Why does the word vagina make people so angry?
Maybe because nobody uses it correctly.
You see, what we all call a vagina is not actually a vagina. It’s a vulva.
But did anyone ever learn that in school? Not that we know can remember. It was always ‘girls have a vagina and boys have a penis’. Right?
When we stumbled upon this article online it had the whole office giggling because if there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to stir debate on Mamamia: it’s the mention of the v-word.
We don’t shy away from conversations involving that word.
Writer Lindy West from Jezebel wrote:
I am in the business of entertainment. And vagina, for whatever reason, just sounds funnier than vulva. It just DOES. “Vagina” also has a long history of making people incredibly uncomfortable—there’s a confrontational value to it. “Vulva” is clinical, anatomical, medical. Boooooriiiiiing. Vagina is like “junk.”
Now, if I wrote for an anatomy blog, or a blog about two twins who were unfortunately named Vulva and Vagina O’Houlihan, then I’d go out of my way to be as specific as possible (because I don’t want people to think that it was Vagina O’Houliahan who got an Irish dancing scholarship to Notre Dame when actually it was Vulva!). But I don’t. I write for a general-interest, humorous lady-blog, where every single reader knows exactly what the fuck I mean, in context, when I say “vagina.” And I’m going to keep saying it. Because WHOOOOO CAAAAAARES?
And courtesy of Buzz Feed, 7 Things That Accidentally Look Like Vaginas. Or Vulvas, depending on which team you’re on.
Think about it… when was the last time you ever used the word ‘vulva’ in a sentence? Actually, when was the last time you used to the word ‘vagina’ in a sentence? Vulva or vagina. Does it matter? Do you care?