Obviously I’m spending waaay too much time on the interwebz these days.
My elaborate system of RSS feeds, Twitter messages, email alerts, and random blog surfing just pointed me to a website called “Twirlit“, with the subtitle What Women Really Want. What women really want, apparently, is a special scented soap cleanser for their ladyparts: thanks to a Twirlit review, I learned of Propoline® For Women Multi-Gyn Cleanser. From Twirlit’s product review:
I’ve been using this product for years. My husband always makes fun of me for it, he calls it my “vagina wash” but Propoline Mylti-Gyn cleanser is an all over, hypoallergenic body wash that also happens to be beneficial for your vaginal area.
“Vagina Wash”? Vaginal area? Sorry, Eve Ensler, but this is one of my biggest linguistic pet peeves. The body part we’re talking about here is the vulva. The vagina is an internal organ, and does not require special soap. Vaginas do not require any soap, as they’re self-cleaning, just like eyes (and in some households, ovens). Washing your vagina is called douching, and is more likely to disrupt the normal ph balance of the vagina than do anything beneficial. Douching can even lead to health problems, such as vaginal irritation, bacterial infections, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
This, by the way, is why the terms douche and douchebag are frequently used to describe anti-feminist people and actions: douches are unnecessary, harmful to women, and sold to women with assaults on their self-esteem.
Mutli-Gyn Cleanser is safe to use during menstruation, after sexual intercourse, after swimming or hot tubs and is especially calming to the skin if you have a dreaded yeast infection.
“Safe to use during menstruation.” You know, pretty much any soap is safe to use during menstruation. Or after swimming, sex, or hot tubs, or any other time you want to wash your vulva. Just don’t use it internally. It even says on the Multi-Gyn package, For External Use Only. In other words, it’s a not douche. Do not use in YOUR VAGINA.
I’m so glad that skin care companies are finally realizing that a woman’s sensitive area is different than the rest of the skin on our bodies. I stock up on this stuff as my local apothecary is always running out and don’t feel guilty because it’s surprisingly affordable (around $14.00 a bottle).
$14.00 for SOAP is “surprisingly affordable”?!? No recession in your neighborhood, huh? Where I come from, $14 for an 8 1/2 ounce bottle of body wash is hella-expensive. A bar of Ivory soap costs 69¢ and does the job just as well.
To be fair here, a woman’s “sensitive area” is different than the rest of her skin (for one thing, it’s sensitive!). But that doesn’t mean it requires a $14 bottle of special soap.
The idea that vaginas and vulvas are smelly or somehow ‘extra dirty’ and require special cleansers or deodorants is product of advertising. And of misogyny. The fact that someone is selling – and women are buying – a special “Multi Gyn” cleanser at 14 bucks a pop is sign of the effectiveness of both.
Vulva pendant image used with kind permission of QuiteCntrary.etsy.com.
