The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina: Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Jen Gunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“It’s a vagina, not a piña colada.”
It says a lot about our culture and ingrained views that the title “The Vagina Bible” is likely to elicit more mirth and giggles than, for instance, the hypothetical “Pancreas Prayerbook”.
“There’s a lot of money in vaginal shame.”
Vagina is a body part that not only has about a billion euphemisms but also in the minds of many occupies a much larger portion than it actually does (poor vulva just doesn’t get that much recognition as a separate entity). And it is the target of countless misconceptions, misinformation and in unequal parts both shame and glorification. And so many unnecessary things (the ones that usually bring quite a bit of cash to those peddling them) are aimed at fixing what often isn’t broken — too loose, too right, too hairy, too wet, too dry, too smelly, too-whatever, or alternatively not-enough-whatever.
“The patriarchy and snake oil have had a good run, but I’m done with how they negatively affect and weaponize women’s health. So I am not going to stop swinging my bat until everyone has the tools to be an empowered patient and those who seek to subjugate women by keeping them from facts about their bodies have shut up and taken a seat in the back of class.
That’s my vagenda.”
Women are bombarded with messages to steam it, shove overpriced jade eggs into it (or sometimes garlic – I’m not even joking, GARLIC, really), deodorize it, make it smell like a flower garden, rejuvenate, purify, balance pH nonsense, etc. It’s considered “dirty” and in perpetual need of purification — and, by extension, so must be those whose body part it is (just think of all the cultures considering women impure during cycles or after childbirth).
To judge by the abundance of messages and products and clickbait articles and “helpful” advice it’s amazing to even imagine how these seemingly fragile body parts (that yet are strong enough for vaginal births) have managed to not just fall off.
“Fortunately I have the antidote. Facts.”
Jen Gunter, a gynecologist with decades of experience and a presence on social media, has a “vagenda” to destroy the false myths about vulva and vagina and to provide accurate science-based information to help women make actual empowered choices about their bodies that are based on facts and not nonsense, even if that nonsense benefits from the illusory truth effect (when misinformation is repeated over and over again until it starts seeming like the truth). She is frank and blunt and very much no-nonsense in her approach. She rallies against pseudoscience, unverified claims, patriarchy, misinformation, and people peddling “natural” cures that seem designed to enrich those peddlers. Oh, and the idea that “pure” and “natural” must be good. (Seriously, garlic in the vagina. Some think it’s good. Or parsley, which at least doesn’t sound painful – a very low standard here.)
“I call these types of interventions, like wearing cotton underwear or emptying your bladder after sex, the burden of “well, it can’t hurt”. But they truly are a burden. Every time we make a woman jump through a useless hoop to get better, we add a burden, be it financial, or emotional, or the exasperation of doing so many things and yet realizing that you are running very hard but not getting anywhere.”
It’s quite accessible, written in the conversational style with plenty of funny commentary, while still staying accurately scientific. I’d advise it to those who have a vagina and those who know someone with one. In short, everyone.
5 stars.
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