Vagina Monologue

. If girls can’t even name their own body parts, how are they supposed to become empowered at a young age? If girls are embarrassed by their “private parts” then maybe this embarrassment and lack of pride will extend towards their speech and behavior. If girls feel that their vulvas are ugly and should be subjects of curse words, then perhaps they will keep feeling unsure of themselves and not challenge the patriarchal system that created these words.

In high school, there were plenty of new names for it—pussy, cunt, beaver, twat, etc. Hmmm, sounds better than twat, don’t you think? Vulva is the best term I’ve heard so far. There are no other parts of the female “reproductive system” (as it was lovingly called)—no clitoris, no lips, no nothing. Why is it not taught to girls around the English-speaking world? Why do girls have to try to come up with names that aren’t embarrassing or insulting all on their own? Why? Because that’s our society, that’s why. While I love the word vulva and all that it stands for (at least for me), it’s upsetting that we have very few words that women can be proud of when talking about their “privates. Frankly, I’m proud that I own a clitoris—the only body part whose only purpose is to give pleasure.

Then in college came a word I (growing up in a tiny Republican town) had never heard: Vulva. ing to teach fifth grade girls about it, make sure it’s just the vagina—used for making and releasing babies and shedding menstrual tissue. If someone wants to reclaim these words, more power to you, and I don’t feel uncomfortable around them, I just don’t want to call mine that—I’d feel like I was swearing at it. ” Men can bravely speak about their penises without fear of ridicule, but when a woman talks about her vulva, it has to be quieted and shoved under the table—even by the woman herself.