To not wash the inside of my vagina?

[Secretname123]

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?!

Thanks Charlotte, I agree it's hardly a medical emergency Thanks for making me feel a bit more 'normal'! And I don't see why I'm not allowed to insert a clean finger and hook something like that out while cleaning the rest of my body in the shower.

God, some of the other posts on this thread verge on bullying. Certainly they betray a lack of imagination about how some women could be different from other women...

Anyone fancy douching with Lysol to maintain your feminine daintiness?

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

I have a sense of humour, thanks. I didn't find it particularly amusing OR helpful to read your sneery post 'if you have loo paper in your vagina then please see a doctor immediately'.

What exactly was that intended to imply? That after 50 years, I'm STILL wiping wrong? Or that my personal topography is really screwed? or what? I feel that you should rethink posting comments that suggest other MNers seek medical attention, so glibly.

I'm fairly secure in my conviction that I'm not unwittingly allowing misogyny and the patriarchy to instruct me to WASH WOMAN, because I'm yucky. And I will, naturally enough, not be changing what works for me.

Doesn't it? Not even a teeny little bit? 😂I have discussed this very thing with some of my similarly-aged friends, all who've given birth vaginally, and the consensus is ... it sorta does. A bit. I refuse to be shamed by this and if anyone tells me 'well if you're taking on water like the Titanic, see a doctor RIGHT NOW' they will get the full strength of my wrath.

(disclaimer, I am not actually taking on water like the Titanic. We're talking a tiny bit.)

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

Jet wash.
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.

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

Never have I ever.

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

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!!! 😁😁😁

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.

@takealettermsjones this made me laugh so much too 😂😂

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 😬

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

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!

Scented sanitary towels are a nightmare!

And almost all of them are nowadays.

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

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!

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

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.

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...

😂😂😂😂pube rice!

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