Why Are Vaginas Scary?

Forget the Big Bad Wolf, who’s afraid of vaginas? Society definitely is. And this underlying fear translates into shame and guilt. It affects so many areas of women’s lives, as vaginas are considered taboo and inherently sexualised to the point where a person who has one can’t even feel comfortable in their own body*. Breaking it down:

How are vaginas treated negatively?

Well firstly, there’s a huge amount of misinformation and ignorance about basic female anatomy. Contrary to popular belief, when we say “vagina” we usually actually mean the vulva, which is basically the part you can see including the labia major and minor. The vagina is the internal organ like a tube which leads from the opening up to the cervix – the entrance to the uterus. It may seem like anatomy-student-nit-picking, but the fact that so few people can get the basic details right about vaginas is pretty significant when considering how we treat their place in society. It becomes easier for people to alienate vaginas and spread harmful rumours about how to clean or pleasure one purely out of ignorance. The huge sense of the “unknown” about vaginas similarly creates a plethora of taboos, as this same ignorance leads to non acceptance of conversation or education about female sexual organs.

The most potent one in our society is the taboo on female masturbation. Daily banter can enjoy the freedom and approval we have placed on male masturbation, with endless jokes and crude gestures considered perfectly normal. Sure, it’s not exactly a family dinner topic of conversation, but it’s not “weird” or “abnormal”. Let’s flip over to the female equivalent. Society simply does not encourage or accept any talk of female masturbation, and in fact has not even advanced to let it become a joke. It is literally 100% not talked about in a normal context. The majority of women will not admit they masturbate, even though well over 90% of women in Western society do. If you type “female masturbation” into Google, the top hits are all sites/articles aimed at letting women know that masturbation is healthy and normal, because the status quo dissuades and shames women who masturbate, and there’s such little education on the reality of its importance to basic health. Though to a lesser extent, menstruation is also silenced in society. Although women can feel relatively comfortable buying feminine hygiene products or requesting time-off due to period related pain or discomfort, there is still a strong element of taboo. Men generally cannot handle conversation about periods; they become extremely uncomfortable and usually attempt to change the topic. This is through no fault of their own but rather a secretive attitude towards education on menstruation, where girls are taught the bare minimum and boys learn almost nothing at all. And of course we can’t go without mentioning the tax on tampons… need I say more?

Alright, massive information dump over, let’s analyse this. Why is it that anything to do with vaginas, be it anatomy 101, normal bodily functions or sexual habits, is treated with such disgust and secrecy?

In a world where women’s sexuality is controlled and suppressed by the patriarchal norm (click here for a deeper analysis of this premise), women cannot have ownership over their sexual organs. Vaginas are not able to be considered just another body part, because they are intrinsically linked with female pleasure; an entity which has historically not been allowed power or privilege in society. (Fun fact: in medieval times, husbands would literally lock their wives' vaginas in metal chastity belts when they went away to ensure fidelity. The women usually died of infection. Male ownership of female sexuality has been around for quite a long time…) This results in vaginas existing in a strict dichotomy: they are either inherently sexual, or disgusting and repulsive.

Young girls are not encouraged to explore their bodies, and are told not to look at or touch their vaginas because they are “private parts”, which apparently are also off limits to the owner. Having been taught for so many years that their vaginas should be ignored, and that interaction with your body is “gross”, it is no wonder young girls feel ashamed when they first get their periods. Menstruation forces women to acknowledge their vaginas and interact with them, despite being conditioned to believe that this is something extremely sexual. Moreover, that sexual element is only ever portrayed in a negative light, as women are not taught how to claim ownership over their sexuality. So of course women do not feel like they have a right to masturbation, as female power over their own pleasure is not a concept emphasised by society, which prefers to characterise a penis as the only way a woman can experience pleasure. This creates an apparent dependence on men for sex, reinforcing the “weakness” of women, and power of men.

Yeah, it’s pretty convoluted.

It’s important to understand the double standard society holds when it comes to sexual organs. Penises are respected in society as integral to pleasure and empowerment, while vaginas exist in a separate universe of misinformation and suppression. Subduing female sexuality has pretty bad health consequences, but also reinforces subsequent ideas about power and autonomy. In fact the whole concept that women are the “weaker sex” stems from a patriarchal understanding of female sexuality.

I suppose the real message is that vaginas are not innately sexual. They are a functioning organ in the female reproductive system that serves multiple functions, none of which are “gross” or “disgusting”. The vagina should be able to exist in a context of normality; able to represent female empowerment and pleasure, blood and pain, and everything that exists in the middle.

Comment below :)

Hannah

*Not everyone with a vagina is a woman/female, and not everyone who is a woman/female has a vagina