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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not wash the inside of my vagina?

679 replies

Secretname123 · 25/01/2024 10:32

First AIBU so please be nice! There is a huge debate going on on twitter where people are horrified that some women wear tampons in the shower (it seems to be the majority of the many women responding to the tweets who are horrified). They claim it’s unsanitary because then you can’t wash inside your vagina. I thought we weren’t supposed to do this? I’m sure I had this drummed into me as a child. I never have and have never had an infection. Have I been doing it wrong all these years?!

OP posts:
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15
CurlyhairedAssassin · 25/01/2024 21:40

It's really not fucking rocket science.

The vulva is everything on the OUTSIDE.

The vagina is on the INSIDE.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 25/01/2024 21:39

Vulva and pubic area - mild soap. It's skin that sweats

Labia and outside of entrance - water only

Er....you ARE aware that the labia and outside of entrance ARE the vulva and pubic area?

I don't believe half these posts, I think they must be from people who don't have a female body. No-one can be so ignorant.

"The components of the entire vulva are the mons pubis, labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, urethra, vulva vestibule, vestibular bulbs, Bartholin's glands, Skene's glands, and vaginal opening."

FluffyFanny · 25/01/2024 21:12

I think some people are confused about what is meant by vagina.

PianPianPiano · 25/01/2024 21:04

Jumpingthruhoops · 25/01/2024 20:38

Maybe it's just me but I wash every orifice thanks.
I prefer to bath rather than shower so, straight away, I'm immersing my entire body in water. I wash my face first, including nostrils and ear holes, the latter of which gets more attention when I wash/rinse my hair.
Then wash my entire body front (yes there!) to back (yes THERE [with a flannel]!) Then rinse.
As I'm drying, I brush my teeth. Can't think of an orifice I've missed, can you?

This thread has been nothing short of eye-opening...

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You are cleaning out your rectum with a flannel? Jesus 🤔

SomeCatFromJapan · 25/01/2024 20:57

@mathanxiety I hadn't realised the subtext, that is fascinating.

CharlotteBog · 25/01/2024 20:39

MoonWoman69 · 25/01/2024 19:37

I don't hack the pubes back, (seem to have stopped growing since the 'pause and is quite tidy in itself! But I too, do find bits of toilet paper down there occasionally! My mates son had a name for it, something like pube rice!!! 🤣🤣🤣 We're only talking little bits of rolled paper, not great swathes of it hanging out!!! 😁😁😁

😂😂😂😂pube rice!

Jumpingthruhoops · 25/01/2024 20:38

PianPianPiano · 25/01/2024 17:47

But why do you feel you need to wash that orifice but not others? Why in particular do you feel your vagina is dirty enough to need swilling around with water, but not your rectum?

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Maybe it's just me but I wash every orifice thanks.
I prefer to bath rather than shower so, straight away, I'm immersing my entire body in water. I wash my face first, including nostrils and ear holes, the latter of which gets more attention when I wash/rinse my hair.
Then wash my entire body front (yes there!) to back (yes THERE [with a flannel]!) Then rinse.
As I'm drying, I brush my teeth. Can't think of an orifice I've missed, can you?

This thread has been nothing short of eye-opening...

mathanxiety · 25/01/2024 20:28

SomeCatFromJapan · 25/01/2024 18:38

Anyone fancy douching with Lysol to maintain your feminine daintiness?

https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/27/the-secret-of-vintage-lysol-douche-ads/

Douching, especially with Lysol, was touted as a contraceptive in the days before contraception was respectable.

The ads couched douching as something smart women 'in the know' should be doing in order to avoid repulsing their husbands by their unacceptable stench. Losing their husbands by insisting on abstinence or withdrawal or through constantly getting pregnant was actually what the ads were about, but clearly the message that a vagina is a body part that women have to worry about in the context of a heterosexual relationship sank in.

Sad that the multi-pronged attack on women's self-esteem had such an effect and they were blamed for 'losing' a man.

nonumbersinthisname · 25/01/2024 20:27

I've found TOTM products to be good and they're non-scented. M&S sell them near me, also available online etc.

CaramelMac · 25/01/2024 20:24

AmeliaEarhart · 25/01/2024 20:23

Maybe you're lucky not to have the kind of periods that would turn your bathroom into a crime scene in the short amount of time it took to get out of the shower, dry yourself and unwrap a new tampon.

Yep, unfortunately it’d be like the shower scene in Carrie if I didn’t use a tampon…

Mines not that bad but the carpet just outside the bathroom is white so I’m not taking any chances!

AmeliaEarhart · 25/01/2024 20:23

Maybe you're lucky not to have the kind of periods that would turn your bathroom into a crime scene in the short amount of time it took to get out of the shower, dry yourself and unwrap a new tampon.

Yep, unfortunately it’d be like the shower scene in Carrie if I didn’t use a tampon…

liveforsummer · 25/01/2024 20:13

@Emotionalsupportviper shops own brands help to avoid this. Tends to be the likes of always that perfume all their products

nonumbersinthisname · 25/01/2024 20:10

I've done commuting in some fairly crowded public transport. Some of it on very hot days. I've never smelled another woman's vag, but I have smelled scented sanitary pads. Either that or some women have shoved car fresheners down their pants.

Emotionalsupportviper · 25/01/2024 20:09

DeanElderberry · 25/01/2024 11:24

In the olden pre-shower days when we used a basin and washed the 'its' with a washcloth and water, this would not even have been possible.

And as everyone else has said, it isn't a healthy thing to do. I remember the days in the 1970s when they tried to sell us deodorant to spray down below, and the more recent horrors of scented sanitary towels. Trying to make women feel insecure and make money from them, so what if their health is damaged in the process.

Scented sanitary towels are a nightmare!

And almost all of them are nowadays.

Boomboomshakeshaketheroom · 25/01/2024 20:03

ohididntrealise · 25/01/2024 19:48

Do lots of women wear tampons in the shower then?

Thats a new one to me. It's never occurred to me to do that. I would just put a fresh one in when I got out.

But I agree a lot of this is confusion over vulva / vagina.

Maybe you're lucky not to have the kind of periods that would turn your bathroom into a crime scene in the short amount of time it took to get out of the shower, dry yourself and unwrap a new tampon.

God I love menopause!

liveforsummer · 25/01/2024 19:58

ohididntrealise · 25/01/2024 19:48

Do lots of women wear tampons in the shower then?

Thats a new one to me. It's never occurred to me to do that. I would just put a fresh one in when I got out.

But I agree a lot of this is confusion over vulva / vagina.

It's not - that's been covered repeatedly in the thread. A tampon does not prevent you cleaning your vulva after all

liveforsummer · 25/01/2024 19:57

Vulva and pubic area - mild soap. It's skin that sweats

Labia and outside of entrance - water only

Arse crack - soap

Scrubbing with hibiscrub before a high risk of infection operation is one thing - benefit of not contracting mrsa from your near by bum crack outweighs the risk of upsetting some friendly bacteria. Not really meant as an every day thing though 😬

avslp11 · 25/01/2024 19:51

takealettermsjones · 25/01/2024 10:43

"I don't jet wash the fucker" 🤣🤣

@takealettermsjones this made me laugh so much too 😂😂

ohididntrealise · 25/01/2024 19:48

Do lots of women wear tampons in the shower then?

Thats a new one to me. It's never occurred to me to do that. I would just put a fresh one in when I got out.

But I agree a lot of this is confusion over vulva / vagina.

MoonWoman69 · 25/01/2024 19:37

I don't hack the pubes back, (seem to have stopped growing since the 'pause and is quite tidy in itself! But I too, do find bits of toilet paper down there occasionally! My mates son had a name for it, something like pube rice!!! 🤣🤣🤣 We're only talking little bits of rolled paper, not great swathes of it hanging out!!! 😁😁😁

liveforsummer · 25/01/2024 19:16

ChristmasTreeCookies · 25/01/2024 11:15

Tmi but I do wash my arsecrack once a week with soap but never my vagina, just give the vulval area a rinse with water and the odd bath.
I used to use soap but found it was causing vulval eczema..so now I have to be really careful when using products down below. Apparently there is such a thing as being too clean. Blush

Only once a week - surely that's a every shower job??

JanefromLondon1 · 25/01/2024 19:04

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns.

Margarita45 · 25/01/2024 19:03

StillStuckInTheShed · 25/01/2024 14:06

???

I must've been under my rock that day... Mop the WALLS?!?!?!

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I know right!! It’s all over the gram and TikTok. Wet mopping walls with a special wall mop.

Never have I ever.

Oblomov23 · 25/01/2024 19:02

Jet wash. Grin
Even the vulva only needs a very gentle brush / light showing of water and soap, surely. You aren't supposed to scrub it like a 50's front step.

Jumpingthruhoops · 25/01/2024 18:59

nonumbersinthisname · 25/01/2024 14:00

There a difference between a healthy vagina smell and an infected vagina smell. The healthy smell can vary through your cycle and can be quite strong, but it is natural and normal. Knowing what your own healthy vagina smells like should be something every woman should know because then we can tell if something has gone wrong. The big lie is telling women their natural smell is abnormal and offensive and convincing them to douche which actually then causes problems and infections and bad smells.

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Well, to me, a 'healthy' vagina smell is one that's just been washed! 🤷‍♀️