The vagina. It has more nicknames than just about any other body part, and when you say it out loud there are some people who will still look at you like you’re insane. I once had a health teacher who made the entire class yell “penis” and “vagina” to break the ice before we started our sex ed unit. Say it with me everybody, vagina!

In the spirit of that teacher, I’ve put together some crazy facts about the vagina. We already brought you ten facts this summer, so here are ten MORE things you probably didn’t know about your special lady parts.

initiating the gallery...

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. When she’s not dancing or writing, she can be found exploring the city, and let’s be honest, spending way too much time on the internet. Follow her @garnethenderson.

There’s been a growing trend in the vag-o-sphere. And it’s all about making your lady parts look pretty and shiny and….bedazzled?! Yes. Bedazzled. Because it’s no longer about the sexy lingerie and the sexy banter. It’s all about dressing up your vagina like every sexual encounter is a debutante ball for your most fun body part. Unsure about what we’re talking about?

Check out our guide to making your vagina sparkle (possibly, literally):

So you’re a beginner Vag-terior Decorator? First, you need to remove all your hair. Now you have a few options, let’s discuss:

Waxing: Popular, yet painful. But it sure beats shaving.

Brazilian: Bye bye hair. Like all your hair. A few screams, a few Advils, and you’re hair free for 3-6 weeks.

Laser: Because hot wax wasn’t enough torture for you. The upside? It’s permanent. The downside? Someone is shooting a laser at your vagina.

Now that you’re hairless, it’s time to get fancy:

Vajazzling: The sounds-like-an-SNL-skit procedure was made popular by Jennifer Love Hewitt in 2010. It’s basically bedazzling your down there. Once you’re freshly bare, the crystals are applied to your lady bits. Oh and don’t worry, there is a do-it-at-home kit that comes stocked with different patterns and colors.

Hair grown back? No fear!

Dye it! You now have the option of matching your curtains to the rug! Any rug in your house that is! Yep, you can go for a more natural strawberry blonde or a more wild electric blue.

All these vagina treatments get your Hooha stressing out? Well then it’s time to hit the spa!

Vagina Steam Bath: This treatment involves squatting over a boiling pot of a mugworth tea blended with wormwood and some other herbs sprinkled in. Apparently, this is supposed to reduce stress, fight infections, clear hemorrhoids, regulate menstrual cycles and air infertility.

Vajacial: No you didn’t read the wrong, I’m talking a facial on your vajayjay. Don’t worry, it isn’t like a trip to the gyno. It’s more of a facial. They rid you of any acne (I pity anyone who has the problem), take out ingrown hairs, exfoliate, cleanse, and make you smoother than smooth.

Okay, your destressed, always ready to impress Vag has been getting tons of action….and now it’s feeling a little loose. Don’t worry! There’s a treatment for that!

Vaginal Rejuvenation:  There is a surgery that goes into your vagina and fixes/tightens all of the muscles. You can also get your hymen redone (in case losing your virginity wasn’t awkward enough the first time). But if you aren’t into surgery,  then you can still strengthen your va jay with a new kind of “heath” spa called Phit (pelvic health integrated techniques). Yep, that’s a thing.

Okay, okay, your vagina is in the best shape of your life…but you’re still not getting to the big O.

Well it’s time for a G-Shot. The G-shot, clever name, was created to amplify the G-spot sensations. It involves a shot of collagen in your G-spot, while you lay there under local anesthetics. The shot takes 8 seconds, and all in all is a quick procedure. The effects last for 3 months.

So, now that we’ve given you a guide to redecorating your vagina, we want to hear from you! Have you ever done of these things? Are you okay with girls vajazzling for guys? Or maybe you think hair removal is sexist….tell us in the comments!

Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over. You know there’s a lot of funny things to be heard on your campus, so take off those (faux) Burberry ear muffs and tune in.

(Two guys, leaving a dining hall with hand sanitizer.)

Guy 1: All right. Sterilized high five!

(Girls, at breakfast.)

Girl 1: How was the party?

Girl 2: Weird. Some guy and his girlfriend trapped me in the bathroom all night.

(Two guys, in line for brunch.)

Guy 1: Man, I got so lucky last night.

Guy 2: Oh dude. Did you do it on her face?

Guy 1: … What? No! I didn’t get beat up!

(Girls, playing video games in the common lounge.)

Girl 1: I don’t like it.

Girl 2: Yeah, it’s a giant talking space vagina.

(Two guys, talking while getting out of bio class.)

Guy: You know, sometimes I feel like I was born as the wrong mammal.

(Guy, talking to another guy outside the infirmary office.)

Guy: You think if I go to the center for students with disabilities, they’ll give me a helper monkey?

(Girl, on the phone.)

Girl: Hey, it’s fine … that’s no skin off my teeth.

(beat)

Girl: Nah. We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.

(From a reader: Two guys, going to the gym.)

Guy 1: Hey, when you’re running on the treadmill … just imagine you’re getting chased by border patrol.

(Girls, waiting in line at the registrar’s office.)

Girl 1: Did you see those fish tanks on the way in?

Girl 2: Oh my god. I am so hungry.

(Two girls, outside the campus basketball stadium.)

Girl 1: I mean, I don’t see how we can lose.

Girl 2: Maybe if we start taking shots while we’re on the crapper.

Got a health question? Don’t trust those “Doctors” at the University Health Center? Are you scared of Web M.D. because it always tells you you’re gonna die? Ask a real doctor, our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin. She’s here every Thursday to answer whatever you throw at her – like the ultimate cure for a hangover! – so ask away. Leave your question in the comments or send it over to us. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I don’t really know how to ask this so I’ll just get right to it. I’m still a virgin and I’m the only one left in my group. All my girl friends lost their virginity this year and have been telling me how much it hurt. Now I’m scared! Is it really that bad? And is there anything I can do to….prepare? Or should I just buy some cats now and grow old as a single, virgin spinster?

I’m really freaking out here.

A: Ok, hold up. It is definitely not time to start hoarding cats. Unless you really like cats, in which case, stock up! But don’t throw in the towel on sex just yet. Every woman is different when it comes to what your first time feels like. If you’ve been wearing tampons, riding horses, and straddling balance beams in gymnastics, your hymen may already be broken, so it might hurt less. On the flip side, if you’re very tiny and trying to insert a junior sized tampons sends you through the roof, you might face some serious discomfort.

But even if you are in the latter group, there are things you can do, especially if you’re in a relationship and can anticipate when it will happen (which offers your best shot at a good experience, in my opinion. Losing your virginity to a beer-sloshed one-night stand who can’t remember your name doesn’t bode well for gentle, compassionate connection between you and your partner. But then, you know that.).

My patient Adrianna had so much pain just from foreplay that she avoided sex until she was twenty-nine. (Every Christmas she would send me a card with the Virgin Mary on it and sign it “Love, the Virgin.”)  Always in serious relationships, she would put it off until that inevitable moment when she knew she would either have to lose her virginity or break up with the guy. Every year, when she reached that fork in the road, she broke some poor guy’s heart, rather than ‘fessing up to her fears.

Then she met Ed, and he swept her off her feet.  After he proposed, she approached me, begging me to help her give it all up to Ed.  Here’s what I told her to do:

How To Lose Your Virginity As Painlessly as Possible

1. Purchase a good sexual lubricant like Astroglide or K-Y Jelly.

2. Begin to prepare weeks, even months in advance. (Note: preparation also includes getting comfortable and intimate with your own body!)  The vagina is an elastic organ designed to fit a baby through it.  Your virginal vagina may not like being stretched by an erect penis, but it’s willing to negotiate. Begin by starting to dilate the vagina with the smallest thing you can insert into your vagina comfortably – a pinkie finger, a junior sized tampon, or a thumb. Lube it up and gently insert it inside the vagina.

3.  Notice the muscles that surround your vagina. Are they tense or relaxed? Does the object or finger slide easily into the vagina, or does it hurt? Make a conscious effort to release the tension from those muscles. Hold the object in for 10 minutes.

4. If that doesn’t hurt at all, try gradually increasing the size of what you insert into your vagina- a super-plus sized tampon, two fingers, or a small dildo. Repeat the exercise with the larger object until you find something that begins to stretch you and feel uncomfortable. When you reach that point, hold the object still for 10 minutes, and repeat this every day until it no longer hurts. (Don’t forget the lube, which is key). You may bleed during some of these exercises, which is nothing to worry about, as long as the bleeding is slight.

5. When you notice that it no longer hurts to insert that object inside, go bigger. Keep increasing the size of what you place into the vagina until you can accommodate a dildo that mimics the size of your partner’s penis.

6. Once you can keep the dildo in place for 10 minutes without pain, try moving it in and out of you, mimicking what your partner would do during intercourse. Go slowly, and make sure you have control of how the dildo moves. Feel free to play around with other types of sexual stimulation or other sex toys during this process. Remember, sex is supposed to be fun! Feel free to invite your partner in for the party, if you feel comfortable. If not, make it a private affair until you’re ready for the big night.

7. When you can do this without pain, you’re ready for the main event. Encourage your partner to have fun with foreplay. The more aroused you feel, the less likely it is to hurt.

8. Spend a moment taking deep, relaxing breaths. Concentrate on relaxing the muscles around the vagina to make way for your lover to enter you. Visualize your vagina as a flower gently opening to receive the love you share with your partner.

9. When you’re ready, lube up and try a woman-on-top position, which gives you more control over the depth of penetration and the speed of the thrusting. Take it slow. Listen to your body. Warn your partner that you may not be able to finish the job. If need be, you can ask him to stop and take care of him in other ways, if you know what I mean.

Remember: practice makes perfect. It gets better with time – I swear. If your first time isn’t glorious, don’t be discouraged. My first time was God-awful, but in time, our bodies learn what to do and you’ll be making beautiful music in the sack before you know it.

Hope it helps!

Wishing you a gentle, safe, loving, nurturing cherry-pop,

Dr. Lissa

Forget wearing your heart on your sleeve – why not wear your vulva around your neck?

Yes, one “artist” is now making that possible by taking an exact replica of your lady parts and turning them into one of these beauties. No need to skimp on the underwear anymore, ladies. Now you need only slip one of these over your head to flash everyone your Britney.

Gag.

]]> http://collegecandy.com/2009/10/23/wtf-friday-vagina-necklaces/feed/ 16 Brianna-Fordham University vulva http://collegecandy.com/2009/10/12/would-you-like-a-vagina-mint/ http://collegecandy.com/2009/10/12/would-you-like-a-vagina-mint/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:00:30 +0000 Brianna-Fordham University http://collegecandy.com/?p=43450 ]]> First there was douche. We let those commercials for vagina potpourri slide by, even though sucking out our precious woman fluids isn’t healthy. Then came the WaterWorks commercials, which literally advertise a mini showerhead you stick up your vaginal canal to rinse it (the technology was taken from chefs who use it to eliminate the odors of onions, fish and garlic. For real). Then wet wipes started popping up on toilet tanks nationwide. And now….the vagina mint.

Yes, an Altoid for your lady parts.

Linger, the company behind this crazy idea, has created a sweetened mint “which was created to flavor the secretions of a woman when she is sexually aroused.” This slow releasing tablet freshens your…er…vagina breath (?) for up to 60 minutes so that “your partner will want to spend more time tasting the new you.”

And all I have to say is…. well, I have a lot to say.

“The new you”?! This isn’t a new me, it’s the old me with a mint shoved up my cooter. This whole “women need to be super self conscious about their vaginas” thing is getting old. If you shower on a regular basis, your vagina and its odor are completely fine. The secretions are natural, and necessary to keep our lady parts healthy. And I think it’s about time we love our vaginas, and all the natural juices that come with them.

Not to mention that this tin of mints costs $8. Why don’t we just shove a stick of Spearmint up our vagina’s? A pack only costs 3 bucks and it would do the same thing. And since when have vagina’s become monsters with dragon breath and a set of vampire teeth ready to chomp away on a mint?

I say absolutely not, Linger. When men start Febreezing their balls pre-foreplay, we’ll consider mints for the lady parts. Until then, whoever is “spending time tasting me” will just have to suck it up (pun intended) and enjoy the old, me. Natural flavors and all.

My abs are tight. My legs are toned. But what about my lady parts?!

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: Everyone is always talking about Kegel exercises. Do those things really help? And do we really need to do them? I’ve had a boyfriend for 3 years (and we’ve been having regular sex for the entire time), so is it possible that I’m not as “toned” down there as I could be? Is that something I need to worry about?

A: Do the rest of you know what a Kegel exercise is?  It’s an exercise to strengthen the pelvic floor. To do Kegel exercises, contract and release the muscles surrounding the vaginal opening. If you’re not sure what I mean, run to the restroom, pee, and try to stop your urine mid-stream. Those are the muscles we’re talking about here.

How can Kegels help you? Let’s break it down into three ways- sexual enhancement, prevention, and treatment.  Because these muscles tone the vagina, they can be used to enhance intercourse. By contracting these muscles, you may offer additional pleasure for you and your lover, especially if you’ve had a few babies and things have become a bit loosely goosey down there.

What about prevention? As we age, our tissue gets weaker and our risk of pelvic prolapse and urinary incontinence increases.  What’s pelvic prolapse? Well, believe it or not, your uterus, bladder, vagina, and rectum can all sort of fall out. I’ve seen uteruses hanging between people’s legs and herniations of the bladder and rectum into the vagina. This looseness in the vagina can lead to incontinence, pelvic pressure, difficulty with urinating and having bowel movements, and a whole host of other unpleasant symptoms. Kegel exercises help prevent pelvic prolapse and incontinence.  By toning these muscles, you help keep things tucked up inside, where they belong.

Kegels help to treat these same conditions. If you’re suffering from pelvic prolapse or incontinence, doing Kegel exercises may be so effective that you can avoid painful surgeries. Although it may not be effective enough, we always start by recommending Kegels. They’re cheap, safe, and easy to do at home. Reminds me of a time I walked into labor and delivery and the nurses were all sitting around a table silently. I couldn’t figure out what they were doing. Were they having a séance? Meditating? Finally, one of them, seeing my confused gaze, said, “We’re doing Kegels!” So yes, you can do them anywhere.

Do you need to do them? Not necessarily. If you’re young, healthy, and have a happy sex life, there’s no need to add yet another thing to your busy To Do list.  But it can’t hurt. If you think of it- sitting in class, in traffic or out to dinner – why not contract and relax those muscles a few times? Use it or lose it, they say. And trust me, these are definitely muscles you don’t want to lose.

–Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book, What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in Fall 2010. She invites you to join her Pink online community (www.owningpink.com/forum) or read more of her writing at Owning Pink (www.owningpink.com).

Talking sex with your doctor isn’t always easy. Whether you are afraid she will judge you,  you just don’t feel comfortable sharing the intimate details of your life between the sheets, or you can’t think straight with a speculum between your legs, many people get tight lipped in the doctor’s office. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have questions.

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: I’m a little concerned about the way things smell and taste downtown. It’s not like anyone has told me anything is funky down there, but I’ve had lots of guys perform oral sex on me once and never do it again. What can I do to clean it up (you know, if that is the problem)?

A: Truth be told, it may have nothing to do with you at all.  Some guys are hesitant to give oral sex because they feel clueless.  Maybe they felt they didn’t pleasure you and question their technique? Did you communicate that you liked it? If they give it their all and you don’t appear to like it, this may trigger a guy’s own insecurities. So if you’re not doing this already, give him a few oohs and aahs to let him know you like his style.

If you’re already doing that, it’s possible that they guys don’t like your smell or taste. For some, it’s an acquired taste, but keep in mind: real men love giving a girl pleasure. If he’s not going down on you, it may have nothing to do with you. Some guys are just selfish and would rather focus on their own pleasure during sex. If that’s the case, there are plenty of guys that I’m sure are dying to go down on you. I suggest communicating with your partner. Ask why you’re not getting any. Be honest about how you feel and tell your partner that you like oral sex and want to get more of it.

 In case he admits that he doesn’t like your smell or taste, here are a few tips:

1. See a doctor to make sure you don’t have bacterial vaginosis, a vaginal infection that can make you smell suspiciously like salmon. (And not the delicious smoked variety.)

2. Shower before sex. What’s not to love about a freshly bathed coochie?

3. Use baby wipes after you pee or poo. They do a better job of removing potentially smelly bacteria than toilet paper alone.

4. Watch what you eat, drink and smoke. Although there’s not a lot of science behind it, rumor has it that what you eat affects how you smell and taste. Cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol may make you taste bitter, while red meat, dairy, garlic, onion, curry, broccoli, asparagus, spinach and multivitamins may make you taste salty or sharp.  Vegetables high in chlorophyll, such as wheat grass, parsley, and celery are reputed to make you taste sweeter, as are spices like cinnamon, peppermint, cardamon, and lemon. Eating fruit may also sweeten your taste. Drinking lots of water helps too. Vegan diets, particularly diets high in raw vegetables and fruit, are reputed to make you taste fresh and sweet. Is this true? All I can say is that my husband swears that my taste improved after switching to a largely raw vegan diet.

5. If all else fails, try flavored lubricants. Chocolate pussy, anyone?

 If you feel insecure about how you might smell or taste, let me remind you that we all have our own smell and taste. Assuming you’re bathing and don’t have an infection, your lover should love your smell and taste, just the way it is. I’ll leave you with the wise words of Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues.

 “My vagina doesn’t need to be cleaned up. It smells good already. Don’t try to decorate. Don’t believe him when he tells you it smells like rose petals when it’s supposed to smell like pussy. That’s what they’re doing, trying to clean it up, make it smell like bathroom spray or a garden. All those douche sprays- floral, berry, rain. I don’t want my pussy to smell like rain. All cleaned up like washing a fish after you cook it. I want to taste the fish. That’s why I ordered it.”

 I say, “Amen, sister!”

–Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book, What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in Fall 2010. She invites you to join her Pink online community (www.owningpink.com/forum) or read more of her writing at Owning Pink (www.owningpink.com).

My roommate recently told me a story. It was a bit graphic in nature, so I won’t share the dirty details here, but it involved her, her boyfriend, and an orgasm so intense she actually experienced female ejaculation.  Yeah, maybe we share a little too much information.

I was intrigued. (And slightly interested in borrowing that BF for myself…)

Female ejaculation is an elusive experience held by many men to be the epitome of female orgasm.  Why? Because it’s viewed as proof of an orgasm, a job well done. Women don’t have to worry about whether our partner enjoyed himself or not – there’s something sticky to prove it. But men aren’t as lucky; most of us can convincingly fake an orgasm if need be, and men realize this.

Squirting, or female ejaculation, however, can’t be faked. It is also something new and exciting and who doesn’t want to experience a new level of physical pleasure?

As enticing as it may be, female ejaculation is still an experience most us only hear stories about or see in porn…or Sex and The City. There’s debate about whether it even exists. I don’t doubt it exists, but my question is how, how often, and for whom? In my entire internet search, I couldn’t find one trustworthy medical site with an article on female ejaculation. The best I could do was livestrong.org (weird, I know), which says:

“Female ejaculation is thought to be a release of fluid from the Skene’s glands…  The Skene’s gland is similar to the prostate gland in guys. It produces a fluid that is similar to the chemical composition of prostatic fluid, the fluid that makes up the majority of semen. Some women may produce greater amounts of fluid from these glands than others, which explains why some women release a large amount of fluid during an orgasm while others do not… Not all women have the capability of ejaculating and those who do cannot each time they have intercourse. It is also not something that takes place every time a female experiences an orgasm.”

Great. So not only is the information hard to find, but the news isn’t so great, either. Some of us can do it and some of us cannot? Those of us who can do it can’t do it every time?  And there is no way of knowing how to make it happen?!

Despite the lack of scientific information, however, there are an abundance of first-hand accounts (like this one).  There are also guides like this one, claiming that any woman can learn how to ejaculate. But I’m skeptical; I’ve had plenty of g-spot stimulation in my life and never felt like I might explode. I have, however, had plenty of insanely intense orgasms. And that’s gonna have to be good enough for now.

We thought we’d help and every Thursday our friend Dr. Lissa Rankin will be answering your questions. The ones you couldn’t ask your doctor in person. Just leave your questions in the comments, or send em over to us. (We’ll keep it all anonymous for you.) Dr. Lissa will answer anything – really, anything – about sex and other lady things. Don’t be shy; she’s waiting for ya!

Q: This is a really gross question, but I have to ask someone.

I discharge…a lot. And it’s not just around the time of my period. It’s random and plentiful. Ew. Anyways, I don’t know what to do about it or if it’s caused by something serious? Help. I’m afraid to be with a boy because he’ll be super grossed out.

A: This isn’t gross, sweetie. It’s your body, and discharge is a normal part of being a woman. But I wish I had more information. Is your discharge white, clear, or greenish? Does it have an odor- like fish or fresh bread- or is it odorless? Do you have any vaginal itching or burning? Is it there all the time, or just in the second half of your cycle? Have you been checked for sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) like gonorrhea and chlamydia?

Without knowing those answers, it’s hard for me to comment on your specific situation. If you haven’t seen a doctor about this issue, it’s time. Go in, let your gyno take a gander, and make sure you’re not missing something. Sometimes, an increase in vaginal discharge is the only sign we have that something’s going on down there.

But I’m going to assume that you’ve seen a doctor and that you don’t have a vaginal infection, STD, or abnormal pap smear.  If we’ve ruled those out, we’re left with the fact that every woman makes some vaginal discharge, and every woman is different. The amount of discharge your body makes depends on your own glands, your hormones, your anatomy, medications you might be taking such as birth control pills, and where you are in your cycle.

It’s common for your body to make more discharge at certain times of the cycle, as the menstrual cycle is under hormonal control, and those hormones can affect production of secretions. It’s also normal to make more discharge when you’re turned on – thus the wetness you feel when you’re sexually excited.  If you’re taking birth control pills, you may notice more discharge from the estrogen in the pill. Also, if your cervix happens to have the glands on the outside of the cervix instead of the inside (a normal variant we call ectropion), you may make more discharge.

If your doctor has told you you’re normal, there’s no need to worry. Trust me, guys will be so honored to be down there that they won’t be turned off by your discharge. In fact, some guys find a wet vagina to be even more stimulating. Some women have very dry vaginas and would die to have your problem.  It’s all part of accepting our bodies just as they are and  loving ourselves, secretions and all.