Viva the Vulva!
Say the right V-Word!
So, here’s the thing, too many of us are saying vagina when we really mean vulva. I’m curious, what’s the name you use for ‘the private parts’ that sit between your legs? Did you know the word vagina describes our inner parts? That it connects our outer parts to the neck of our womb? According to dictionary.com, it’s: ‘the muscular tube leading from the external genitals to the cervix of the uterus in women and most female mammals’.
The word originates from the late 17th century Latin, meaning literally, ‘sheath, scabbard’. Hmm, you might wonder, a sheath or a scabbard for what? What were those male scholars thinking? They must have seen themselves (or to be more precise, their parts) as pivotal to the naming process. Perhaps, if they were religious types, they wanted to make sure that Eve’s sexual organ was named in relation to Adam’s...how thoughtful of her to provide a sheath for his trouser snake.
But I digress. Back to naming the external genitalia of a girl/woman. The correct, and far prettier name, is vulva, defined as ‘the female external genitals’. Interestingly, this word didn’t gain currency until the mid 19th century, peaking in the early 20th century, possibly coinciding with the peak of the suffragette movement. But since then, it seems to have gotten lost in translation. The word is now due for a definite revival. For a start, it’s the correct name and secondly, it’s kinder on the ear than vagina. To be honest, I don’t really like either word. ‘Vee-jayjay’ has a much better ring to it but I can’t see it taking off.
As a menstrual educator preparing 10-12 year old girls for their cycle, I usually pull out my handy dandy teaching tool when we’re talking all things vulva. This is a small velvet and satin cushion that’s pleasing to touch and nice on the eye. Basically, the vulva is everything that’s on the outside, from the urethra (where we urinate from) to the clitoris (the only organ in the body made solely for pleasure!) to the labia minora and majora (the inner and outer ‘lips’).
While some of the girls can be quite resistant to seeing this vulva shaped cushion, most harbour a curiosity and desire to know more. I hope that one day the common response will be acceptance and ease. For now, the cushion gets passed (or thrown) around, the curious holding it and looking carefully, the majority cowering from it and refusing to let it near them.
When I suggest that at some point in the future the girls get a small hand mirror and check out their own vulva they respond with an, “Ewww!!!” shocked by such a suggestion. I ask them if they’ve ever looked inside their own mouth? Most nod and say, “Sure”, so then I wonder aloud at the difference between being okay with one’s mouth but not with one’s vulva. At this moment I usually see some just perceptible, ‘Notes to self’ occurring. Then I move on to talking about difference.
As in the different shapes and sizes we inhabit. I let the girls know, in no uncertain terms, that no one vulva is the same, some labia are smaller, some larger. The same goes for the clitoris too. In the same way as our faces and body shapes are all different, so too are our vulvas. I don’t tell them about the alarming rise in ‘genital anatomy anxiety’ among teens, or the equally alarming rise in requests to GPs for labiaplasty, known euphemistically as a vaginal rejuvenation procedure. Big bucks, big porn, fashion (tight pants, sports leggings) and Brazilian waxes are the cited reasons for such a rise.
What I mainly concentrate on is getting the girls to a point of comfort with their body parts and knowledge about their cycles. If they can get to know their own bodies before adolescence hits and become familiar and at ease with all their parts, then maybe they stand a better chance at by-passing some of the more intrusive fashions and fads of our time.
As for us women, it’s time we started using the right terminology for the right bits...viva the vulva, I say!