When I took Health class in high school, we literally spent two days on the sex and reproduction unit. TWO DAYS. Out of an entire semester. My teacher, one of the basketball coaches and all-around “cool” guy, put it off until the very end of the semester, probably because he was nervous to talk about all that “down there” stuff with a bunch of giggly, developing, sexually frustrated high school students. We had no candid discussion about sex, birth control, or male and female anatomy, which was fine to my awkward high school self (“OMG guyz, talking about sex is so awkward and embarrassing!”). But I have realized over the past few years that I made it through puberty, my first sexual encounters, and even my first couple years of college without knowing much of anything about my vagina. Which is really unfortunate because vaginas are awesome.
Because of my own enlightenment regarding vaginas, I want to share with you, my wonderful readers, some of the interesting and important things we, as females, should know about our vaginas but that no one really ever talks about.
“Vagina” comes from the Latin work for “sheath”. As in for a sword. The ancients were so clever. Other names for your lovely little love flower include pussy, pink taco, beaver, love canal, coochie, twat, vajayjay, panty hamster, the Notorious V.A.G, and cunt.
Your vagina is a self-cleaning organ. That’s right, it cleans itself. You should not wash inside of it with any kind of soap, or even water. Doing so can disrupt your vagina’s natural bacterial levels, which can lead to bacterial vaginosis (BV), an extremely common (not scary) condition which is associated with heavy, thick discharge and a “fishy” odor. So ladies, just let you vag do its thing- it thrives on its own!
Vaginas are super stretchy! The average vagina is just 2-3 inches wide and 3 inches long when it is not aroused, but it can grow up to 200% during sex (wut) and for birth (obvi). So if you are blessed enough to have a boyfriend who is hung like a horse, fear not! It may just take a little extra stretching (foreplay!) before you can fit it in.
Your vagina is a pleasure center. The clitoris contains 8,000 nerve endings, which is double the number found in the average male penis, so it is incredibly sensitive, which means it can provide a ton of pleasure! In fact, many women can only orgasm from clitoral stimulation, not penetration, so manual stimulation before and during sex is really important. The G-spot, another female pleasure-mobile, is reportedly located on the front (tummy side) wall of the vagina. Some scientists claim that there is a separate patch of nerve endings at the G-spot location, while others claim that it is actually a “deep” clitoral pleasure, as the G-spot is located kind of above the clitoris. Still others claim that it is completely fictional and have found no anatomical evidence to prove its existence (BOO!).
Vaginas are majestic and are capable of so much. I hope this article will inspire some of you investigate vaginas and all of their coolness a bit more! I also hope you all appreciate that about half of the baseball team walked by me while my internet was open to a page proudly proclaiming, in big, hot pink letters that “VAGINAS ARE THE BEST!” My web history right now is fantastic.
Stay sexy, St. Olaf!
H.