“Until I was 35 I thought I was peeing through the clitoris, I wasn’t aware there was something called the urethra. With these words, journalist and author Elise Thiébaut sums up everything that motivated her to write about the vulva, in her book To the delight of vulvas, co-written with midwife Camille Tallet. Then, to make it a show for teenagers, presented at the Wetoo feminist festival, third edition, this Saturday, September 10.
Did you know that the vulva has different glands, called Skene’s glands, for some, and Bartholin’s glands, for others? Can you place the “vestibule”? Or more simply, the urethra, the orifice through which urine comes out? There is a good chance not, and that is why the two stooges got down to the subject. “Because of this lack of knowledge, women will experience pain or discomfort that they won’t dare to talk about,” explains Elise Thiébaut.
Drawings of vulvas in the caves
Vaginosis, for example, a vaginal infection, is “very easy to treat”, explains Elise Thiébaut. But by ignorance, and as it causes a stronger smell than usual, the people affected will tend to wash more than usual in this place, or even to clean the area altogether. Which makes the problem worse, because it kills the vaginal flora, which is precisely what could help cure vaginosis.
Reducing ignorance, therefore, seemed essential, as well as restoring its letters of nobility to an organ perceived as shameful, because of the internalization of sexism. However, the vulva has not always been perceived as such. “There are many drawings of vulva before the Neolithic, more than drawings of penises. The vulva is the basis of the first beliefs because it gives life,” says the writer.
Treasure hunt
Language itself is full of deceptive words. Elise Thiébaut prefers to speak of “secretions” rather than white losses, which are not always white. The idea of “losses” gives the image of a useless substance, but, explains Elise Thiébaut, “it’s something magical that has a positive impact on our health. These are useful secretions to block infections and for everything related to fertility and sexual pleasure.
Saturday, at the fertile city, Elise Thiébaut intends to transmit to the teenage girls present this “look of wonder” on our body, with the idea of discovering organs as one goes on a treasure hunt. The young people will be able to send the authors questions by SMS, anonymized questions to which the speakers-actors will answer with humor and seriousness, and with a few stuffed animals. “It’s between the conference, the workshop and the show”, summarizes the author of the bestseller This is my blood.
Note that adults can also attend a second conference, earlier in the day, where we will talk about menopause and post-partum… Which obviously concern teenagers less.