Читать книгу The sexual life of woman in its physiological, pathological and hygienic aspects - E. Heinrich Kisch - Страница 15

The female reproductive organs, which in childhood were in a comparatively quiescent state, now become powerfully active, as is witnessed by the changes that occur in the external genitals.

The soft, hairless vulva of the child becomes enlarged at the time of the menarche by the deposit of fat, and its substance becomes tough and elastic. Some time before puberty, fine, pale hairs make their appearance here and there, but not until puberty does the hairy covering of the pubic region become more or less thick. The growth of the denser pubic hair begins with the appearance of hairs along the middle of the mons Veneris and at the margins of the labia majora. Early sexual development is commonly indicated by an early and thick growth of the pubic hair. In the virgin this hair is smoother and less curly than in the later course of the sexual life. In certain tribes of negroes it is the custom for the young unmarried girls to shave off the pubic hair, which is not allowed to grow freely until after marriage. In some of the tribes of South Sea Islanders it is customary at puberty to tattoo the external genitals and the surrounding skin.