I WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD

I became aware of my longer labia when I was about 13, back then it didn’t bother me so much but as I grew and became more aware of my sexuality my labia became a massive insecurity of mine. I used to look for solutions online - I even bought some creams that claimed to shrink your labia (bullshit), and I even considered having surgery but I didn’t know how to bring it up with my family. Then one day (quite recently) I started to accept the way my labia are and I started to take better care of it. And now I wouldn't change it for the world! I love my labia so much.

L. - 18 years old

I LOVE MY LABIA

When I was younger, I was extremely self conscious about my labia and pubic hair. I spent a lot of time and money on waxing and hair removal, and had considered surgery to shorten my inner labia (even fantasized about doing this myself from time to time). I would even urge my early sexual partners not to look at my vulva during sex! I have finally reached a point where I love my labia and have become very sex positive since!

K. - 24 years old

WE ARE LIFE

After finding this group on Instagram I instantly fell in love. Seeing so many people come together and share their stories was amazing. I have always been super self conscious about my body ever since a young age, and once I got into high school my vulva became something I was self conscious about too. It all started with the boys talking about their stories from being with girls stirring around the halls of our school. Hearing them make fun of girls for having pubic hair, no pubic hair, different odors they had, the way it tasted, and to the way the vulva just looked to them made me wonder if I was normal? Could I possibly have a "pretty vulva"? It haunted me for years, and I never wanted to have sex with lights on, have oral sex, or have any guy close up to my vulva. I was too embarrassed and cared more about what those guys thought then what I felt about myself. Over the years with age I became more in touch with my sexuality, I started to care less and less about what men have to say about my vulva because I know the my vulva and reproductive system is what creates life, it's the most magnificent thing I could imagine. I hope more women start to realize how truly perfect we are and that we have the greatest gift ever to this planet...life. We are life. ❤️

H. - 26 years old

I FELL IN LOVE WITH MYSELF AND MY VULVA

My personal story is quite simple: I have always struggled with self love and body acceptance, but one thing I’ve learned is that my vulva is beautiful, and nobody should be ashamed of their natural body. It is powerful, and it is unique! I’m so happy to have found a group like this, because it has opened my eyes to the many amazing ways bodies take shape. I fell in love with myself and my vulva, and so can you!

N. - 19 years old

TIME TO REALIZE MY POWER AND WORTH

Growing up I always had a complicated relationship with my body, and would relentlessly compare myself to porn models and be angry that I wasn't naturally "perfect". I have always been a very sexual being so it was a struggle. Especially dating in my teen years when the boys I decided to be intimate with were very ignorant about female anatomy and their negative comments towards my body really stuck with me for a while. I remember being commented on the smell of my vulva, and being shamed after bleeding from being accidentally scratched during foreplay. I was mortified. It made even more ashamed of my body. Needless to say I broke up with him shortly after and any other partner who made degrading comments to me I kicked to the curb. It took some time to realize my power and worth. Now that I'm older I am very in touch with my body and sexuality and no longer have negative feelings toward my vulva or body in general but it was work to get here. Self love takes time but the payout is huge. I also feel like there's more body diversity in porn recently and it's a beautiful thing. My current longterm partner is so good to me and says nothing but positive and loving things about my body. 5 years ago I decided to put a huge tattoo over my pubic area and it hurt like hell but I'm so happy with it. It's truly unique and is just another reason to love what I see in the mirror. I love the Vulva Gallery and wish this existed when I was a teenager but I'm happy that it exists now so anyone with a vulva can see how beautiful and unique we all really are!

H. - 25 years old

A CUTE COMPLIMENT

I am Chilean and even though Chile has advanced a lot and the youth are more open-minded; the older people are still very conservative. Sexuality and my naked body was always a taboo subject in my family. When I reached my adolescence and began to self-explore my body I noticed that I did not like it. There were so many stereotypes and prejudices that I put into my head since I was little that I always hated the way my vulva looked. I felt that it was such an ugly part of my body that I had to hide and feel ashamed of it. All this until I met my partner. Our first time was quite uncomfortable because I hated my body... He taught me to know even more and to love my body, my vulva, my clitoris and everything. To accept it as it is. In addition to that he says that I have a very pretty vulva and I feel that it is a cute compliment if the person you love says so."

C. - 21 years old

I PUSHED NEW LIFE INTO THE WORLD

I am a mother to a 5 year old, & I have learned a lot about my body throughout the years since giving birth; including how amazing and strong it is. One thing I was worried about while pregnant (as far as aesthetics are concerned) was that my inner labia would look different, & that my vagina would not feel as tight after labor, due to the social stigma we are constantly surrounded by about vaginas and vulvas changing after birth. Hint: it's not true. Our vaginas were made to stretch and snap back. Some women have had slight urine leaks while laughing or from other activities right after giving birth, but it tends to go away within a short amount of time for most. Even though I myself didn't personally experience anything of that nature, anybody that has, should not ever feel ashamed, because what they got in return was the gift of creating life. I think it is beautiful that the female body is capable of creating life. (For those who can't have children, you are no less amazing than a woman who can). To say the least, after I had my son my vagina snapped right back to its pre-pregnancy self and my inner labia looked and felt the same as it did before giving birth vaginally. Once I had some time to heal, it was the same as before. The vagina is a pretty neat organ, meant to be stretched for intercourse and child bearing. Its kind of like a strong hair band. If you stretch it before letting it go, it will snap back to where it was prior to stretching it. Some people are uneducated and make false statements about women with children being "loose" or looking different downstairs after having children. That's not true. The way that the inner labia look has nothing to do with how much intercourse one has had, nor does it change the way it looks after having children. I wish somebody would have told me this when I was pregnant. It would have saved me some anxiety. There is actually a chance I might be pregnant again (I am just waiting for a blood test to confirm it). If I am, I feel grateful to know better this time. I make a point to educate others when they make these wrongful statements, even if its meant in "jest"; because it's not only untrue, but body shaming is never cool in any form. Vulvas and labia come in all variations and are unique & lovely in their own ways. When I look at mine, I feel better than I ever did about it before, because I know that it helped push new life into the world. It is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I can't wait to find out for certain if I might be doing it again 9 months from now.

M. - 27 years old

I THINK IT'S ADORABLE

I wish this gallery existed 15 years ago. I grew up extremely insecure about my vulva. I would be disgusted looking at it in a mirror. I would try to fold the outer labia in so it would look like a clean slit, but of course it didn't stay, because that's not how my vulva is meant to look. I didn't want my partners to look at it, I wanted the lights off when they went down on me. I googled labiaplasty. I watched porn and never saw one that looked like mine - I thought mine was weird, different, ugly. It took a boyfriend who loved going down on me for me to realize that he actually loved it, and I could love it too. I was still insecure about it, I still felt embarrassed about how it looked and felt like I was different, but I was adjusting. Finally, this past year, with the discovery of The Vulva Gallery, a new relationship, and just constantly practicing self-love, I can say that I actually love my vulva. I think it's adorable. I love how my clitoral hood protrudes. I love my purple labia. It's so exposed, floral, open. I think it's beautiful (along with all the vulvas in this gallery). Thank you for your gallery. It has honestly shifted paradigms in me and has helped me along my journey of self-love and gratitude.

C. - 28 years old

I AM GOLDEN

I've been thinking a lot about what I wanted to share, what was the most important message for me to share. I've looked at the portrait every day, from the day I got it. To this day it warms my heart. There is so much diversity in vulvas which is such a beautiful thing.

Being a ginger, I remember the first time someone asked me if the carpet matched the drapes, called me fire crotch and had some prenotion about my sexual desires because of the color of my head- and pubic hair. This had me believing that there was something wrong with me and my pubic hair for years. I even questioned if my sexual desires were wrong because they didn't align with the color of my pubic hair. Looking at this portrait every day reminds me that I am golden.

A. - 19 years old

STARTING TO CHERISH MY RED PUBIC HAIR

As many others already featured in this gallery, I have struggled with the appearance of my vulva. Actually, the thing I was most insecure about, is something you cannot see in my portrait. I am a natural redhead and my pubic hair is also red. Growing up with it, I didn’t realize that might be something special until people began asking me about it. I don’t mind talking about it with friends, but sometimes complete strangers came up to me asking if “the carpet matches the curtains” and things like that. I felt as if some guys were only hitting on me to find out how redheads look “down there”. So I began to completely shave my pubic hair and decided to never let anyone know its color. It was only some time ago that I began to cherish my red pubic hair like I always did that on my head. When I saw the picture of the vulva with red and golden pubic hair on the vulva gallery, I think I completely overcame my issues. I still shave because I just feel better that way, but I don’t mind stubbles and people’s words don’t get to me anymore.”

L. - 26 years old

MY ACCEPTANCE JOURNEY

I grew up in a very nudity and sex positive household, where we talk about everything. I always knew a lot about sex and bodies, because my brother and I were allowed to ask whatever regarding the topic. 

Although I had such a body positive upbringing, loving my vulva was very hard for me. There are/were three factors that made me uncomfortable: 

Factor one: I have one very long labia and because I didn’t know better, I thought it was abnormal. When I showed it to my mum and told her, that I felt like my vulva was ugly, she didn’t really make me feel better at first, because she hadn’t seen such a long labia before, either. We went to the doctor and she told me, that I could get surgery, if I felt that insecure about it. I never did, because I was too scared, and I am so glad I didn’t! After I started having sex, I didn’t grow more confident in the beginning, because people mistook my labia for my clitoris, but I somehow, as I grew older and had other sex partners, cared a bit less about it and found more pleasure in sex and my vulva. 

The second factor that always bothered me though, was the hair and the smell/taste. I’m doing permanent hair removal at the moment (aka laser treatment), because not being hairy makes me feel cleaner and I feel more comfortable when I’m naked. I feel like, everyone just needs to find out what suits them best, if they want to have hair, shave it partly, or remove it completely– just experiment, until you feel happy. 

The third and last factor that I am currently struggling with, is a little scar I have, because I had a small heart surgery and they put tubes from my inner thigh up into my heart. The scar is, as you can see, indeed small and it might not stay forever, but it is still something that bothers me a little. It’s part of who I am and part of my story, but I don’t look at it that way all the time. I see it as a „flaw“, but I’m getting better at accepting it. It’s weird that the scar bothers me so much, because (as you can see) I have a birth mark too, but I never felt insecure about it, ever. I always loved it. 

I love being part of this amazing project, because it has surely been helping me a lot on my acceptance journey and I hope my story can be of some help or at least part of the bigger picture, showing the wonderful diversity of the human (and female) body.

K. - 21 years old

ASYMMETRY

My biggest source of shame concerning my vulva was always the asymmetry of my inner labia—one is visibly larger and has a different shape than the other one. This shame originated in the fact that it hadn’t always been that way—one side began growing when I began pleasuring myself at a young age. I thought I was deforming myself, mutilating myself, and watched in deep shame as my right inner labia grew over the years. I don’t know to this day if it actually grew because of me pleasuring myself or if it just grew because that’s what bodies do. Interestingly, as I was taking the front angle picture for my vulva portrait, I realized with surprise that I can’t even see my apparently large inner labia at that angle. I got into the habit of tucking it away over the years, but even untucked it is not visible. All these years spent on dreading my huge, one-sided, deformed inner labia, and it turns out I can’t even see it. Now I try to be thankful for my cute little vulva, and even my one-side-longer inner labia. And I am thankful to Hilde, who is the creator behind this lovely and empowering project. When I came across the Vulva Gallery, I knew I had to be a part of it. And I am in love with my portrait! Thank you!!! And thank you to all sharing the stage with me! ;-)

M. - 25 years old

LOOKING AT MY OWN BODY WITH LOVE

I just recently started following your gallery on Instagram and was so happy and inspired when I found it. I started hating my body early on in life because of the way society conditions us to see beauty and my vulva was one of my most hated parts. I have been through many negative experiences, have been told that vulvas similar to mine are a result of promiscuousness, and I even remember being shamed by friends when I pointed out a vulva that looked like mine in an art galley like this one. Since then, I have learned to redefine my conceptions of beauty and take back my body for myself. Making the decision to get a vertical hood piercing was a big step in this direction. Not only has it helped me increase my confidence and pleasure within my sex life, but it gave me the power to have autonomy over my vulva rather than treating it as if it was an object for others. It has helped me look at my own body with love and acceptance rather than objectification and judgement. I still often struggle with my own self deprecating thoughts sometimes, but communities like this make a world of difference. Thank you so much for providing a platform for this conversation. Everyone is so uniquely beautiful and should never have to feel ashamed or afraid about their bodies! I would be honored to be part of your gallery.

A. - 22 years old

NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE, NEW LOVE

I’m 27, and I don’t really remember why I suddenly just started feeling weird about the way my vulva looked. But I remember the exact moment — when my boyfriend at the moment asked me to join him in the bathtub. It meant I was going to be standing in front of him at first and then I needed to step over the side of the bathtub. Right in front of him as he’s sitting in it. I did it, and it went well, and he was nothing but great to my body. 7 years and several boyfriends after — none of them ever commenting on it — I’m still struggling to accept my vulva. I was insecure and weird about it, all by myself, all in my head, and I think I’m finally coming to loving it, and I mean LOVING. New Year, new life, new love. Thank you for what you are doing, there are no words to describe the healing effect it has.“

D. - 27 years old

OUR DIFFERENCES MAKE US THE SAME

So much of the time it feels like we're walking on a tightrope. We want to stand out and yet be part of the crowd. We celebrate difference and denigrate it at the same time. So often our bodies, our vulvas, get caught up in this tension. With the added complexity of shame, desire, secrecy, and power. As a heterosexual girl who grew up in a culture where the words 'communal changing room' struck horror in my heart, my interactions with other vulvas has been minimal. And I learnt that secrecy and invisibility are not conducive to a positive body image. Projects like The Vulva Gallery show the life-changing power of art and representation. They literally shine a light on the parts of ourselves that are so often shrouded in darkness. My own relationship with the way my vulva looks, my appreciation of it, is changing every day I hop onto Instagram and see another lovely portrait, another story. These portraits help me see that it is our differences that actually make us all the same.

V. - 35 years old

MANY COLOURS AND SHAPES

Many times I used to look in the mirror and feel disgusted about my vulva, since one of my lips is a little bigger than the other. I even considered undergoing labiaplasty in the past, and I was ashamed that my sexual partner would notice. Nowadays I feel good with what I have and nobody will change my mind, because I believe: there are as many colours and shapes as there are tastes.

C. - 18 years old

PERFECT TO ME

Personally I have struggled with the appearance of my vulva. I've never liked it and have always been extremely self conscious of her. I was always afraid to wear bikini bottoms as a kid due to the fact that my clitoral hood would poke out causing a bulge. It made going to public pools very difficult for me; because the other girls would have nothing showing and have such confidence. Growing older I realized I wasn't the only one. That was really an eye opener for me. I grew confidence and have learned to love my vulva. Some days are hard and I do sometimes wish I could have her perked up. But then I realize what I have is mine and it's always perfect to me.

J. - 22 years old

PROUD OF MY VULVA

I decided to get my clitoral hood pierced about 8 months ago. Though, I’ve never been a fan of genital piercings in general, I stumbled upon VCH piercings, got obsessed and went and got it done. I’ve always loved how my vulva looks and the idea of adorning my clit with jewellery is amazing to me. I’m glad that I’m one of the seemingly few people who is proud and infatuated with her own vulva. It breaks my heart when I hear people disparaging their vulvas, especially when the root of their insecurity comes from some stupid comment that a man has made about it, but I also understand because I’ve suffered from body dysmorphia and anorexia. Ironically, my vulva is one of the few parts of my body that I am perfectly comfortable with. I understand what it’s like to desperately seek validation in pictures of other people’s bodies because somewhere along the line, we’ve all been made to feel abnormal in our own skin.

C. - 26 years old

A LITTLE ADDED BLING

Male or female, bleached or pigmented, enhanced, hairy or shaven, for most of my life I haven't thought of ANY genitalia as being attractive whatsoever. I've commonly referred to sex as "bumping uglies" and still do so, only in a strictly joking matter now. 
The moment I grew to accept, love and appreciate my own lady bits, I also decided to go forth and break the norm a little bit by acquiring this piecing both for aesthetics and enhanced pleasure. I did months of research and went in really wanting it. Everything worked out perfectly. 
This addition gave me a boost of confidence and comfort with myself. I'm still my natural and unique self, just with a little added bling. I look in the mirror and flash myself at times thinking how cute it is, while often laughing at myself doing so. Something I didn't do before. Although I do often wonder why I couldn't flash and laugh at myself in the same way before the piercing, I wouldn't change a thing.

S. - 28 years old

VULVODYNIA

For the last 7 years, I've suffered from a depressed vagina. Can you believe that’s a real thing? I take antidepressants for it everyday. It's a condition called vulvodynia, which causes persistent pain in my labia and at the entrance to my vagina. For the 2 years before I'd been diagnosed, I would often wake up in the night in tears from the sunburn-like pain radiating from my vulva. Doctors told me it was thrush, dermatitis - even allergies to soap powder. I tried lotions, pessaries, ice packs, huge cotton undies. Sometimes I couldn't sit down, I felt unsexy and unfeminine. For me, finally taking tablets and being able to control some of the pain is a tiny triumph. I know there are lots of women out there struggling with vulval pain which often goes misdiagnosed and mistreated. It's because we don't talk about our bodies enough, and vaginal problems are something we've become ashamed of. Don't let years pass you by before you take control of your vaginal health. If you've had similar symptoms, you might have vulvodynia. Go ask your doctor for a full check up. Self care is best care ♥️

V. - 26 years old