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Vagina's Appearance
Q from a Female, freshman at the University of
Buffalo: wants to know…My friend says she
feel shy about the way her vagina looks. What
should she do?
Dr. Caron's Answer: Join the club. There
are many women who are a bit uncomfortable about
the way their vulva/vagina looks. Unfortunately,
many little girls gather negative messages about
their bodies. Starting in early childhood they are
taught that touching their genitals is “not
nice” or ‘dirty,” a message that is
reinforced during toilet training when the little
girl is told to “wipe carefully” and
“clean yourself up.” Little girls absorb
the social message that their female genitals are
ugly and unclean. Menstruation reinforces this
message with “sanitary napkins” and
embarrassed secrecy. Later, young women are urged
to buy unnecessary vaginal sprays and douches to
hide odors. Such sprays can be potentially
irritating, and frequent douching can be harmful
because it upsets the vagina’s natural
chemical balance, thus increasing susceptibility to
infections. Finally, given the taboo about touching
and looking, many women have not taken a look at
their own genitals and cannot accurately describe
their own anatomy. A place for this woman to start
is with a mirror and a basic drawing of her anatomy
(see any anatomy/human sexuality text). By becoming
familiar with herself, hopefully she can learn to
see the beauty in this part of her body..
© 2007, Sandra L.
Caron
* * *
It is not sex that gives the pleasure, but the
lover. - Marge Piercy
American teens have the worst of all
worlds...Our children are bombarded and confronted
with sexual messages, sexual exploitation, and all
manner of sexual criticism. But our society is by
and large sexually illiterate. Faye Westheimer
Dr. Sandra L.
Caron is a professor of human sexuality at the
University of Maine. To submit a question to Dr.
Caron or chat with your peers visit
www.CollegeSexTalk.com
Got a question for Dr. Caron? Visit
www.collegesextalk.com/questions.htm
and ask away! Get a guaranteed personal and
confidential response to your question:
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