I grew up wanting to hide my vulva. It wasn’t especially ugly or unappealing, but I suppose I had limited understanding of what vulvas actually looked like and I was also conditioned to think all things sexual were a sin. So, if ever my inner labia peaked out, I was mortified! 

Fast forward a few years, in my mid twenties I found myself off grid in the jungle in Costa Rica alone for two days. What would anyone else do but draw their own genitals?! I sat there with a mirror and drew my vulva in several states. It was wonderful. 

As the years went on I came to enjoy my vulva more and was less scared about hiding it. Then came pregnancy and childbirth. What a wild thing it was to give birth naturally and have my baby come through this amazing portal! I looked at it often after birth as I had two big tears and wanted to know what was happening down there. 

It was like I owned a whole new and different vulva… it was more open, my labia were slightly different, I could see part of my anatomy I had never been able to see before! It took a long time to reintegrate this and actually feel sexual about my vulva again. What an incredible thing.