Dr. Jen Gunter is an obstetrician and gynecologist with a practice in California. She writes about health issues, particularly women’s health, in her blog, Wielding the Lasso of Truth. In the New York Times, she tells us, “Around the internet I am known as the gynecologist who debunks unnecessary and often harmful vaginal trends. Vaginal steaming, douches, glitter, tightening sticks — these are all born from the same need to tame the normal female genital tract.”
In her blog post of October 25, 2017, she tells the tale of a man who attempted to control her by denigrating her hair, her clothing, and finally her vagina. She says, “Fortunately I am an appropriately confident vagina expert and I had a light bulb moment and dumped his sorry ass. I realize this may border on TMI, but honestly if it happened to me I bet it has happened to other women. The continued proliferation of the what will they insert next, the products on drug store shelves, and the interest in these posts tells me that I’m probably right.”
She writes about her experience with men being unable to resist mansplaining vaginal health to her, a medical expert on the topic, in the New York Times, adding, “All I can say is, if you have a medical concern, see a doctor. And: If someone speaks to you about your body with anything but kindness and concern, it is he who has a problem. And: The vagina is like a self-cleaning oven.”
New York Times: My Vagina Is Terrific. Your Opinion About It Is Not.
Wielding the Lasso of Truth: Vaginal Vicks VapoRub, oh my God people just don’t.
Many thanks to Frater Lux Ad Mundi for the tip!
Self-cleaning oven! I took a medical anthropology class on human reproductive behavior and was awestruck/gained immense respect for the menstrual cycle as one of the most efficient homeostatic biological processes there is. But those three words are the best ‘lay-explanation’ – self-cleaning oven!