Tribes and Heritage of African Labia Stretching

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Unfortunately, this accurate account was lost in the sense of being overlooked for a very long time and various inaccurate descriptions were more prevalent. The most common account was that the Hottentot women let their skin their genitalia and didn’t really need them to cover the tiny bits. There were also pictures of Hottentot women where one could see a semi-circular bit of skin hanging down and covering the external genitalia.

This is what gave rise to the word ‘apron’ to refer to the skin that hid the genitals.  In 1771, Captain James Cook took the opportunity to explore further while returning home and looking for the answers to questions that were on everybody’s minds…did these women really have fleshy flaps to help them hide their external genitals? Or was it all just a rumor of the travelers trying to add mystery and spice to make their stories of journey exciting?

To help the cause, there was a local physician who mentioned that he had examined many Hottentot women and had never seen one with the appendages that were under question. He went on to mention that these appendages could vary in size and shape and he had seen a variety of them. These appendages seemed to hang before the Peudendum and could vary from half an inch to three to four inches in length.

The first proper investigation of this story was conducted in 1800 via an indirect expedition that was sent out by the French government. It was quite an ill-fated expedition and in the end, only two of the zoologists of all that had set out managed to stay on till the end. These zoologists, Peron and Lesueur, extensively studied the anatomies of these women to truly understand what was going on. Unfortunately, their detailed account was not allowed for publication as it was deemed unfit to tell the public that there was a possibility that something quite resembling a penis could extend from the vulva.

The elongated object that resembled a penis was in fact the extended labia minora and was shaped in a manner to look like a single organ. However, when the woman would lie down and the object pried separately, it would be clear that this was the labia minora and the entire visual was very different. This is what could have been the obstacle in proving the trueness of the practice as it was considered that the sample used by the zoologists was either those of women who were not normal, or they had made some big mistake in their conclusions. A lot of similar work at the time was regarded as inconclusive and incorrect and the true answer to the question was once again lost.

The investigation, however, had not come to a complete halt. Many women from these tribes had started showing up in the more civilized parts of the world due to slavery becoming more and more demanded. One of the most important people who helped understand the true practice in the African cultures was the Hottentot Venus who at the time also happened to come to civilization and was explored to find the answers that couldn’t be answered before.