The V Book - V Notes and V Voices

VVOICE - Donna
"I had absolutely no idea that it wasn't supposed to hurt there."
—Donna, 28, when I showed her the vestibule and the painful places

VNOTE - Size doesn’t matter
Vaginal size, anyway. Thanks to the accordion-style folds of skin in its walls, any woman’s vagina can accommodate any size penis, no matter how large. Vaginas can also accommodate a baby of any size during childbirth. (Narrow pelvic bones, or a pelvic structure that is too small for the baby, are the reasons some women have trouble giving birth vaginally—not a too-small vagina.) Nor has vaginal size been found to be a cause of painful intercourse.

VOICE - Celine
“I’ve had this awful discharge for two years. It stains my underwear and causes itching and irritation. Sex hurts. My gynecologist found lots of white blood cells in the vaginal fluid and treated me for trich. I found out that’s something you get by having sex. Harvey and I have been married for forty years! And anyway, the drug the doctor gave me, Flagyl, did nothing! Do I still have trich? Is it possible Harvey has been seeing someone else? Why doesn’t this clear up? What’s the matter with me?”
—Celine, 64, who in fact never had trich; she had desquamative inflammatory vaginitis

VNOTE - Peachy Keen
The peach has often represented the female genitals. In Chinese symbolism, a peach blossom meant a virgin, while the ripe fruit represented a mature woman.

VOICE - Names Women Give Their V's
“Toidy”
“Toot”
“My privates”
“My parts”
“My bottom—no need to be more specific, is there?”
“The poogy”
“My all-through, because it goes all the way from the front to the back of me”
“Nether regions”
“Downtown”
“Down under”
“There” (as in “Don’t touch there” or “Wash your there”)
“Weenus”
“My pootney”
“See you next Tuesday”
“Miss Muffet”
“Snuffy”
“Snoochy”

VOICE - Christina Camphausen
“I think it is a pity that so many women remain who feel uncomfortable and ashamed about their yoni. Some women even think that this most intimate part of them is actually strange, ugly, or even abnormal (size of labia, clitoris, etc.). I, personally, experienced it as a form of inner healing once I learned to look at my yoni as a very beautiful, important, and intimate part of my body. Knowing that other women often struggle with similar misconceptions, I’m very glad to be able to show the flowery beauty of the yoni in a manner that is not pornographic but rather empowering.”

—artist Christina Camphausen

VNOTE - Clitistics

The clitoris is fully formed in a fetus by the twenty-seventh week of gestation.
The size of one’s clitoris has nothing to do with sexual response.
As many as eight thousand nerve endings sensitive to touch congregate here, more than any other body part (and that’s double the number in the penis).
Two pipelines of blood vessels run along either side of the clitoris, with the glans forming a cap at the top.
An aroused clitoral glans swells to twice its usual size.

VNOTE: How dry I’m not
It’s a myth that stained underwear is a sign of a problem. Depending on the time of your menstrual cycle, perfectly ordinary secretions may cause stains or wetness.

VOICE - Jessica
"I never thought about what my vagina was, or what it looked like. I didn’t even really understand whether my urine came through the vagina or where the menstrual flow came from. I don’t think girls grow up with a picture of their insides in their heads—and I sure didn’t look."
"Even now that I have a baby, I don’t feel like I know everything I should. For instance, when I was pregnant, I read about ‘the birth canal’ but at first I didn’t even realize that it was the same thing as the vagina. That might sound dumb, especially coming from someone who has given birth, but there are a lot of euphemisms out there. Even in books about pregnancy. I mean, why do they call it a birth canal when they really mean vagina?"
—Jessica, 30

VNOTE - Quick! Get me a Fax
Early tampon brands included Fibs, Fax, Wix, Slim-pax, Nunap, and Holly-Pax.

VOICE - Betty Dodson
"Masturbation is a way for all of us to learn about sexual response. It’s an opportunity for us to explore our bodies and minds for all those sexual secrets we’ve been taught to hide, even from ourselves. What better way to learn about pleasure and being sexually creative? We don’t have to perform or meet anyone else’s standards, to satisfy the needs of a partner, or to fear criticism or rejection for failure. Sexual skills are like any other skills; they’re not magically inherited, they have to be learned.”
—Betty Dodson, Ph.D., sex therapist and educator

VNOTE - Leave the evidence
If you are going to see a clinician about an odor problem, don’t take any medications, use any products, wash, or douche before the visit. It may feel difficult to have a pelvic examination while feeling unclean, but you’re putting the clinician at a big disadvantage if he/she can’t even detect the symptom.

VOICE - Rosemarie
“No one talks about these things. You feel very alone, like no one has your problem.”
—Rosemarie, 43, who has long-term itching

VOICE - Faith
“I’m not having much sex these days because I can’t seem to achieve vaginal harmony. Something’s always wrong. First it’s discharge. Then it’s odor. Then my period comes for two weeks. Can you give me a new vagina?”
—Faith, 35

VNOTE - Warning signs of a mediocre gyn

Diagnoses freely over the phone to “save you the trouble” of coming in
Suggests first trying OTC antiyeast cream every time you have a complaint
Doesn’t explain what’s happening during an exam
Doesn’t ask you questions or doesn’t listen to your answers
Doesn’t want to hear your opinions because he/she is the expert
Is hard to reach (whether you have a question or need emergency care)
Seems disorganized - (doesn’t always know which tests you’ve had when; doesn’t follow through to inform you about test results)
Frowns on second opinions
Doesn’t use microscope; uses routine bacterial cultures of vagina

VNOTE - Sex toy?
The vaginal speculum was thought capable of stimulating orgasm in women, and by the end of the nineteenth century it was controversial as a medical instrument. Elaborate tales were told of women and girls lusting after vaginal examination and climaxing on the examining table the minute the speculum was inserted!

VOICE - Joyce
“You know, I know my doctor takes a Pap smear during my checkups but I have no idea what it’s for. I kind of take it for granted and hope that I don’t hear any more about it afterward.”
—Joyce, 32

VNOTE - Food fads
If only you could solve yeast problems simply by reforming your diet! Unfortunately, neither a low-carbohydrate diet, a yeast-product-elimination diet, or a yogurt-rich diet has been found to cure yeast infections.

VOICE - Tokeshana
“You know what it smells like when someone takes off his shoes and has bad foot odor? Well, I feel like I smell like that all the time!”
—Tokeshana, 32, who’s been battling BV for a year

VOICE - Lola
“The itching is merciless. Poison ivy would be a relief.”
—Lola, 66, who has lichen sclerosus

VNOTE - What do sex and vulvar self-exams have in common?
Regular checks, including regular gyn exams, can help you spot potential problems early—before they wreak havoc in your bedroom.

VOICE - Maria
“I haven’t had a Pap test in years. When I was having my children, of course, I saw my ob-gyn a lot. But after my kids were born, who has the time? Besides, I have felt healthy. But when I learned that the kind of cancer that the Pap test screens for is so slow-growing, I got to thinking that maybe I shouldn’t be so cavalier. Better safe than sorry, as they say.”
—Maria, 62

VNOTE - Why no VSE?
While regular breast self-exam (BSE) has become a standard component of women’s health, vulvar self-exam needs to catch on. You probably won’t find cancer, but you might find something else that needs attention. Become familiar with what your healthy vulva looks like and be alert to any possible changes, such as bumps or raised areas, color changes, or rashes (whether or not you feel other symptoms). Then you can point out any change to your doctor. So next time you do BSE, make a quick detour farther south as well. Tell your mother and grandmother that they need to do it too!