Dr. Jen Gunter

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Vulva/Vagina Venn Diagram

September 20, 2015 6:12 pm

 

I’m sick of people forgetting the poor vulva and referring to everything in the female lower reproductive tract as vagina.

To help people sort it out I have created this Venn diagram.

vulva

There are many reason to know the difference.

  1. Knowing your own personal anatomy is empowering.
  2. If you have a partner you want them to know your anatomy. If they think it’s all about the vagina you may need a different partner. After all, the vulva has the clitoris.
  3. If you tell your doctor that your vagina itches when it is really your vulva (or vice versa) you may end up with the wrong diagnosis.
  4. No one confuses male anatomy, when people say penis they don’t really mean the testicles.
  5. Female anatomy shouldn’t be reduced to annoying euphemisms. Yes, va-jay-jay is horrible, but vagina as a catch all means it doesn’t matter enough to get it right or that we can only talk about female anatomy in some silly way.

So it’s not the Great Wall of Vagina, it’s the Great Wall of Vulva. And if you bake vagina cupcakes they better not have lips (labia).

 

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Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter

Categories: vagina, vulva

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25 Responses to “Vulva/Vagina Venn Diagram”

  1. […] anyone is wondering I LOVE HER. “… the difference between a vulva and a vagina … why women should not put garlic in their vaginas. A challenge on Instagram from a woman who […]

    By Sex News: BBC backs Louis Theroux exploiting sex workers, New Zealanders are eating sexy pavement lichen, Dr. Jen Gunter has a new book, and more - Violet Blue ® | Open Source Sex on August 15, 2019 at 9:00 am

  2. […] A Venn diagram of the difference between a vulva and a vagina. […]

    By This New Book Answers Every Vagina Question Youre Scared to Google | America Going Red on August 13, 2019 at 9:22 am

  3. […] A Venn diagram of the difference between a vulva and a vagina. […]

    By This New Book Answers Every Vagina Question Youre Scared to Google | Heartland News on August 13, 2019 at 9:17 am

  4. […] A Venn diagram of the difference between a vulva and a vagina. […]

    By This New Book Answers Every Vagina Question Youre Scared to Google – Fashion News and Views on August 13, 2019 at 8:19 am

  5. […] confirmed that the article in question referred to a vulva, and even included a Venn diagram from a 2015 post she’d written on her blog to show where the two […]

    By UK News Desk on March 1, 2019 at 2:09 pm

  6. […] confirmed that the article in question referred to a vulva, and even included a Venn diagram from a 2015 post she’d written on her blog to show where the two […]

    By A man tried and failed to ‘mansplain’ vaginas to a female gynecologist on Twitter – CapitolZero on March 1, 2019 at 1:54 pm

  7. […] confirmed that the article in question referred to a vulva, and even included a Venn diagram from a 2015 post she’d written on her blog to show where the two […]

    By A man tried and failed to 'mansplain' vaginas to a female gynecologist on Twitter | Andre Eger on March 1, 2019 at 1:33 pm

  8. I love the Venn diagram! This is a real source of irritation – no other body part gets ignored like the vulva.

    I think it’s also important to not that not all vulva having humans are women (just as not all penis having humans are men). In the interest of inclusive language- for humans and our anatomies.

    By Jackie Sanflippo-Zamora on February 24, 2019 at 1:02 pm

  9. […] her qualifications; let Bullen understand that vulva was, in truth, right; and connected to a post she discussed the distinction in between the vaginal area and the vulva, with a helpful Venn diagram […]

    By This dude who mansplained ‘vulva’ to a gynecologist gets blasted online | Tsunami Viral on February 18, 2019 at 9:29 am

  10. […] someone who is one, Dr Jen Gunter, has used the saga to repost links to her wonderful Venn diagram of the vagina and vulva. However, Mr Bullen’s point, such as it is, was worth making. It’s the same one as the […]

    By Vulvagate: why the words we use for our bodies matter – Mistaking histories on February 13, 2019 at 8:43 am

  11. Love your work. As a 25 year vulva cancer survivor advocate for the world to know that a vulva is NOT a vagina I applaud your work. I discovered the word Pudendum Latin meaning female genitalia – one who should and ought to be ashamed the shameful part of a woman so for hundreds of years the vulva has been called a vagina. Not anymore. http://www.kathmazzella.com VIVA LA VULVA

    By Kath Mazzella OAM on February 11, 2019 at 3:40 pm

  12. You had me until the penis/testicles analagy. No one is confusing vagina with ovaries here.

    By Joe on February 10, 2019 at 11:06 pm

  13. […] about anatomy have been documented in no less than one other study. (She’s written about it on her blog, as […]

    By In In the present day’s Unhappy Information, Half of Males (and Nearly as Many Girls) Do not Know The place the Vagina Is – Site Title on September 3, 2017 at 11:47 pm

  14. […] about anatomy have been documented in at least one other study. (She’s written about it on her blog, as […]

    By In Today's Sad News, Half of Men (and Almost as Many Women) Don't Know Where the Vagina Is - The Health Pilot on September 2, 2017 at 11:07 pm

  15. […] There are other questions here, of course, like ‘What part of the body are we talking about?’ The term ‘vulva’, for example, has in the past sometimes been used for the uterus. There is still plenty of confusion between ‘vulva’ and ‘vagina’ in the world of marketing, as usefully identified by Dr Jen Gunter. […]

    By Making a disease from a remedy: Trotula and vaginismus – Mistaking histories on July 26, 2017 at 1:57 am

  16. […] she is so interested in “health” she should at least get her anatomy right. I even have a handy Venn diagram she can consult. For steam to get into the vagina she would have to have her fingers inserted into […]

    By Gwyneth Paltrow is still steaming her vagina for $wellness. She’s still wrong. Here’s why. | Dr. Jen Gunter on July 20, 2016 at 8:09 am

  17. […] Dr. Jen Gunter, OB/GYN extraordinaire, recently channeled her own irritation at how the word “vagina” gets used as a stand-in for everything in the lower reproductive tract of people with uteri by creating this super-useful, highly-technical diagram: […]

    By Quiet please. The vulvas are talking. | coffee and a blank page on October 30, 2015 at 9:07 pm

  18. […] 1  You wouldn’t refer to your entire arm as your elbow, would you?  Exactly.  There are a lot of good reasons to make sure you’re using the right […]

    By PSA: That’s Not a Vagina on October 30, 2015 at 9:14 am

  19. Plus, some of the names are awesome. Vestibule sounds like something that would have a decorative antique umbrella stand in it.

    By Kerlyssa on September 24, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    1. And yours does not????

      By empressbarb on February 11, 2019 at 6:49 am

  20. Reblogged this on da Vinci Total Hysterectomy and commented:
    More thoughts from the great Dr. Jen Gunter …

    By elizabetcetera on September 21, 2015 at 4:42 pm

  21. YES! My absolute favorite is reading the user created “Parent’s Guide” on imdb, and someone says, “Her vagina is shown.” Dude, if her vagina was shown, this would be a completely different kind of movie!

    By Pamela, Pammie, Pamski on September 20, 2015 at 8:33 pm

  22. Ok, I can’t resist: wouldn’t a vagina cupcake be a donut?

    By Deirdré Straughan on September 20, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    1. A donut on top of a cupcake is a cervix cupcake

      By Dr. Jen Gunter on September 20, 2015 at 8:34 pm

  23. Awesome! I hate having to explain my intimate body parts to others but not as much as explaining HIS to him!
    How the heck do you live without having any idea how your body works?!

    By Erin on September 20, 2015 at 8:07 pm

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