In humans, the visible button-like portion is near the front junction of the labia minora ( inner lips ), above the opening of the urethra.

The labia majora constitute the lateral boundaries of the pudendal cleft, which contains the labia minora, interlabial sulci, clitoral hood, clitoral glans, frenulum clitoridis, the Hart's Line, and the vulval vestibule, which contains the external openings of the urethra and the vagina.

Between the labia majora and labia minora are the interlabial sulci.

On the opposed surfaces of the labia minora are numerous sebaceous glands not associated with hair follicles.

Infibulation is the surgical modification or mutilation of the genitals in males and females, particularly the foreskin, labia minora and labia majora.

Female infibulation, known as Type III female genital mutilation ( FGM )— and in some African countries as " pharaonic circumcision "— is the removal of the labia minora ( inner lips ) and labia majora ( outer lips ).

In males, smegma is produced and can collect under the foreskin ; in females, it collects around the clitoris and in the folds of the labia minora.

It develops as part of the labia minora and is homologous with the foreskin ( equally called prepuce ) in male genitals.

* Vulvular tissue: In females, genital frenula include the frenulum clitoridis of the clitoris and the frenulum labiorum pudendi ( aka fourchette ) where the labia minora meet at the back.

In humans, the mons pubis divides into the labia majora ( literally " larger lips ") on either side of the furrow, known as the pudendal cleft, that surrounds the labia minora, clitoris, vaginal opening, and other structures of the vulval vestibule.

Fusion of the labia minora can also occur.

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The labia majora ( singular: labium majus ) are two prominent longitudinal cutaneous folds that extend downward and backward from the mons pubis to the perineum.

The size, the shape, and the skin coloration of the labia minora vary according to the woman, thus, like most paired structures of the human body, the labia are not anatomically symmetrical — one labium minus ( minor lip ) usually is greater ( longer, wider, thicker ) than its pair — yet the asymmetry usually is not notable.

Labial hypertrophy can be caused by the mechanical stresses inherent to the cultural practice of genital piercing, the bearing of relatively heavy-weight metal ornaments attached through the perforated labium or labia, which is medically notable because bearing weight is not a usual anatomic function of the labia minora.

The main three are Type I, removal of the clitoral hood, almost invariably accompanied by removal of the clitoris itself ( clitoridectomy ); Type II, removal of the clitoris and inner labia ; and Type III ( infibulation ), removal of all or part of the inner and outer labia, and usually the clitoris, and the fusion of the wound, leaving a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual blood — the fused wound is opened for intercourse and childbirth.

These range from a symbolic pricking or piercing of the clitoris or labia, to cauterization of the clitoris, cutting into the vagina to widen it ( gishiri cutting ), and introducing corrosive substances to tighten it.

** Labium ( genitalia ), the external female genitalia, consisting of the labia minora and labia majora

These incluse the mons pubis, the clitoris ( including the clitoral hood ), the ( inner and outer ) labia and the vulval vestibule ( which is the area surrounding the vaginal opening ).

If the patient has been circumcised ( removal of the foreskin ), or if the surgeon's technique uses more skin in the formation of the labia minora, the pubic hair follicles are removed from some of the scrotal tissue, which is then incorporated by the surgeon within the vagina.

To create the vaginal lining, the buccal mucosa tissue graft is micro-perforated to allow shaping it to a larger size of greater area ( surface ); it then is formed upon a stent, and afterwards affixed to the vaginal space ( created earlier in the operation ), with its edge sutured to the minor labia and to the perineal skin.

Applying a flap technique ( first used by Sir Harold Gillies in 1951 ), the spongiform erectile tissue of the penis is removed, and the skin, with its nerves and vascular system ( blood supply ) still attached, is used to create a vestibule area and labia minora, which then are inverted into the neovaginal cavity created in the pelvic tissue.

According to the British zoologist, Desmond Morris ( The Naked Ape, 1967 ), the widespread practice of enhancing the red colour of the lips was due to a biological analogy with the labia, because these flush red and swell when women are aroused.

Labial hypertrophy: the standing and supine pre-operative aspects ( left ), and the like post-operative aspects ( right ) of a labia minora and clitoral prepuce reduction procedure.

While there are no formal medical definitions of labia minora hypertrophy ( e. g. length, width, girth ), labiaplasty alters the condition wherein a woman presents labia minora that are disproportionately greater than her labia majora ; the labioplastic alteration of the proportions creates less asymmetrical labia minora that are aesthetically satisfactory to the women who undergo the procedure.

The labia minora consist of two ( 2 ) connective folds of flesh that contain some adipose tissue ; at the front and upper portions of the Vulva ( vulva ), the labia minora divide into two parts.

The first part passes over the clitoris, and forms the prepuce of the clitoris ( clitoral hood ); the second part of the labia minora joins beneath the clitoris and forms the fourchette ( labial frenulum ), a transverse fold of tissue that occasionally unites the labia minora to the labia majora at their posterior extensions.

Instead, part or all of the glans is usually kept and reshaped as a clitoris, while the skin of the penile shaft may also be inverted to form the vagina ( some more recently-developed procedures, such as that used by Dr. Suporn Watanyusakul use the scrotum to form the vaginal walls, and the skin of the penile shaft to form the labia majora ).

Male infibulation is now usually performed as genital modification, but it can also refer to self-torture, such as piercing one's nipples, labia, clitoris, scrotum or penis with sharp objects for pleasure.

A crotch rope ( also known as Matanawa or Sakura in Japanese bondage ) is a bondage technique which involves the tying of rope around a woman's waist which is then passed between the labia to apply painful or pleasurable pressure to the female genitals.

Other accounts suggest that the labia were also removed, making it a form of Female circumcision.

However, tissue that is devoid of or otherwise lacking erectile tissue ( such as the labia minora, the vestibule / vagina and the urethra ) may also engorge with blood, often during sexual arousal.

Other areas such as the labia minora, perineal area, and inner thighs may also be involved.

The Frenulum clitoridis ( also known as the Crus glandis clitoridis ) is a frenulum on the under-surface of the clitoral glans, created by the two medial parts of the labia minora.

A teddy, also called a camiknicker, is a garment which covers a female's torso and vaginal labia in the one garment.

The labia and the rest of the genitals are also stimulated by massage and fingering.

Labiaplasty ( also labioplasty ) is a plastic surgery procedure for altering the labia minora and the labia majora, the paired tissue structures bounding the vestibule of the vulva.

Furthermore, oversized labia minora can also be a genetically inherited anatomical feature of the woman ’ s vulva.

Ana Matronic ran a weekly cabaret event known as Knock Off at a club called the Slipper Room in New York, where she liked to hire eccentric and alternative acts ; one reporter described it as a place that " served up a racy, multigender revue of kitsch ," and that a performer dressed as a giant vagina " enfolded me with her labia while singing " Lick Me in My Wet Spot " to the tune of " Hit Me With Your Best Shot ".

It is often accompanied by the formation known as elongated labia ( labia minora that may extend as much as 4 inches outside the vulva ).

Type II, often called excision, is partial or total removal of the clitoris and the inner labia or outer labia.

Type IIa is removal of the inner labia only ; Type IIb, partial or total removal of the clitoris and the inner labia ; and Type IIc, partial or total removal of the clitoris, and the inner and outer labia.

The inner and outer labia are cut away, with or without excision of the clitoris.

Basic Books, 2001, pp. 187 – 207 ; see p. 191 for the description: A French doctor, Jacques Lantier, who attended an FGM procedure in Somalia in the 1970s described how the inner and outer labia were separated and attached to each thigh using large thorns.

Between the labia majora and the inner thighs are the labiocrural folds.