Some interesting facts about the vagina...

[ResistanceIsNecessary]

Inspired by this thread on twitter which had some good vagina info. It's amazing how many people know so little about the female anatomy so here are some more interesting facts!

• The walls are very elastic to allow it to stretch and then shrink back again after vaginal childbirth delivery. It does not require manual dilation to keep it open or maintain its shape, unless as a result of side effects from other medical procedures (such as some female-occurring cancer treatments).

• It is self-cleaning and has a naturally acidic environment until the time around ovulation, when the PH changes to make it more accommodating for sperm, to promote fertilisation. It does not require daily artificial cleaning products or lubricant to keep it healthy.

• The walls of the vagina (the vaginal vault) are made up of two layers of muscle tissue, which allow for expansion and contraction - which can often be felt as 'ridges', which lessen with age or post- vaginal delivery childbirth. The walls contain no glands.

Feel free to add your own facts

I am often struck when things in the natural world resemble a vulva: knots on tree trunks, petals

I read The Hite Report on female sexuality when I was 19. Thank you Shere Hite.

Gorgeous gorgeous thread.... I love how my vagina changes through its cycle ... self-lubricating and self-cleaning yes, but so much more with smell and texture indicating when fertility arrives.....

..... and who else when young tentatively dipped a fingertip in their menstrual blood to taste, at Germaine Greer's urging ... natural and nothing to be ashamed of, a truly feminist and liberating step

I've never seen The Vagina Monologues and longed to... some day I will

Speaking of church art. Check out Hildegard von Bingen's "The Universe"

With age the clitoris can shrink ! Shocker.

I didn't know about the pouch of Douglas until MN. Now that I am more enlightened I know that if I ever lose any smallish objects, I should check there first...

It's slightly off topic, but this thread reminded me of a really interesting piece I read on why women seem to have much heavier periods than the "normal" 3-5 taps

rubycup.com/blog/how-much-blood-during-period-scientific-research/

Hildegard’s image is probably a vesica piscis. Common in Christian art. But yes, it’s very suggestive in shape.

Love the image of the clitoris - so beautiful!

I can't help but to think that Hildegard must've meant for it to look like a vulva...I dig the big star placed where the clit should be!

Oh and here you can enjoy some pretty vulvalicious dancing goddess gifs, including a Sheela na gig
blog.ninapaley.com/2018/01/01/24-free-goddess-gifs/

When our first child was born. My DH looked at me and said "fuck me, how does something that small stretch that wide"? Dunno how he thought the baby would come out if it didn't

What an amazing thread. Vaginas rock. Women are the best.

when I was expecting DD, we had our 20 week scan a bit late and asked to know the sex. The sonographer said it's a girl and I asked 'are you sure, I know it can be a bit indistinct sometimes'. She said 'well, I'm looking at the eggs in her ovaries, so I'm pretty sure!'.

This has me crying. Beautiful thread.

You don't develop any new eggs - once a female baby is born she already has all of the eggs she will ever have.

They stay dormant in the ovaries unless they are released during the ovulation phase. A newborn female will have approximately 2m eggs in her ovaries - by onset of puberty this will be approximately 300,000. However on average she will only ever ovulate and release around 400 of them during her lifetime.

Due to the fact that no new eggs develop after you are born and the fact they stay dormant in your ovaries, they are some of the longest lived cells in the human body - as they are present from the 20th week of gestation until menopause is reached.

When I was pregnant with my ds, dd (age 2.5) asked me where are babies grown in the belly. I told her about the womb or woman's room as I explained to her. I talked about how once a month the woman's room bedding is changed, I thought it was a lovely way to explain periods etc.

This thread is amazing. Thank you to you all. :)

*It's slightly off topic, but this thread reminded me of a really interesting piece I read on why women seem to have much heavier periods than the "normal" 3-5 taps

rubycup.com/blog/how-much-blood-during-period-scientific-research/*

Maybe i missed something, but that whole piece referred to “menstruators”. Not women.

as they are present from the 20th week of gestation until menopause is reached

Don’t they remain post menopause? Are they all used up by that point or are any remaining reabsorbed?

DD and I talked the other day about how she already has all her eggs inside her (she wanted to know how she "grew" them). So she has been walking around noting that "she has eggs inside her and so does she, and so does she...but he doesn't, and he doesn't"

I want a lovely painting of a clitoris, they’re just so pretty and they hug you when they’re happy - how can a woman ever feel alone.

That's so beautiful.

The head of the clitoris has 8000 nerve endings, the entire head of the penis has only 4000, in something many times bigger.

The nerves that make up the clitoris extend up to 5 inches back into the body, forking down around the vulva. The parts of our body made for pleasure far outstrip those of men.

I strongly suggest you all go to the see The Vagina Monologues as soon as it’s on at a theatre near you (it tours often) I saw it the first time as a teenager, and twice since.

Menopause is literally running out of eggs - you might have a few left but they are usually pretty poor quality and therefore you stop ovulating. Egg quality is one of the reasons why older women TTC are concerned about foetal abnormalities - as these are often associated with older eggs.

www.bbc.com/future/story/20180531-how-womens-body-parts-have-been-named-after-men

Maybe i missed something, but that whole piece referred to “menstruators”. Not women.

You are right Apologies, I missed that because I was so interested in the science

Ive always believed the female body is the most extraordinarily outstanding work of evolution and nature. Sorry boys, but the male body just doesn't even come close.