is going to teach French schoolchildren about sex

The world’s first open-source, anatomically correct, 3D clitoris has arrived, and it could revolutionise how schoolchildren are taught about the key role it plays in sex.

The Guardian reports that the sculpture is down to the work of sociomedical research Oldile Fillod, who explains why it’s so important for women to have a mental image of what happens to their body when they become stimulated.

“In understanding the key role of the clitoris, a woman can stop feeling shame, or [that she’s] abnormal if penile-vaginal intercourse doesn’t do the trick for her – given the anatomical data, that is the case for most women.”

French media has championed the announcement, with FranceTVInfo commenting that the clitoris is often overlooked by doctors and researchers in favour of the penis.

Awareness-raising activism about the clitoris in France is at a peak: Sex-positive feminist group Les Infemmes has created the fanzine L’Antisèche du Clito [The Idiot’s Guide to the Clit’, while Osez Le Féminisme has been fighting silence around the clitoris since 2011.

However the question as to whether the clitoris model will be widely used still has to be answered.

While the Guardian reports that the model “will be used for sex education in French schools, from primary to secondary level, from September”; French design news site Makery says that the idea will not be launched until January 2017, where it will accompany a video from documentary company V’idéaux.

And as several publications have pointed out, the model can’t come soon enough.

A recent government report on equality between women and men found that the current French curriculum for sex education guidelines states that “young boys are ‘more focused on genital sexuality’ while girls ‘attach more importance to love’.”

So yep, a bit outdated.

You can watch a video of the 3D clitorises being designed and made below:

CLITORIS 3D from Marie Docher on Vimeo.

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