Being a Teen (7 page)

Each time you have a checkup, the doctor should examine your testicles. Don’t be embarrassed! Doctors examine testes all the time, and it’s so common for the examination to cause an erection that the doctor won’t pay any attention. He or she will be focused on much more important things!

¹
   puberty (
pyoo
-ber-tee): the biological part of the early adolescent years when the sexual and reproductive systems start to mature

²
   endocrine (
en
-duh-krin) system

³
   testicles (
tes
-ti-kuhls) or Testes (
tes
-teez): testicles are made up of a number of compartments, more commonly known as “balls,” inside of which are tiny tubes, all intertwined.

⁴
   penis (
pee
-nis): the male reproductive organ

⁵
   scrotum (
skroh
-tuhm): the soft pouch of wrinkly skin that you see on either side and slightly behind your penis that is divided inside into two pouches. Each pouch holds one testis. Many people refer to the scrotum and testes altogether as the testicles, or “balls.”

⁶
   urethral (yoo-
ree
-thruhl) opening

⁷
   semen (
see
-muhn): the whitish fluid full of nutrients and sugar that comes out of the penis during an erection and contains 300 to 500 million sperm cells that contain chromosomes. Any sperm cell can make a female pregnant if intercourse occurs. Semen is sometimes called “cum” or “jism” or “jiz” in slang.

⁸
   papules (
pap
-yools)

⁹
   foreskin (
fawr
-skin)

¹⁰
   circumcision (sur-kuhm-
sizh
-uhn)

¹¹
   smegma (
smeg
-ma)

¹²
   anus (
ey
-nuhs)

¹³
   feces (
fee
-seez): bowel movement. Feces is made up of the food material that the body does not need, which travels into the rectum and out the anus.

¹⁴
   prostate (
pros
-teyt) gland: a male organ that acts like a muscle to release urine during urination and helps pump sperm from the testicles through the seminal vesicle in preparation for ejaculation.

¹⁵
   ejaculation (ih-jak-yuh-
ley
-shuhn): the process by which semen is pumped down the hollow urethral tube and released out the end of the penis; also known as a male orgasm.

¹⁶
   erection (ih-
rek
-shuhn): the process by which the penis becomes erect or hard. During an erection a lot of blood is carried into your penis through the blood vessels, and it fills the empty spaces of the spongy erectile tissue, which swells up and presses against the blood vessels, causing the blood to remain in the penis.

¹⁷
   ovulation (ov-yuh-
ley
-shun)

¹⁸
   fertilization (fur-tl-uh-
zey
-shuhn): the union of the woman’s egg with the man’s sperm.

¹⁹
   menstruation (men-stroo-
ey
-shuhn): the process by which a woman’s unfertilized egg breaks down and flows out of the woman’s body, together with blood and tissue. Menstruation happens to women about once a month for the years after puberty until menopause. It is commonly known as “having a period.” On average,
menopause
happens between ages forty-five and fifty-one. After menopause, a woman ceases having periods and cannot produce eggs to create a baby.

5.

Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Parts and How They Function

Hormones

As with boys, puberty
¹
in girls is caused by hormones. Hormones are made by different
glands
in your body that are part of its
endocrine
system.
²
A gland is a group of cells that produces chemicals and hormones. Hormones act as messengers that travel through the bloodstream from these glands. Different
hormones go to different glands and tell them what to do. By raising and lowering the levels of various hormones at different times, the endocrine system controls the body’s functions and makes sure that they run together smoothly.

The body has many kinds of hormones. The two most important sex hormones,
testosterone
and
estrogen,
are produced by both males and females, but, starting at puberty, girls make much more estrogen and boys make much more testosterone.

Becoming Familiar with Yourself

Get a hand mirror and sit somewhere (on the floor or a chair) where you can pull your knees up and position yourself so that you can see a reflection of your vulva, clitoris, and vagina without casting a shadow. Use the hand that’s not holding the
mirror to separate the folds of your labia and try to identify the different parts. If you do this, I want you to remember that you won’t look exactly like any picture you might have seen. It is normal for everyone to be different. Your fingernails and toes don’t look exactly like anyone else’s, and neither do your genitals. Some women have very long, thick labia, and some have very thin, small labia. This is all normal. Like the rest of your body, the genitals grow and change during puberty.

Female Genitals

Some girls may have been taught that it is wrong to look at their genitals or to touch them except when using the toilet. I think it is a good idea to look at your genitals. I think it’s important to know what you look like, what the different parts are, and what they are for. It’s important to look at your genitals now, while you are young. How will you know what “not right” is if you don’t know what “normal” is?

Mons or Pubis

Your genitals are protected by a raised mound of flesh over your pubic bone that is called the
pubis
or
mons.
³
You may have some hair, called
pubic hair,
over your mons. As you grow, the hair will become thicker, darker, and curlier, and the mons will thicken and may stick out more.

Farther down between your legs is the
vulva,
the external genitals.

Vulva

Inside the vulva are two sets of soft folded skin, one inside the other, called the
labia.
⁴
This is the Latin word for “lips.” Labia vary in color from pale pink to brownish black, depending largely on your race, ethnicity, and age. Most older women’s labia become darker.

The medical name for the outer labia is the
labia majora.
⁵
In younger girls, the outer labia are flat and hairless and do not come together. During puberty, these labia grow some pubic hair and thicken so that they do come together.

During childhood the undersides of the outer labia are smooth, but during puberty they can develop small bumps. These are glands that begin to produce a small amount of oil during puberty to moisten the area so that it does not get irritated. The outer labia also have sweat glands.

If you separate the outer labia, you will see the inner labia
or
labia minora.
⁶
These are small and not well defined until puberty, when they, too, can become plumper. In fact, in some women, the inner labia come out farther than the outer ones, or one is larger than the other. Although they don’t grow hair like the outer labia, they, too, have oil glands.

Both pairs of labia cover and protect the inner parts of the vulva, which are the
clitoris
⁷
and the two openings to the
urethra
⁸
and the
vagina.
⁹
During puberty these openings, which start out small, grow larger and become easier to see.

Clitoris

At the top of the vulva—that part closest to the front of your body, where the inner lips meet—is the clitoris, the tip of which is a small mound of very sensitive tissue about the size
of a pea or a pencil eraser that grows larger during puberty. It is protected by the
clitoral hood,
a fold of skin that covers it and that you may have to pull up in order to see it. What you are actually looking at is the tip of the clitoris, which has a shaft that extends into the body. If you press down above the clitoris, you may be able to feel this shaft, which in adult women is about four inches long.