Shan Boodram: Are my labia too long?

Does my vagina smell bad? 

Am I supposed to be shaving my pubic hair?

These are just a few of the questions I hear every day as a sex educator. The vulva and the vagina can feel like they’re shrouded in mystery.

So let's change that! 

Because from the superstar clitoris to the billions of micro-organisms hanging out in vaginas, there's a lot of amazing stuff going on down there. 

Hi! I'm Shan Boodram, and this is Crash Course: Sex Ed. 

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You know how when someone makes a penis joke, it's usually light-hearted and funny, but then you go talking about vulvas and suddenly you're getting weird side-eye? 

No? Just me?

Here's what I'm getting at: what's considered "female anatomy" can be tangled up with shame. 

Take the word "pudendum." It's a medical term for genitals that usually refers to the vulva and associates, and it comes from a Latin word that means "to be ashamed."

And that matters. Not just because we're stigmatising anatomy that roughly half the population has, but also because studies have shown that people who felt bad about their vulva and vagina were less likely to enjoy sex, or seek medical care when they needed it. 

The shame has also influenced how much we know the vagina and co. Most of our modern understanding of sexual anatomy has been shaped by centuries of male-dominated thinking and research —much of which was conducted without the input of women, or anyone who wasn't a cisgender man. 

Even a bunch of female organs are named after the male scientists who "discovered" them.

Like, fallopian tubes? Named after Gabriele Falloppio, who famously didn’t have any. 

Here's the deal, labias and genitals: the better we understand how all bodies work, the better off we are. So, let's get into it. 

First things first: all this is not the vagina. Everything you can see from the outside is the vulva. 

The technical name for this area above the vulva is the mons pubis. 

These two outer lips are the labia majora. 

Then you have the inner lios—the labia minora—and within them, two holes. 

This teeny one at the end of the urethra is the urethral opening, which is where urine comes out. 

And this middle one down here is the vaginal opening, which is the doorway to the vagina. 

The vagina is that inner canal beyond the vaginal opening... and thats it. Vulva, external; vagina, internal.

When there's nothing inside a vagina, its more of a flat envelope than a gaping tunnel.

It's an average of just over two inches long. But during arousal? It can expand up to eight inches... to make room for whatever it is you've got going on. 

Meanwhile, on the outside, the vulva extends all the way down here. This space of delicate tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus is called the perineum.

You can learn more about these parts in Crash Course: Anatomy & Physiology. 

But for now, let me introduce you to this superstar: the clitoris. 

It's tucked under the clitoral hood, but don't let its size fool you. The part that we can see is just the tip of the iceberg. 

The clitoris is actually a large, complex structure that extends inside the pelvic cavity, and it's made up of the same kind of spongy erectile tissue as the penis. 

Its full structure wasn’t uncovered until 2005—and this time, by a woman: Australian urologist Helen O'Connell.

Keep in mind, the penis was fully anatomically described as early as 35 BCE, so the clitoris has been waiting a long time for the spotlight. 

The clitoris has over 10,000 nerve endings, and one of its main purposes is sexual pleasure, hence the superstar status. 

We'll talk more about it in future episodes. 

But for now, let's answer some questions from the Intimate Inbox. I'll do the honours. 

Alright, the first question... "My vulva doesn't look like the one on the poster in my health class. Is there something wrong with it?"

You know what? Most people's vulvas do not look like that.

The inner lips can be longer than the outer lips. Both sets of labia can be different sizes or lengths. 

Your pubic hair can be bushy, wispy, curly, or straight. 

Your clitoris might be smaller or larger, and all of this diversity—as long as you're not in pain or something's affecting your quality of life—is normal. 

You might trim, shave, or wax your pubic hair for personal comfort or for intimacy, or you might not! There's no right way to landscape your lawn, if you know what I'm saying. 

And here's another one. "Why is my skin down there darker than the rest of me?"

That's totally normal, too! 

Everyone's skin has melanin in it, the pigment that gives skin its colour.

Around your genitals, these pigment-producing cells are super sensitive to hormones, and our hormones are really active in these areas. 

When the two interact, they create more pigment. Simple as that. 

"What's with all the wetness?"

You might have heard that when someone with a vulva gets aroused, they get "wet." And that's true!

During sexual arousal, more blood flows to the genital area. That makes these two little glands here, and these two little glands here, release fluid to lubricate the vaginal opening. 

Think of it as a natural lube. Fluid decreases friction, and just generally makes it easier for things to slide in and out of the vagina. 

But listen, vaginas get wet for all sorts of reasons. 

One of the most common ones? The big D: discharge. 

If you've ever looked in your underwear and been like, "Uhhhhh, what is that?" it's probably discharge, which is the vagina's wash cycle.

The vagina cleans itself by shedding old cells, and it keeps the tissue healthy and protected with moisture. 

Vaginas produce around a half to a full teaspoon of discharge every day, but the fluid and the amount of it varies from person to person and throughout the menstrual cycle. 

Some of that discharge is from the glands we talked about earlier, but some is also produced by the cervix: where the vagina ends and the uterus begins. 

Really, though, the only time you should worry about discharge is if it's different from your normal — like if it's green-ish or foamy, has blood in it when its not your period, or smells off. In those cases, do consider talking to your doctor. 

"Sometimes my discharge smells not bad, but kinda funky. Why is that?"

Great question! To find out, let's take a trip... inside the vagina.

Believe it or not, everyone's genitals are covered in microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

But don't panic— that's actually a good thing! The vagina is home to its own magnificent world of micro-organisms, mostly bacteria, and they're an essential part of keeping things safe and healthy. 

The invisible community is called the vaginal microbiome. 

Now, the research into all of this is pretty new, so there's still a lot that we don't know. And many studies have largely focused on white Western women, though new research shows that the makeup of the vaginal microbiome varies by ethnicity. 

But here's what we do know: 

The typical vaginal microbiome is mostly made up of bacteria called Lactobacillus. 

It's the same genus of bacteria that's found in yogurt and cheese, but it's not the exact same species.

These bacteria produce lactic acid, which keeps the vaginal environment on the acidic end of things. 

Now, if you've ever noticed that the crotch of your underwear wears out fast and gets bleached, that's because of the lactic acid. 

The vagina is usually between a 3.8 and a 5 on the pH scale, which puts it somewhere between the acidity of wine vinegar and cucumbers. This keeps yeast and other kinds of local bacteria in check. 

OK, back to the smell question. Everyone, especially people with vaginas, face a lot of social pressure to look and smell a certain way. 

How stuff smells down there depends on what's going on in the vaginal microbiome, which is heavily affected by hormones. 

Both semen and menstrual blood can also throw off the vagina's pH, because they’re more basic. Meaning "the opposite of acidic," not like, pumpkin spice latte basic. 

That said, if things smell fishy down there? That could be a sign that the microbiome is out of balance. 

But there's good news. 

While vulvas benefit from a nice wash with warm water, vaginas are self-cleaning.

You never need to use soap or any other kind of cleaning product inside your vagina. 

It's cliterally bad for you, because your pH can be thrown off if you disturb it too much. 

When the microbiome is out of whack, that can lead to inflammation, discomfort, and pain. 

Overall, just like with discharge, the only time you should worry about how your vagina smells is if it’s different from your normal. 

Vulvas, vaginas, and everything that goes with them are pretty amazing. And they're worth talking about and studying so that we can understand them just like any other part of the human body.

And when it comes to what's normal? If you have a vulva, the most important thing is learning what's normal for you, to keep your body healthy, safe, and feelin' in flow. 

Next time, we're turning the spotlight on penises. See you then. 

This episode of Crash Course: Sex Ed was produced in partnership with the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. If you're interested in learning more, visit their website for resources that explore the topics we discussed in the video today. 

Thanks for watching this episode, which was filmed at our studio in Indianapolis and was made with the help of all these nice people. If you want to keep Crash Course free for everyone forever, you can join our community on Patreon.