Varying Vulvas: Bodies don’t belong to the gender binary!

Vulvas are as diverse as eyes and noses: no two are the same! In a culture where vulvas are so heavily policed, judged, scrutinized, and sexualized it can be really challenging to care for your vulva with kindness and consideration. Queer and trans folks are often the most negatively affected by this culture of conformity, given that sexual health curriculums, information resources, and healthcare facilities are generally not constructed with us in mind. Sometimes, we’re just an afterthought. Sometimes, we’re purposefully excluded and othered. Regardless of intention, the result is often the same: feeling uncomfortable or unsafe to seek care when we need it leads to worse health outcomes for the LGBTQ+ community overall.

Caring for a vulva outside the gender binary can be challenging, emotional, scary, joyful, pleasurable, uncomfortable, painful, exciting, and more! There are as many different experiences of having a vulva as there are experiences of gender and sexuality – infinite! Embracing and caring for our queer and trans vulvas is an act of resistance in a culture that seeks to erase and assimilate us.

These crocheted vulvas represent this colorful and diverse array of experiences. Different pubic hair texture, labia length, clitoris shape, and more are all “normal” because there’s no one body or experience that is the standard, especially for those in the LGBTQ+ community. My body doesn’t belong to the gender binary, and neither does yours.