There are far too many questions we have about puberty, sex, sexuality, and the general ins and outs of growing up, that just aren’t answered by school sexual education programmes.
One of those questions for a lot of people is, ‘is my vagina normal?’
This is a common insecurity that is born out of a lack of knowledge about our changing bodies, combined with western society’s idealisation of a specific type of vulva (the outer part of the vagina). Whether it’s in porn or an (impractical) swimsuit advertisement, when we see vag in the media it is usually slit-like with hardly any or no labia in sight.
But in reality, there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ looking vulva. The vulva includes the inner lips (labia minora) and outer lips (labia majora), the clitoris, and the vaginal opening, and there is so much variety in the size, shape, colour and details from person to person.
That is something that should be made clear to us from a young age. That should be something that we learn in early school sexual education to proactively avoid the insecurities that so many people develop about their own, perfectly perfect, genitals.
But since the vast majority did not (or will not) cover this in school, there is luckily this amazing thing called The Labia Library, that is the answer to all your vulva-related fears and questions. The site has a photo gallery to show just how different your bits can look, while still being absolutely ordinary.
Labia Library also directly addresses the hot topics like: Are my labia normal?, Hair removal, What you see in magazines and pornography, and, Thinking about cosmetic surgery?
The platform is run by not-for-profit organisation Women’s Health Victoria and it’s a great resource to inform people about genital diversity.
Women come in all shapes and sizes. Jamie McCartney wanted to get the word out: If more women knew what healthy labia looked like, then perhaps more women would be less likely go under the knife for unnecessary labiaplasties. pic.twitter.com/YESMRKMuNE
— Literature_Lady, PhD (@Literature_Lady) February 22, 2019
The need to tackle the lack of knowledge and over-abundance of insecurities in relation to what constitutes a ‘normal’ vulva is urgent. More than half of Aussie GPs surveyed in 2016 reported being consulted by women and girls wanting genital cosmetic surgery.
There are a lot of people seeking out cosmetic surgery – most commonly a labiaplasty to reduce the labia minora or a procedure to reduce the clitoral hood – all to try to fit in with what is seen as ‘ideal’ and ‘normal’. And there are a lot of cosmetic surgery practices capitalising on the existing insecurities to attract that business.
In Lifehacker’s analysis of online advertising for labiaplasty they cite the use of misinformation and language that preys on the psychological vulnerabilities of those seeking out these procedures. Between unevidenced claims about labiaplasty improving hygiene and manipulative claims about it increasing attractiveness, advertising also often leaves out crucial information like the potential loss of sensation or the harmful effects of scarring.
“In some western countries, women undergo labiaplasty. The underlying problem is women thinking their genitalia needs to be aesthetically pleasing. @RFSU in Sweden even did a campaign to document the diversity of female genitalia to promote #bodypositivity” –@SivananthiT #EndFGM
— ARROW (@ARROW_Women) February 15, 2019
Feeling ashamed, insecure and uninformed about genitalia is a direct consequence of insufficiency in the education system. We need to proactively combat that by telling kids how different genitals can look. And that means throwing away the sexualisation of genitals for a hot minute and actually showing young people the reality of that aesthetic diversity.
It’s a comfort that will make a huge difference in the long run.