So this post is bits and pieces of a few concepts. I want to start off with my diagnosis of endometriosis. After severe pain and heavy bleeding I had laparoscopic surgery and I was officially diagnosed with endo at the ripe old age of 13. My doctors basically told me I would have to be on some form of birth control the rest of my life to control the pain and to be able to have kids. I was also told at 13 that with endo you are basically screwed no matter what you do when you try to concieve. So basically once you have that diagnosis you know being a mother is not going to be a surprise and whoops type of deal. I am now 22 and I have tried almost all forms of birth control in the past 9 years. For years I was on Yasmin but after my insurance refused to cover anything non-generic when a generic was available I tried generic after generic with no success. Finally I decided to try Depo-Provera. Bad idea!!!!!! I gained 30 lbs in 3 months, I had eratic mood swings, my pain was not managed during the one and only dose I took, and overall it was a crap experience. After my fiasco with the shot I decided to give my body a much needed rest from hormones. For most of the year I did not use any type of hormonal birth control I was good, but then my pain and periods came back with avengence. So I talked to my doctor, and he suggested yet another laporoscopic surgery, deal with the pain, or try and IUD. I decided to go with the Mirena. The insertion hurt, but it was only for a few seconds. The website says you cramp for a few hours after insertion, but I had pain off and on for the first month. But compared ot my endo pain, it was nothing and it was easily handled by over the counter advil or motrin. My bleeding has pretty much stopped and any I do have is so light I do not even need a panty liner. The only issue I started having was a vaginal odor which turned out to be this. For the record I am not currently sexually active and had not been for about 4 months prior to the insertion of Mirena and was also tested for all STDs after my last relationship. So my doctor prescribed this. I have gone through three rounds and the odor is not as bad each time, but it still comes back. I am attempting a third round of the medicine and hopefully this will take care of the problem. But the whole vaginal odor thing got me thinking about how we treat vaginal smell in general. Obviously I am having a specific issue but in general people treat women’s vaginas like they smell like a trash dump. We are constantly told to douche or summer eve it to prevent the god awful natural stench of the vagina. This commercial by Summer’s Eve epitomizes all that is wrong with discussions around the vagina and its supposed horrible stench.
So basically that is supposed to be empowering like oh having a vagina is really powerful. But how does it make you powerful? Well because guys want to fuck you of course. They will even kill other guys who want to fuck you. So the least you can do is make your vagina smell like spring meadows or spring garden or whatever scents they have because when the guy finally does screw you your coochie needs to be up to par girls. Sorry but telling me that I am only powerful because guys want to do me is not my definition of empowerment. Also, telling me that my vagina in its natural state is just not good enough, I have to basically perfume it all up to even be presentable to a man is bullshit. Not to mention how this commercial just acts like the LGBT community does not exist because it makes the conversation more complicated when it is not strictly heterosexual. This commercial is offensive, if it were aimed towards men shaving their bushed there would be outrage from MRAs (Men’s Rights Activists: Special kind of assholes). So for your enjoyment (and mostly mine) here is my supposed commercial for a razor for men. “It has started wars to prove its dominance, it has overcompensated for its smallness with large SUVs and houses, it has paid women only 75 cents to every dollar it makes just because, and it has served as the supreme authority on everything ever in history…….Shouldn’t you be showing it off more………razors, to make sure your awesome stick is visible to everyone”.
thefunniestfeministyouknow 