Making it Count

By Dr. Logan Levkoff

1. What message does it send to girls when we tell them that they have a body part (a wonderful and important body part) that doesn’t need to have a correct name? That the part is so unimportant that it doesn’t need to have any name?

2. Does this lack of language and inability to talk about vulvas at all make girls feel encouraged to look at their vulvas? To see what their body is all about? Nope. Is it any wonder that many girls and women feel very detached from their vulvas and have trouble talking about them, whether in a medical context or a sexual one?

3. If we don’t have a correct (and universal) language for our bodies, how is it possible to talk about what we want sexually? What feels good? What doesn’t feel good?

4. How are doctors suppose to diagnose or treat us if the term we use to talk about a body part isn’t the actual term?

5. How can we possibly teach children to identify good touch from bad touch when we don’t have a universal and correct language?

6. And what’s the big deal with the word “vulva?” That is its name. Perhaps it’s because we have trouble discussing anything that has to do with female sexuality. We have a long history of undermining, belittling, or ignoring girls’ sexuality.”

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