Doodling penises is commonplace in bathroom stalls, notebooks and anywhere else one might doodle. Vulvas should be just as commonplace.
Vulva refers to the external part of genitalia for people with vaginas. The vulva includes the labia minora and majora, clitoral hood and vaginal opening.
Drawing a vulva is just as easy as drawing a penis and should be just as funny.
When people draw penises as jokes, they are seen as silly or funny crass humour. Drawings of vulvas in public places, on the other hand, are seen as “gross” or “weird.” It is time to change this rhetoric.
Vulvar imagery is often frowned upon in North American society. A 2015 ad for period underwear was pulled from New York City subways after it was deemed inappropriate for displaying images of fruit that looked vaguely vulvar in shape. Advertisements for sex toys—often used for the pleasure of people with vulvas—were also banned in 2018. This represents a harmful double-standard when compared to advertisements for erectile dysfunction medication which were permitted to run a year later.
Accepting penises in public forums and not vulvas is just one instance of sexism that suggests penises are okay for the public eye, but vulvas are not. This contributes to the idea that the bodies and sexual pleasure of people with vulvas are dirty or shameful.
It also contributes to the orgasm gap. Studies have shown that while 95 per cent of heterosexual men almost always orgasm during sex, only 65 per cent of heterosexual women do. The scarcity of vulvar depictions leads to a stigma about female pleasure that experts say contributes to this gap.
Next time you feel like drawing a dirty doodle, consider a vulva. Your comedic reputation—and your sex life—will thank you.
Featured graphic from file.
