NEWS | homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor (olor)| pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
More articles by Dr. Soucasaux: Anatomical drawings - Anovulatory cycles - Archetypal aspects of the female genitals - The breasts: some morphological aspects - Colposcopy - Comments on the corpus luteum and related aspects - Comments on some anatomical and symbolic aspects of the female pelvis - The curious relations between androgens and estrogens in women - Drospirenone Oral Contraceptives - Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have access to modern medicinal abortion - Endocrinology of menstruation - The Fallopian tubes - Female sexual response - The Gräfenberg Spot (G-Spot) - The Gynecologic Palpation (descendant of "The Touch") - Gynecological assistance: the three basic areas - Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery - Gynecologist versus obstetrician: what lies behind the combination? - "Gyneco-obstetric-surgical" stubborness and the perpetuation of one of the greatest mistakes of women's medicine - Hypermenorrhea and/or Menorrhagia (Prolonged and/or Excessive Menstrual Bleedings) - Hypertrichosis, Hirsutism and Androgenic Manifestations in Women - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKHauser) Syndrome - Menstrual toxin: An old name for a real thing? - Nature and the ovaries - On the Intimate, or Small-Scale, Mechanisms of Menstruation - On the Strange Nature of the Ovaries - Oral hormonal contraceptives (the "Pill") - The Ovaries: Some Functional and Archetypal Considerations - Peculiarities of the Female Genitals' Sensory Innervation - Physiology of menstruation - Polycystic ovaries syndrome - The Possibility of Becoming Pregnant, Its Implications for Women, and Abortion - Premenstrual congestion of the breasts - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - The Psychology of Gynecology part 1 (part 2) - Psychosomatic and symbolic aspects of menstruation - Psychosomatic gynecology - Some Details on the Function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovaries Axis - Stanislav Grof's Perinatal Matrixes of the Unconscious and Women's Medicine - Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals - Thoughts on Female Sexual Psychology - Uninterrupted use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual suppression: why I do not recommend it - The uterine cervix - Uterine contractility - The Uterus and the Female "Passive-Active" - Women's corporeal consciousness and experience - Women's Experience of the Breasts - Women's Undesired Pregnancies and Women's Right to Abortion and see his Art of Menstruation


Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals

Dr. Nelson Soucasaux , Brazilian gynecologist

Let's relate gynecology to some concepts of modern science as well as to metaphysics and ancient wisdom. In my book "Os Órgãos Sexuais Femininos: Forma, Função, Símbolo e Arquétipo" ("The Female Sexual Organs: Shape, Function, Symbol and Archetype") I called attention to the existence of beautiful, perfect and very curious symmetric patterns in the woman's sexual organs. I did so because a special meaning was always attributed to symmetry, mostly in the western cultural tradition. From the metaphysical point of view, it seems to reflect some of the fundamental principles and laws of nature. Fritjof Capra observes that symmetry ". . . played an important role in Greek science, philosophy and art, where it was identified with beauty, harmony and perfection." Although observing that in the eastern philosophies the concept of symmetry does not seem to be so important as in the west, Capra remarks that ". . . the mystical traditions in the Far East frequently use symmetric patterns as symbols or as meditation devices . . . ." (Capra, F.: "The Tao of Physics," Flamingo, London, 1983.)

The main pattern of symmetry found in the female genitals and pelvis is the one known as axial symmetry. This pattern can be recognized as the longitudinal middle line of the body seen at the antero-posterior position. In women, this straight longitudinal line coincides exactly with the uterus and vagina. The way through which the myometrial smooth muscle fibers are arranged along the uterus constitutes one more very peculiar aspect of this amazing symmetry. Almost all of these muscular bundles give rise to a double spiral system of "lines of force" that symmetrically entwine around the uterine cavity. They constitute two descending spirals of smooth muscle fibers, each one of them originating in one of the Fallopian tubes, that "embrace" themselves in order to form the greatest part of the myometrium (the uterine muscular layer). Only the more external layer of the uterine musculature is basically constituted by longitudinal fibers. This anatomic and histological feature of the myometrium greatly facilitates the propagation of the contractile waves along the uterus.

 
 

More evidence for the curious symmetry existing in the female genitals lies in the morphology of the uterine cavity (lined by the endometrium), which is structured according to a symmetrical triangular pattern, with the main vertex directed downward - that is, an inverted triangle (see Note below). The two superior angles of this triangle correspond to the uterine openings of the Fallopian tubes, and the inferior one to the internal orifice of the cervical canal. A vast archetypal symbolism has been attributed to some triangular shapes.

The uterus has a structural organization characterized by a virtual cavity approximating the shape of a downward-pointing triangle surrounded by a double descending spiral of muscle fibers symmetrically entwined, forming a perfect system of "lines of force." The symmetry of the triangular pattern is associated with the symmetry of the "lines of force" that surround it. This triangular visceral cavity, endowed with much symbolism, is the most central one in the female pelvis. From the metaphysical point of view, these curious symmetric patterns existing not only in the uterus but also in the entire female genitalia, allied to other anatomic and functional features of these organs, may constitute one more indication of the existence of something transcendental and mysterious in women's nature.

In the eastern tantric tradition (in which women play a very special role), one of the symbols used for representing the female principle is a downward-pointing, inverted triangle. According to Philip Rawson, this female tantric triangle represents the vulva (or yoni), which, in turn, symbolizes the woman's genitals (Rawson, P., "Tantra - The Indian Cult of Ecstasy," Thames and Hudson, London, 1973). However, except for the obvious inverted triangular configuration of the female pubic hair, the vulva itself has no resemblance at all to a triangle. Probably the downward-pointing tantric triangle that symbolizes the female may rather be an unconscious representation of the uterine cavity. As these symbols date back to very ancient times when little was known of anatomy, a possible explanation for this "coincidence" may be what I call "uterine archetypes." See my article "Archetypal Aspects of the Female Genitals," published here at the MUM.

Note: Don't forget that, since the uterus is a muscular organ, obviously the shape of its cavity is not and could not be that of a geometrically perfect triangle. What really matters is the basic triangular pattern that characterizes the morphology of the uterine cavity.

P.S.: On the subject of symmetry and spiral patterns in nature, I would like to recommend the following books: 1) Lawlor, Robert: "Sacred Geometry Philosophy and Practice," Thames and Hudson, London, 1982; 2) Cook, Theodore Andrea: "The Curves of Life," Dover Publications, New York, 1979 (originally published by Constable and Company, London, 1914).

The article above is an adapted excerpt from my book "Os Órgãos Sexuais Femininos: Forma, Função, Símbolo e Arquétipo" ("The Female Sexual Organs: Shape, Function, Symbol and Archetype"), published by Imago Editora, Rio de Janeiro, 1993. For more information on the book, see page http://www.nelsonginecologia.med.br/orgaos.htm, at my Web site www.nelsonginecologia.med.br .

Copyright Nelson Soucasaux 1993, 2003 (text and illustrations)

______________________________________________________

Nelson Soucasaux is a gynecologist dedicated to clinical, preventive and psychosomatic gynecology. Graduated in 1974 by Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he is the author of several articles published in medical journals and of the books "Novas Perspectivas em Ginecologia" ("New Perspectives in Gynecology") and "Os Órgãos Sexuais Femininos: Forma, Função, Símbolo e Arquétipo" ("The Female Sexual Organs: Shape, Function, Symbol and Archetype"), published by Imago Editora, Rio de Janeiro, 1990, 1993. He has been working in his private clinic since 1975.

Website (Portuguese-English): www.nelsonginecologia.med.br

Email: nelsons@nelsonginecologia.med.br


NEWS | homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor (olor)| pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
More articles by Dr. Soucasaux: Anatomical drawings - Anovulatory cycles - Archetypal aspects of the female genitals - The breasts: some morphological aspects - Colposcopy - Comments on the corpus luteum and related aspects - Comments on some anatomical and symbolic aspects of the female pelvis - The curious relations between androgens and estrogens in women - Drospirenone Oral Contraceptives - Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have access to modern medicinal abortion - Endocrinology of menstruation - The Fallopian tubes - Female sexual response - The Gräfenberg Spot (G-Spot) - The Gynecologic Palpation (descendant of "The Touch") - Gynecological assistance: the three basic areas - Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery - Gynecologist versus obstetrician: what lies behind the combination? - "Gyneco-obstetric-surgical" stubborness and the perpetuation of one of the greatest mistakes of women's medicine - Hypermenorrhea and/or Menorrhagia (Prolonged and/or Excessive Menstrual Bleedings) - Hypertrichosis, Hirsutism and Androgenic Manifestations in Women - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKHauser) Syndrome - Menstrual toxin: An old name for a real thing? - Nature and the ovaries - On the Intimate, or Small-Scale, Mechanisms of Menstruation - On the Strange Nature of the Ovaries - Oral hormonal contraceptives (the "Pill") - The Ovaries: Some Functional and Archetypal Considerations - Peculiarities of the Female Genitals' Sensory Innervation - Physiology of menstruation - Polycystic ovaries syndrome - The Possibility of Becoming Pregnant, Its Implications for Women, and Abortion - Premenstrual congestion of the breasts - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - The Psychology of Gynecology part 1 (part 2) - Psychosomatic and symbolic aspects of menstruation - Psychosomatic gynecology - Some Details on the Function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovaries Axis - Stanislav Grof's Perinatal Matrixes of the Unconscious and Women's Medicine - Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals - Thoughts on Female Sexual Psychology - Uninterrupted use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual suppression: why I do not recommend it - The uterine cervix - Uterine contractility - The Uterus and the Female "Passive-Active" - Women's corporeal consciousness and experience - Women's Experience of the Breasts - Women's Undesired Pregnancies and Women's Right to Abortion and see his Art of Menstruation

©2003 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org