Why Ew? And Other Notes on THE CLITORIS

"Yes, there is an on-line 'literary' magazine called (wait for it) 'Cliterature'. #fortheloveofgodkillme :( Ew!"

"Why ew?"

"I find the name distasteful."

"Why did you call our magazine "literary" with quotation marks? Does your distaste of the name question our quality?"

"Look, I didn't even tweet it to you, and in light of what happened today, what does it matter. Everyone has a right to their opinion." [Editor's Note: This conversation happened to occur on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing.]

"Just trying to learn more about your opinion, that's all."

"Sigh. It's just that 'clit' has been used in such a demeaning way. That's what bothered me, and from reading more about your magazine, it doesn't sound like it's pornographic at all."

"Thanks for sharing more. We do appreciate it."

Two months later, this Twitter conversation is still on my mind, for many reasons.
1. Clitoris is the scientific, medical term for a part of women's anatomy. No one expresses disgust or accuses anyone of being distasteful when words like penis, scrotum, or testicles.
2. Because of the name, and therefore the subject of Cliterature, someone passed judgement on the quality of a literary magazine without bothering to check out the website first. Once that did happen, it was admitted that it didn't "sound like pornography at all."

For the record, the clitoris contains over 8,000 nerve fibers (twice found on the head of a penis) and is the only body part (male or female) purely intended for pleasure. As Eve Ensler pointed out, "Who needs a handgun when you have a semi-automatic?"

So where, among the natural pleasure and power of the clitoris, does this "ew" belong? I am left to conclude: nowhere.

It was because of this conversation that I decided the theme of Cliterature's 29th volume would be THE CLITORIS. Let us reclaim the word and the body part and expunge the "ew" from the discourse.