Vaginal Discharge
There is an evident lack of education on women’s reproductive systems, causing extreme negative connotations around women and references to vaginas as impure and dirty. Women are being condemned and have been condemned for aspects they have no control over, such as menstruation and especially vaginal discharge. Vaginal discharge is a fluid secreted from glands in the vagina and cervix. This fluid leaks from the vagina each day, removing old cells and debris to keep the vagina and reproductive tract healthy and clean. However, throughout society vaginal discharge is regarded as disgusting and impure, despite it being a very important process to keep the vagina clean and can also signify any reproductive diseases or disorders through their color, consistency, and smell. And yes, healthy vaginas do smell, correlating with hormonal fluctuations.
Education on biological female health is extremely overlooked, and majority of the understanding of the female body comes from the perspective of cis men, who have no true understanding of the normal processes of women’s bodies. Most cis men feel uncomfortable about the topic and are unwilling to spend effort learn about vaginas and reproductive health. Instead of leaving this issue as it is, we should seek to close this knowledge gap and work to normalize this conversation. The refusal of the majority of society to discuss reproductive health of all genders is extremely harmful. In addition, the internalised misogyny among women runs rampant and enforces harmful thoughts of their own bodies.
Majority of women have experienced internalised misogyny throughout their lives, feeling the shame of talking openly to even other women about their bodies and processes such as vaginal discharge. This can affect a woman physically and mentally, as not only are they endangering their bodies with no knowledge of the possible flags for vaginal infections or disorders, but they also feel extreme shame and disgust with themselves for having discharge at all. They force themselves to clean their vaginas extensively, which ironically can cause vaginal infections as the natural cleaning process can be disrupted by washing with medicated or perfumed soaps, bubble baths, and shower gels. Once again, many women lack this knowledge due to the harmful restrictions on reproductive education, and using douche or femine products designed to wash your vagina can cause permanent damage.
Thus, it is extremely important to increase the discussion about women’s bodies and reproductive systems. Even now, many people online discuss their discharge and the effects it has on their lives extensively, forcing attention and conversation about an important aspect of women’s bodies. These actions, and many like these, are very useful for producing healthy discussion, decreasing stigma, and helping women around the world.
Comments