Everything You Didn’t Learn in Sex Education About The Vagina

Do you know the difference between the vagina and the vulva? Research shows that many people don’t know the right words for this important reproductive anatomy, so let’s dive into the basics. » Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker » Watch more Body Language! http://bit.ly/BodyLanguagePlaylist » Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com When most folks talk about female genitals, they often say vagina. But the vagina is very specifically just the canal inside the body—it’s internal. The vulva is where most of the fun stuff is: it’s all the female genitalia on the outside of the body. We’ve got the mons pubis, or the fatty tissue that protects the pelvis. Then we’ve got the outer lips, the labia majora. These are fleshy and grow pubic hair, and inside those are the inner lips, the labia minora. Both the inner and outer labia are there to protect the parts underneath them, like the urethral opening, where your pee comes out. And under the surface of the labia are two glands that sit on either side of the vaginal opening. These are called Bartholin’s glands. When someone is aroused, blood flow to the genitals increases, and this can stimulate those glands to produce moisture—a mix of water and proteins. This is what’s happening when people talk about ‘getting wet’— it’s natural lubrication that gives anything entering the vagina a bit of a smoother ride. Of the vagina, let’s address a big myth: the hymen. For centuries, people thought that vaginas have a ‘seal’, that the hymen must be ‘broken’ when something is inserted. It’s all wrapped up in the social concept of virginity (which is a topic for another time) but essentially—the hymen is just a thin flap of skin inside the vaginal opening. For most people, it has at least one hole in it, usually more, and it doesn’t actually break, it gets stretched by physical exercise, by using a tampon, or yeah—by penetrative sex. But that doesn’t always hurt, there’s not always blood, and most hazy pop culture id