The first Vagina Museum just opened in the UK. Oh, don’t act so shocked! With so few men (and surprisingly, women) knowing so little about the vagina, it became necessary to blow it up and give people a tour around.
The first thing that comes to mind when you hear of a Vagina Museum would be the vulgarity (or vulvarity) of it. But rather than being sexual, it is more educative. In fact, that was the intention of the 28-year-old founder, Florence Schechter.
In 2017, Schechter found out that there was a penis museum that boasted of a collection of human and animal penises. But there was no museum for vaginas. So to fill up that hole, she founded a clean, inclusive, and prosaic hub for the female anatomy.
The Vagina Museum, which is open to all, aims to end stigma. It also means to highlight cervical health and to promote feminist and trans-inclusive rights. To add to that, Schechter wants women to know their bodies properly.
“According to a recent poll, more than half of women couldn’t label the vagina on a diagram,” Schechter said, before condemning “thousands of years of patriarchy.”
What’s inside?
The museum is set to open on Saturday. Its first exhibition is “Muff Busters: Vagina Myths and How to Fight Them”. It comprises rows of colored boards declaring myths alongside their corresponding fact. It first defines the vagina—not the “entire external genitalia, but… the area between your external vulva and cervix.”
The exhibition seeks to bust the myths surrounding birth control, periods, and vaginal and cervical health. Also, it seeks to eliminate the shame a lot of women feel about their bodies and their sexuality.
“I would like people to leave the Vagina Museum knowing that there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” concluded Schechter. “I want to get rid of the stigma, so we can start making progress towards equal rights and protecting women around the world.”