Vagina Dialogues: A sociocultural exploration of veeple and their vulvas

Vaginas have, historically, been shrouded in taboo (Braun and Wilkinson, 2001) and remain a rare topic of academic literature beyond biomedical sciences (Bell and Apfel, 1995). Despite this, I argue we are in a ‘cultural moment’ when vulvas and vaginas are being addressed more openly than in previous decades. The aim of this research was to ask people with vaginas (whom I dub ‘veeple’) what life is like with one. I interviewed 25 veeple (aged 21-79) to discuss their experiences of their vulvas and vaginas through different phases of life (including menarche, childbirth and menopause), the relationship between their genitalia and their sense of self (including gendered embodiment, particularly for those participants that did not identify as women), and how these experiences are influenced by, and continue to contribute to, changing cultural meanings of ‘womanhood’. I investigate this topic across three major themes, reflected in the three analysis chapters: The Talking Vagina, The Embodied Vagina and The Cultural Vagina. In examining ‘vagina talk’, I discuss the multiple layers of taboo that affect it and how veeple negotiate these in order to communicate effectively about their bodies and experiences. In discussing the physical embodiment of vaginas, two main issues arose from the interviews: understanding when it is considered acceptable to touch oneself, and managing the continual threat of another’s unwanted touch. Finally, in relation to the cultural vagina, I introduce the notion of a ‘womanhood clubhouse’, in which veeple are forced to negotiate varying degrees of ‘enoughness’, which for the cisgendered women I interviewed manifested as ‘woman enough’. Throughout this thesis I argue for the explicit inclusion of gender non-conforming people in gender and sexuality research, and conclude that vaginas still occupy hidden spaces, are talked about in hushed voices and are dismissed to the periphery.