Let Me Hear Your Body Talk

Oh man, I dunno why but I've had that song stuck in my head for a couple days now. I'm glad I got to use it. :D

I wanted to do something a little bit fluffy today, after the teeth grinding frustration of last night's post. It's not exactly super fluff, because I think it's still important.

What I want to talk about today is bodies. Not in their shapes and sizes as I've already discussed them, but in the less "pleasant" aspects that we try to avoid in everyday life. You may have seen the South Park queef episode that aired last spring. I gotta say, guys...I fucking LOVED that episode of South Park. I know that the show itself is pretty problematic a lot of the time, but that particular episode was an awesome and frank discussion about queefing (which I refuse to call pussy farts, because that's not what they are). Why are guys' farts SO DAMN HILARIOUS and yet queefing - which doesn't emit any smell or gas, just air expelled from the vulva that makes a sound - is off limits? I'll tell you why. It's because when vaginae aren't wrapped around a dick, they're icky.



Douches have existed for hundreds of years (since the 1660s according to Medhunters). These days, they are pretty roundly accepted to be shitty for your vagina. Traditionally you would use an acidic compound to clean out the natural secretions of the vulva and vagina. And they do that. They get rid of all the natural bacteria and good stuff that's in there, naturally occurring and naturally keeping your cooch clean.

You know what else douches do? They encourage shame about the female physique. The marketing usually revolves around needing them to make you "feel fresh". In other words, your vagina is naturally dirty and smelly, so squirt some perfume up in there so it doesn't stink up the whole office/grocery store/damn world. Awesome.

Same goes for body hair. Women are expected to be bald all over - legs, arms and bush - all the time. When Mo'Nique and Amanda Fucking Palmer showed up at the Golden Globes with their unshaven parts (legs for Mo'Nique and pits for AFP), the non-feminist blogosphere shit a collective brick. If you google "Monique Golden Globes", 4 of the 11 first page hits are about her unshaven legs. On a personal note, when I showered yesterday, I almost decided to shave with a really old razor because I haven't bought a new one, and I didn't want Boyfriend to be too grossed out by the small gardens sprouting under my arms. Have you ever shaved with a really old razor? It hurts like whoa. So I said eff that. It makes it hurt too much to put on deodorant and also, that is just stupid.

Similarly, I've heard smegma THIS LINK IS TOTES NSFW AND HAS PICTURES OF DICKS referred to as "dick cheese". When I pointed out once that vulvae also accumulate smegma, the guys I was discussing this with reacted with horror. Again, for guys it's funny, for women, it's horrifying, disgusting, taboo.

The taboo is equally or more true of periods. We're expected to suffer in silence. Even though the pain of menstrual cramps is as neutral as the pain of a headache, we're still expected not to talk about it AT ALL. And I'm not just talking about in public or in mixed company, even amongst other women, even close friends, can't talk about things like how much we bleed, blood clots, leakage, the diarrhea or constipation that many women experience on their periods. Ditto any kinds of yeast infections, bacterial infections, any kind of medical issues with our vaginae.

In general, this taboo on talking about our bodies, especially our sexual organs and what they do and can do, is just another way of distancing us from our bodies, and making us feel less than men. When you love someone (especially when you live with them...I love you Boyfriend!), you love them taking into consideration the fact that they are a human being who sweats and pisses and shits and farts and has smegma and yeast infections and periods. I think that instead of limiting that understanding to others, we need to embrace that for ourselves as well.