Clitoral hood: Difference between revisions

[[File:Clitoral hood.jpg|thumb|A photograph of a human vulva with a labeled clitoral hood]]

The clitoral hood is composed of [[Mucocutaneous zone|muccocutaneous]] tissues; these tissues are between the [[mucosa]] and the skin, and they may have immunological importance because they may be a point of entry of mucosal vaccines.<ref name="Cold and Taylor">{{ColdCJ TaylorJR 1999}}</ref> The clitoral hood is also important not only in protection of the clitoral glans, but also in pleasure, as it is an [[Erogenous zone|erogenous]] tissue.<ref name="Cold and Taylor"/>

The clitoral hood is formed during the [[Fetus|fetal]] stage by the cellular lamella.<ref name="Cold and Taylor"/> The cellular lamella grows down on the [[dorsal side]] of the [[clitoris]] and is eventually fused with the [[clitoris]]. The clitoral hood is formed from the same tissues that form the foreskin in human males.

The clitoral hood varies in the size, shape, thickness, and other aesthetic areas. Some women have large clitoral hoods that completely cover the clitoral glans. Some of these can be retracted to expose the clitoral glans, such as for hygiene purposes or for pleasure; others do not retract. Other women have smaller hoods that do not cover the full length of the clitoral glans, leaving the clitoral glans exposed all the time. Sticky bands of tissue called ''adhesions'' can form between the hood and the glans; these stick the hood onto the glans so the hood cannot be pulled back to expose the glans, and, as in the male, strongly scented [[smegma]] can accumulate.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clitoral Hood}}

[[Category:Genitals]]