• Culture
    Culture
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    Style
    Pond's serums

    These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    Here’s where you can get unique, one-off accessories—designed by you

    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    Entertainment
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    charlie’s angels totally spies!

    Our favorite onscreen spies, from Austin Powers to ‘Totally Spies!’

    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    Life+Money
    Single woman adopts baby

    Forming a family: When a single woman adopts a baby

    painting of baby

    A mother-to-be’s survival guide

    Navigating a friend breakup that has no bad blood

    It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course

    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
Reading
Why Are We Calling It Vagina and Not Vulva?
ShareTweet
In Culture
2 min read

Why Are We Calling It Vagina and Not Vulva?

By Olivia Estradaon August 7, 2017
vulva vagina
Share

Even though I paid attention to my sex ed classes, I still call the outer part of the female reproductive system the vagina. When really, what we refer to when we use that word, the part which we can see, is called the vulva. Why is that?

I started calling it that because that’s the most “socially acceptable” term. It’s what I see on commercials, how most women call it when they don’t want to resort to colloquial terms, and also how most men refer to it. Artist Alex Cu-Unjieng explored how we resort to so many names (“flower,” “purse,” “pussy”) for it because there seems to be a sense of fear towards the female genitalia and how there is always a need to censor it unlike penises.

Vice pointed out how society has made it more acceptable to say vagina because it’s linked to how we perceive sexual pleasure. The vaginal opening is just one part of the vulva which includes the clitoris, labia (minor and major), and the urethral opening. When we say vulva, we acknowledge how women are capable and equipped for sexual pleasure. It’s also linked to how some medical books on female anatomy often don’t depict the vulva accurately. “Danish anatomist Casper Bartholin’s illustrations of the female ‘lust organs’ from the 17th century showed the clitoral erectile tissue and the crura similar to the way they’re depicted today. In the 1840s, German anatomist Georg Ludwig Kobelt drew an enlargement of the shaft of the clitoris similar to a penis, as it’s known today. In the 1901 edition of Gray’s Anatomy, the clitoris is labeled and somewhat prominently featured. Then, in the 1948 edition: POOF! The clit disappears in both label and graphic illustration.”

Furthermore, the article talks about how the omission of the vulva is also linked to the refusal of women’s pleasure during sex. Talking about the vulva and using the term freely is being accepting of the fact that women get stimulation from sex. Women deserve to have fun in bed, too! But as most misogynistic narratives go, women shouldn’t derive pleasure from sexual intercourse. The impulse is looked down upon and if  women like to have sex for pleasure, she’s shamed for it. Some women even opt for dry sex. Vice also point out how some women go to the extremes of labiaplasty and genital mutilation.

The fact that women cannot enjoy sex and must be stopped by all means for maximum male sexual benefit and pride is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why we need to keep the conversation of feminism going. Sex is normal and it’s natural. Our bodies are equally equipped for sex as an expression of affection, an activity for pleasure, and as a biological function for reproduction.

Calling the vulva a vagina just shows how certain archaic beliefs have been so ingrained in us. To acknowledge the word is to acknowledge its existence. If we want to keep fighting for sexual equality in and outside the bedroom, call a spade a spade. Recognize a vulva today!

 

Art by Lara Intong

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Viber

Related stories:
The Dangers of “Dry Sex” and Why This Practice Exists
An Intimate Cure for a Case of the Uglies
Why Does Religion Assign So Much Guilt Over Sex?

 

Total
1
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 1
Share 0

Action Required!

We embed Facebook Comments plugin to allow you to leave comment at our website using your Facebook account. It may collects your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the commenting interface, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the interface (such as “liking” someone’s comment, replying to other comments), if you are logged into Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Accept    Decline

Tags
feminismSexvagina

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

ShareTweetEmailShare
Olivia Estrada

Peek This

Pond's serums

These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

Filipino actors Bridgerton

Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

pura luka vega chappell roan church

Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

Preen.ph © 2020. Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • ARCHIVES
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
Previous
See How Janine Gutierrez and Kourtney Kardashian Incorporate Red and Yellow Into Their Wardrobe
chris pratt anna faris
Next
Chris Pratt and Anna Faris Announce Split on Social Media
  • Culture
    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Search
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
fashion fashion news music Culture News movies
See all results

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.