PSA: You don’t need a vagina to be/identify as a woman. So if you think that this is what my ol’ post is about, I don’t want your boring view. Bye. 

There are many euphemisms for vagina, whether you say koekie, coochie or vajiggle-jaggle. We talk about about them but never really do. You’re just supposed to figure out periods, pain and pleasure by yourself, it seems.

Mostly, we never talk about what vaginas look like. I didn’t really see ones that ever looked like mine. The photos I came across were mainly of white women holding their hands in front of their petite, very expertly waxed hoo-haa.

Growing up I tried to figure out why I got hairy so quickly and why did my nether region look like that? I shaved/plucked/waxed and because I have wiry/coarse hair – things went awry. I just figured that this was my lot in life and that none of my friends ever experienced this.

And then this one moment happened. I was on tumblr, trying to avoid seeing porn gifs on my work laptop. I scrolled down a bit further and found an image of a brown vagina (like mine) and scarred (like mine). I stopped and my heart did a thing, because representation of what a body can look like is fucking incredible. I couldn’t believe it. Someone else had what I had, who would’ve thought?

I tweeted about it and the response was overwhelming.

I was like, look! A vagina with scars! Not a pornstar pussy. Wow. My life altered that day.

— patti lapel (@hey_alyx) March 14, 2017

It’s affirming to know that you’re not the only one and have other people share similar thoughts. I felt a little less alone talking about my scars and skin issues, some that have literally been hidden for over a decade.

Whether it’s honest chats about adult acne or images of bodies without Photoshop, we’d definitely feel a little more affirmed by it.

A scarred, hairy, uneven labia lipped vagina is still one to behold. And I hope you never feel less bc of it, truly. 💕

— patti lapel (@hey_alyx) March 14, 2017

Thanks for reading

x A