I contacted the artist to ask if all of these vulvas were intact because I noticed some looked mutilated. She told me “Some are trans post op surgery.” I have a big problem with trans post ops being included in a “vulva diversity” video. Here’s why. 🧵
I contacted the artist to ask if all of these vulvas were intact because I noticed some looked mutilated. She told me “Some are trans post op surgery.” I have a big problem with trans post ops being included in a “vulva diversity” video. Here’s why. 🧵
The problem is most post op trans vulvas look like female genital mutilation. It is much harder to find post op photos today than in the past, but in 2019, I wrote a Quora post explaining how surgeons do a very poor job making these outcomes look like intact female vulvas.
If we incorporate post op trans vulvas into a cultural conception of “normal female anatomy” what we are doing is normalizing vulvas that look mutilated. I’m not trying to offend. I’m saying the cultural conception of a vulva needs do be that of an intact female vulva.
I will also say that it is not right to trans women that they have been led to believe that their vulvas look female when they don’t. All I’ve seen are missing frenulums. They are missing a clitoral body. The “glans” won’t look natural. And “labia minora” are typically tiny.
@MediClit @hatpinwoman Calling it a vulva supports the assertion that it is female anatomy. It is an inverted penis or a canal made from a section of bowel.
@MediClit so I guess since my labia looks different due to being stitched back together after blunt force genital trauma, my vulva no longer counts as “normal female anatomy” and is instead “mutilated”? this is a hurtful way to talk about any and all bodies!
@MediClit I *think* I know what you're trying to say, but the way in which you've chosen to say it completely misses the mark. "Mutilated" was the worst possible word choice here, if you're not trying to offend then you should probably try harder to be less offensive.
@MediClit I’m a body waxer, by profession. I’ve seen extra large clits, tiny labia, fat labia, you name it. Childbirth has mangled some. Menopause has shrunk others. What I tell my clients when they ask “am I normal?” is that nothing is normal and everything is normal.
@MediClit “I’m not trying to offend” Okay, then don’t refer to trans bodies as ‘mutilated’. Are you kidding me???
@MediClit The cultural conception of a vulva needs to reflect all vulvas humans might have, even one’s that aren’t “intact”.