Websites teach women about their vaginas

Women feel so ashamed to talk about their vaginas that when Libresse‚ a sanitary product manufacturer‚ asked the public to send in questions about their vaginas‚ some even admitted a fear of visiting a doctor.

The questions people asked showed a lack of basic knowledge about their bodies.

Some asked simple things such as why their pubic hair was a different colour to the hair on their heads‚ said Network BBDO brand strategist Kerry Hibbard.

One woman asked why one side of her vagina looked different from the other side‚ she said.

"A lot of people feel like they can't go to the doctor and ask: can I do home remedies instead of seeing a doctor?" said Hibbard.

She encouraged everyone to see a doctor if they had questions or problems with their vagina.

Libresse launched its campaign "Unembarrassed" on Tuesday‚ trying to get women to talk about their monthly periods.

Hibbard said people cannot talk about their bodies and use metaphors such as "shark week"‚ or "red Ferrari" or "aunty flow" to discuss menstruation.

The sanitary wear maker found a way to poke fun at the inability to speak directly about menstruation and started a website‚ where people can make their own satirical ads talking about periods with inappropriate words to describe them such as dinosaur‚ saxophone‚ volcano and disco ball.

"We want women to think these metaphors are ridiculous and be able to speak directly about their bodies and periods‚" said Hibbard.

The problem with a lack of knowledge is that teenagers are completely taken aback by puberty‚ said gynaecologist Mpume Simelane. "The reason some parents and teachers don’t teach children about puberty‚ pregnancy and menstruation is that they are afraid the teens will go out and have sex. Chances are that they are already having sex or have seen it somewhere before‚" she said.

She said boys and girl who didn’t know about puberty may experiment with sex without knowing it could lead to pregnancy.

Simelane said the silence about bodies and puberty means: "They get thrown into the deep end completely unprepared for puberty."

Globally‚ many girls only learn about menstruation when it happens to them.

She said‚ without accurate information‚ teenagers make mistakes. Puberty leads to raging hormones and teenagers need to be told about what is happening to their bodies.

"Boys don’t know either what is going on with them. They have raging testosterone."

The vagina varsity website gives information to anyone who wishes to learn about the vagina through emails and humorous videos.

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE