Michael Smith wrote:
>
> That was sorta my point: the way the question was originally
> framed made the implicit presupposition that there's something
> puzzling or odd about the placement of the clitoris. It's like asking
> why your navel is where it is.
The section of Gould's Structure of Evolutionary Theory which is most difficult for the non-specialist to follow is probably central to this discussion. I never could really grasp his discussion of HOX genes, but what I vaguely gathered is that many, perhaps most, of the traits which define us go back to events hundreds of millions of years before the appearance of vertebrates/ let alone vaginas. You can get an inkling at least of this by reading his many earler 'popular' essays dealing with size, which also help make clear what he and Lewontin labelled "spandrels."
Carrol