The Mirror Thing

[HoneyPot]

Are you familiar with the mirror thing?
The Mirror Thing is something people with vulvas may do where they put a mirror between their legs to see what their vulva looks like.
Have you done it? When did you do it? What was the experience like for you?

I think I first did it when I was about 10 or 11, I didn’t know it was a thing people did, I was just kinda like ..  I wonder if I’ll be able to check it out if I use a mirror..
I was just sort of like “Wow! There’s quite a bit going on down there!” I wasn’t grossed out or anything I was just like, shit that looks a bit complicated!

[EarthMama]

Okay so I was quite a bit older when I did this for the first time- perhaps 14 or 15. I’d read about the tip in a magazine and felt like the bravest soul in the world. I remember being completely taken aback at what I saw- like shocked and confused- I clearly had no idea what a vulva looked like. 
I am totally different person so many years on, and recall having this conversation with my older sister only last year. I showed her an image of the artwork ‘The Great Wall of Vagina’ http://www.greatwallofvagina.co.uk/home. This is basically a sculpture of imprints of real and varied vulvas. My sister had no idea they looked this different from one another…scary. We gotta educate early!
Has anyone else been shocked (or is secretly still shocked) to discover how different vulvas can look?

[tea]

Omg as soon as I read the thread title I was like BIG MOUTH??? 😆 I was quite old when I first did this, I was freshly 20 I think? I was always scared to look at myself down there to be honest but curiosity got the better of me and I gave in. I was really shocked to see how different I looked compared to vulvas I’ve seen in the media before.

@EarthMama I loooove that artwork so much! One of my faves!

[HoneyPot]

Yessssss that art work is so good @EarthMama ! And it’s awesome that all vulvas are so different! When my brother started to have multiple female partners he said to me “I just had no idea there was such variation in vaginas!” Like people honestly have no clue – regardless of whether they have one or not!

[TinyTeddy]

Ah the mirror thing! I can’t remember the first time I did it but I was not impressed. It was all very alien to me, due to the fact that I had no idea what was going on down there. I needed a ‘Big Mouth’ commentator to guide me through it haha. 

@EarthMama I remember seeing that art work in a gallery and my friend and I were mesmerised. Even as adults we had no idea how much they could vary. I do remember Dolly magazine sealed sections having photographs of different vulvas, however it didn’t have the same effect as the art work did. I think age has a lot to do with that!    

[Aunt_Flo]

I have two full length mirrors, so it’s been very easy for me to see. Even though I’d seen myself a lot I was still really self conscious and thought mine wasn’t ‘right’. 

That’s long since passed though! 

I LOVE the mirror scene in Orange is the New Black where they discuss how many holes women actually have.  😀

[HoneyPot]

Yesssss! The Orange Is The New Black scene is so good too! And obvi the Big Mouth one is so beautiful 😀 There is one in Sex and The City too! Charlotte does it for the first time after much encouragement from Samantha. Thanks, Television. 

[peachy]

Omg yes I did this when I was like 17! I always found anatomy diagrams in high school biology textbooks looked so alien but once I could link them back to how my vulva looked it just helped immensely with my sexual health knowledge and how sex and pleasure worked. It makes me so happy tv shows bring it up! 

[peachy]

I do remember just looking down and seeing one lonely pubic hair when I was 12 and FREAKING out. Took me a year to look back down again and I had grown a bush!!! So I am a total advocate for getting familiar and comfortable with your body from an early age hahaha! 

[EarthMama]

@TinyTeddy I remember those sealed sections too!! But I agree thatI wasn’t quite receptive to seeing them at that age. It also was super helpful when my friends began talking about the look of their own vulvas- I think I really only started to believe it then!

[HoneyPot]

Yeah good point @peachy ! It makes so much sense to get comfy with ya bod, cause like.. you’ll have it forever! And you’re totally right about the diagrams, they are so standard and always black and white so it can be a bit hard to figure it out on an actual human.

[MintMilano]

As someone without a vagina, I can only say that I have seen this a few times in TV shows so I knew it was a thing, but seeing how eye-opening it was for you all is actually kind of eye-opening for me!

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