"Growing up in Iran, I never learned to admire and be proud of my vulva"

“Growing up in Iran, I never learned to admire and be proud of my vulva until I decided to educate myself on it. Gender double standards about the private parts make boys so proud of their penises while girls learn to hide and be ashamed of their vulvas. We have no sex education in schools either so girls are left knowing almost nothing about this precious part of their bodies which is so valuable and important. You all probably remember the cute names your parents gave you as a baby. Names like 'cutie pie' or 'little champ'. Well, one of those names used in Iran for boys which is considered to be cute is 'golden dick'! While they teach girls to call their vulva 'the thing”'or just try to deny its existence altogether. I remember always being called out for the way I sat as a kid because it was considered 'manspreading' or 'showing the shape of your vulva'.

We don't have many resources in Iran to educate ourselves about our genitals and sexual health. The ones that we do get our religiously fixed, a lot of times inaccurate and very hetero-normative. So we need to rely on online resources instead and pages like The Vulva Gallery make a huge difference! A page that is reliable and shows all vulvas are beautiful and normal.

When I turned into my teenage years, I decided to educate myself because of all the questions in my head about my vulva and vagina and because I felt so insecure about it. I learned to be proud of her and love her. Learned to admire her and thank her for all the pleasures she gives me. She’s so beautiful and nothing to be ashamed of."

– M, 24 years old, Iran (she/her)