Almost anybody who's frequented a locker room has noticed the great and wonderful variety of human body types, including the genitalia. Vaginas and penises are as different as faces, hair and hands. In fact, there have been repeated attempts down through the ages-from the Hindu sages of the Indian Middle Ages to Cherokee Nation medicine men - to classify men and women according to the appearance of their genitals.

For instance, among the Cherokees, the vagina is given the lovely name tupuli, or "feathered flying serpent," and its depth and nature are thought to be related to a woman's entire sexual temperament, according to Harley Swiftdeer, author ofthe Quodoushka Manual. The Cherokees describe five different female genital anatomy types and five male types. Dancing Woman, for instance, has a vagina of average depth, small labial lips, a clitoris that is tiny and very high (three to four fingers above the vaginal opening) and that pops out easily from beneath its hood. Such a woman, the Cherokees say, prefers a Coyote Man, whose penis (otherwise known as a tipili, or "sacred snake") tends to be quite short and thin. Sheep Woman, by contrast, has a deeper vagina, larger, thicker lips and a lower, more hooded clitoris; she tends to lubricate copiously and cannot seem to reach orgasm unless she has some heart connection to her partner. She, too, prefers Coyote Man (that lucky dog).

Such teachings, fanciful as they may seem, simply underscore a great truth about human sexuality: Our bodies, and our sexuality, are an expression of our uniqueness, and there's no "right" or '''.vrong'' about it.