Metoidioplasty is a type of gender-affirming surgery that creates a small-sized neophallus, or new penis, from an enlarged clitoris. Gender-affirmation surgeries are procedures that alter a person’s body, typically sexual characteristics like the genitals, to align a person’s sex with their gender identity so that they can move through society more comfortably. Such procedures treat gender dysphoria, which is the distress or discomfort that may be felt by transgender people. Transgender people’s gender identities differ from the genders they were assigned at birth, usually conflated with the sex they were assigned at birth. As opposed to a phalloplasty, a procedure where a neophallus is created using tissue from other areas of the body and not just the existing genital tissues, metoidioplasty allows transgender individuals to have a penis with less noticeable scarring, preservation of erogenous sensation, and, if the patient desires, the ability to urinate while standing. The technique was first suggested in 1973, then performed in 1974, however, doctors and researchers did not refer to it as metoidioplasty until 1989. Since its implementation, several modifications have ensured lower risks and better results for patients. Metoidioplasty improves the quality of life for people seeking gender-affirmation surgery by treating gender dysphoria.
The Gräfenberg spot, or the G-spot, is thought to be an area in the anterior, or front, vaginal wall that contributes to sexual pleasure. Ernst Gräfenberg became one of the first individuals to discuss the G-spot in 1950, and he claimed that the area is a distinct part of the vagina that plays a key role in orgasm. In 1981, researchers echoed Gräfenberg’s conclusion about the area’s existence and function, and they named it the Gräfenberg spot, or G-spot, after him. As of 2024, the media often portrays the G-spot as an area that is well-characterized, but scientific data on the G-spot is actually fairly inconclusive. Though researchers agree that the G-spot contributes to sexual pleasure in some individuals, they continue to debate about its functions and characteristics. Scientific debate about the G-spot produced research that has helped people to better understand the anatomical elements of the female orgasm, thus improving medical knowledge of female sexual health and pleasure.