The following exchange happened during the last-minute studying for Physiology (Urinary and Reproductive Physiology). Well, not exactly verbatim.
Me: (Speaking to a girl friend). You know, your vagina is a very beautiful organ
Girl Classmate: It's getting a bit creepy discussing that.
Me: What?! (Got surprised at this point because I was like practically praising their genitalia and yet, here she was acting all bothered and disturbed. I mean I would have totally understood had I been making disparaging remarks about their genitalia but I wasn't. I was like pouring praise upon praise about menstruation, ovulation and pregnancy. Seriously, it is a very beautiful topic. I can only appreciate what women go through intellectually; I don't have a vagina. Hmmm...imagine if I'd been born a woman; I'd be praising penises but I digress)
Me: There's nothing wrong with it; your reproductive cycle is a very beautiful process.
Clearly, there is something wrong when a biological male can freely discuss a woman's vagina while a biological female cannot. Not that I'm reducing women to their vaginas; I mean gender is a very complicated topic. Gender is something not just reducible to one's genitalia. But since I'm a scientist; I only can discuss something that is concrete. And in this case, the human female vagina.
Here I was, after studying the female reproductive tract intensively, spreading my new-found praise and appreciation for what women go through; only to be met with disdain by a biological female.
Women, there is nothing wrong with discussing your vagina. Don't let anyone else discuss it for you (not even me, even if I am a well-intentioned fellow). Own it; spread your own vagina-lore. I mean I understand about treating your vagina as sacrosanct, I agree it is a very divine organ, but does it have to be coupled with profanity. Why does the mere word "vagina" cause you alarm?
See, the problem I have with this line of thinking is that it fosters ignorance of sexual matters. And if we extend this line of thinking further; it fosters sexism in the bedroom. Look at the recent RH Bill debates when Senators Santiago and Cayetano inserted the line "safe and satisfying sex" only to be met with laughter among 5 male senators. And further compounded by Senator Escudero's assumption that just because penile penetration happened; the woman gets an orgasm which of course, is not the case.
And contrast this with the proliferation of penis vandalism; there were many such drawings in Ateneo. So, discussing a penis is okay while vaginas are profane? See the sexual double-standard. Not discussing about the vagina is a very sure way of avoiding unwanted pregnancies; oh wait...why did I just see a girl-child carrying a baby just days ago?
Think on this: Of all organs, only the vagina is capable of physically touching all of humanity. Well, excluding medical interventions such as Cesarian sections and test-tube babies; safe to say, the vagina can touch/is touching/will touch some of humanity. As I write this, a new-born baby has been graced by passage through a vagina. See, nothing profane about your genitalia and in fact, a very beautiful and powerful organ.
So please, stop thinking of your vaginas as profane and freely discuss it.
I guess one can blame the way some girls were brought up. Girls were taught to be "mayumi" and sex is mostly taboo topic at home. Girls were taught not to get all too excited or interested about having sex because they may be perceived as "whores". Also, some girls think that being too vocal about their sexuality might make some men perceive them as being "easy". It's hard to beat or correct this. But hopefully, some of your female friends, since they are in medical school, will wake up someday and realize they've imprisoned their minds all these years. And what for? To keep an image of being "conservative"?
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