Do you consider your genitals something of wonder, awe and beauty, or do you think they put the “ugly” in the phrase “bumping uglies”?
Eve Ensler's play and book, The Vagina Monologues, can help any woman who has ever felt self-conscious about her genitals, or has ever worried that she was the “only one” without picture-perfect genitalia. Eve writes, "I was worried about my own vagina. It needed a context, a community, a culture of other vaginas. There is so much darkness and secrecy surrounding them, like the Bermuda Triangle, nobody ever reports back from there."
Let's shine some light on the “darkness” that is women's vulvas, labias and vaginas.
Women's genitals are usually collectively referred to as "vaginas", and this is incorrect. The outside vaginal opening (orifice) and inside vagina (vaginal canal) are only one part of a woman's external genitalia. The correct term is "vulva", and includes all the external genitalia: the mons pubis, labia minora, labia majora, clitoris, vaginal opening (not vaginal canal), vestibule and the perineum.
Just as it is normal to have variations in every individual face, variations in genital appearance are normal and expected. "If you get too caught up on what they [genitals] look like, you'll miss out on the good feelings they bring you or your sexual partner. If you or your partner are totally freaked out about seeing labia or having them seen (or other body parts), that can be a good hint that you're moving too fast." (Source: Scarlateen).
Your Vagina:
- Feel: Inside, your vagina is bumpy, similar to the roof of your mouth. This is called "vaginal rugae", and helps your vaginal canal to expand. Your vaginal canal is three to seven inches long (average is three to four inches), and during sexual excitement, the upper portion elongates (to an average of five to seven inches) by forcing the cervix and uterus to move upward.
- Little Known Vagina Fact: Your vagina is not the Grand Canyon; it is not a wide, open space so often depicted in medical illustrations. Actually, your vaginal walls gently touch each other when something is not inside, and conforms objects placed inside (like a tampon, penis, finger, or speculum).
Your Labia:
- Feel: Your outer labia (labia majora) often has pubic hair, and can feel “fatty” or thick, as they help protect the inner labia and provide some cushion during sex.
The inner labia (labia minora) are usually moist (depending on the timing of your cycle), and you may feel small pimple-like bumps (from glands), as well as some areas that are smooth. - Color: Pink, red, purple, peach, burgundy, dark brown....all of these colors are considered normal. It is important to know what your specific normal color is, as well as to track the various color changes that are normal for you through your cycle.
- Size & shape: Labia are all different sizes, shapes and textures, and can vary from woman-to-woman. There is no one “look” of labia that is more sexually appealing.
- Little Known Labia Facts: Most labias are not perfectly symmetrical (as so often illustrated in medical drawings). Some women's labia minora are slightly longer than the labia majora; the inner “lips” are not always hidden underneath the outer “lips”.
Your Vulva:
Illustration (without any pubic hair on the mons or labia majora): Vulva
- The Mons Pubis: is the “mound” of soft, fatty tissue that you see when you look down, where the pubic hair begins.
- Labia: These are known as the “lips”; the folds of skin that frame the vaginal opening.
- Clitoris: The “nerve center”, made of same erectile tissue as the penis. Located where the inner labia meet at the top, underneath the clitoral hood.
- Vaginal Opening: Called the "vaginal orifice".
- Vestibule: Area between your inner labia and contains the orifices of your urethra and vagina. Your body has numerous vestibules (definition: a cavity or channel that leads to an entrance to another cavity), including your inner ear and part of your mouth outside the teeth and gums.
- Perineum: Located between the vaginal opening and anus.
- Little Known Vulva Fact: The perineum is also referred to as the "taint", as in, "it ain't the vagina or anus"! (Source: Our Bodies Ourselves).
Helpful Sexual Tip: If you occasionally experience discomfort during intercourse from your partner's penis "hitting into something", it may be your cervix that is being bumped, and a sign that you are not sexually aroused enough. Try adding more foreplay into your sexual repertoire, as your vagina elongates and cervix ascends when sexually excited.
Tell Us:
If Eve Ensler were to interview you for her book, and ask your feelings and thoughts about your vulva or vagina...what would you say?