How to Wash Your Vulva - For Real!

Admin.Jane is the technical brain behind TJP, and as such, she regularly checks our link activity, visitor stats, search terms that bring us visitors, maps of where our visitors come from, etc.  She recently found that someone in the UK found us by searching for "how to wash your vulva".  Unfortunately, Google sent her to my Want a Raise? Wash Your Vulva, Dammit! (Part 1) post.

Hearing this all but broke my heart.  I'm sure that visitor eventually found the needed information, but such a thing is not going to happen again.

Here's what every female (and every male caring for a female) should know about keeping the vulva clean:

Women naturally have a genital smell, just as men do.  The vagina's natural state is to have both good and bad bacteria as well as the fungus typically called yeast.  Fluids are also supposed to exit the vagina through the vulva during both menstruation and non-menstruation. When healthy, the vagina is a self-contained and self-cleaning environment that maintains its own health without much input from its owner. 

The female genital smell is a spectrum, just like all other human smells.  Some will be weaker, and some will be stronger.  While Western corporate culture has entire (shamefully successful) business plans built upon making females ashamed of it, I cannot stress enough that there is nothing abnormal about the female genital smell.   Even if it's strong, it's perfectly healthy if it's not an unpleasant smell.  If you find it unpleasant or are concerned others might, a healthcare practitioner should be consulted in order to verify whether or not an illness is present.  The practitioner will also be able to confirm if the smell is within the normal spectrum. 

NOTE: "Vulva" is the entirety of the external female genitalia.  Everything observable from the outside is referred to sa the vulva.

The only cleaning that healthy female genitalia need is washing once daily.  Open the thumbnail link on the right in a new window for a labelled photograph (NSFW) that will define the terms used below.

To wash properly, use your fingers and soap/shower-gel to gently but thoroughly rub the clitoral hood, labia majora, labia minora, perinium, and anus as well as all of the crevices around and amongst these parts to remove dead skin cells and daily discharge which can harbor bad bacteria and lead to illness. 

Be sure to spread and move the labia majora and labia minora around a bit to ensure that all the surface area is cleaned.  Wash from the base of the vaginal orifice upwards (toward the clitoral hood) and the from the base of the vaginal orifice downwards (across the perinium) and then towards and around the anus.  Be sure to rinse thoroughly and pat completely dry (or use a cool hair dryer). Thoroughly rinsing and rying the vulva completely is very important.

Some women don't handle soap in this sensitive region because soap is, by nature, a bit harsh. The purpose of soap is to break chemical bonds in order to remove non-living stuff from the body.  If you experience discomfort after using soap and are sure that you're rinsing completely, try organic and/or and fragrance/dye-free cleansers.  I am a personal fan of Oil of Olay Beauty Bars and Johnson & Johnson's Baby Wash for sensitive areas of my body, so don't don't think that you have to buy something really expensive if you happen to have super-sensitive vulva.

Exercise, menstruation, summer, and sex might cause the need for more frequent vuvla washings than once each day.  If you feel grubby, by all means wash!  Just don't go overboard on it or you'll be wasting your time and could cause yourself unneeded irritation (remember the "smell" paragraph above).  Irritated vulva is no joke -- Don't do it to yourself unnecessarily!

Note that there has been no mention of soap/cleanser inside the vagina or douching.  This is important!  Both are not only unnecessary, but can and will unbalance that natural female internal genital environment.  This can cause a wide range of painful conditions requiring your doctor's intervention. 

Additional reading on female genital health and cleaning.

Additional reading on douching.

~Riot.Jane

Why Shoot Looters?

Why shoot looters?

After reading an article about the "shoot to kill" order that cops may or may not have gotten in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, I began wondering: Is it necessary to shoot looters?

First, we have to distinguish amongst armed gangs, random people with guns, and looters.

I'm referring to people that, during a disaster, go into stores and take food, water, shoes, TVs (not a good idea), and such.  I'm referring to people that are taking merchandise.

Now, in New Orleans, there is footage of people taking stuff they needed from WalMart, but they weren't violent or armed. The cops in the stores just made sure people don't start fighting and hurting each other. In this clip, the cops were doing just that:

This seems the proper way to handle the situation to me.

How would turning that scene into a killing field help me, or make me safer?

At what point is the "shoot looters on sight" order legitimate? How can someone stealing, DURING A DISASTER, become such a threat to others that they need to die . . . and die right then?

What if someone had taken a loaf of bread . . .  literally. He couldn't get out of the city, found a bakery, and took a loaf of bread. How is that punishable by death?

And just to be snarky, isn't that what insurance is for? Stolen merchandise?

How is stealing water-soaked property worth someone's life?

Now, I'm not talking about people breaking into your house while you're there. I'm talking about people taking things they need to survive from abandoned businesses. How is killing the bread thief protecting me?  Or you?

Hell, how is killing some idiot taking a TV protecting anyone from violence?

The energy that goes into killing looters should be used to load trucks with food and water and hand it out to people in the street. That energy should be used to find people in the street, place them into vehicles, and take them out of the city.

By all means, the police should fight armed people hurting others. But explain how the bread-stealing guy had to die? And, while you're at it, explain how a woman stealing food deserves death at that point.

That is my question.

Explain that one to me.

~Above-Average.Joe

Zero Tolerance Policy Run Amok - Grieving Teenager Suspended

Sixteen-year-old Kyler Robertson's father was stabbed to death while sitting in his automobile Sunday afternoon, September 9.  Tuesday, Kyler decided to return to Byron Nelson High School, against his mother's better wishes, "to be among his friends."


Byron Nelson High School
Trophy Club, TX

Upon arriving 10 minutes late, a teacher sent Robertson to his Trophy Club, TX high school's office for tardiness.  When his bloodshot, watery eyes and elevated blood pressure were noted, his mother was summoned to the school.  Officials suspended Robertson for 3 days due to suspicion of marijuana use.  He would be enrolled in alternative learning (in-school suspension) unless his mother, at her expense, provided a negative drug test to school officials within two hours.

Nevermind the boy has allergies.  Nevermind a childhood kidney issue that causes his blood pressure to occasionally rise.  Nevermind the boy's father had been murdered less than 48 hours before. 
Kyle's mother, Cristy Fritz, managed to get the boy into his doctor's office in the alotted time, where an exam and a negative drug test indicated no presence of illegal drug.  A sinus infection, though, was found. 

After handing this documentation to the school, Fritz was advised that her son would avoid the in-school suspension, but that a formal appeals process would have to be followed to remove the 3-day suspension from the boy's academic record. This process has only a 3-day window.

“We had other things to do this week than worry about a three-day window for an appeal, a two-hour window for a drug test and my son’s reputation and high school career,” Fritz said.

I'd say.  Like planning and/or attending a funeral?

Byron Nelson High School Principal Linda Parker apologized Friday, September 5. 


Hunter Cooper, 15, was suspended
for wearing this bracelet

Photo: Lezlie Sterling / lsterling@sacbee.com

This type of zero-tolerance, brain-dead application of rules and regulations makes me physically ill.  Regulations only cover 95% of circumstances, and discretion is the better part of authority.  From a child's hat that was banned because of a toy soldier he attached to it, to the girl suspended for a butterknife, to the first-grader suspended for sexual harassment, to the boy suspended for wearing a breast-cancer awareness bracelet, and so many more -- All of these cases cited "zero-tolerance" policies for the outrageous responses to first-time "offences" by otherwise well-behaved and well-adjusted students.


Where the hell is the actual thought here, people?



>grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr<

~Riot.Jane

Illness Sucks!

Illness has me laid up for a while.  If I'm not posting, it's because I'm asleep most of the time trying to kick this.  Even for the couple of hours a day I'm awake, I can't think well enough to post.

Hopefully my sister-admin can pinch hit for a bit.

~Admin.Jane

The Problem-Solving Process of a MythBuster

Adam Savage speaks at the 2010 Bay Area MakerFaire

Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are the most important items not taught in the US public school system.  I am a victim of this, and I've only realized it in the last five years or so.  As a result, I'm a big fan of anything that helps teach people about these things . . .

Only 20% of billiards is dropping the ball in the pocket. ~Adam Savage

Hence, this video of a talk that Adam Savage gave at the 2010 Bay Area MakerFaire about his problem-solving process.  Blending his pre-MythBusters experiences into his present-day work, Adam talks about the importance of knowing who you are and what your own motivations are, and how these fit into the problem-solving process.

There's a point in every project that I'm doing where I realize, "I have no idea what I'm doing." ~Adam Savage

Click-here to watch the individuals chapters -- 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are the most important to the topic at hand, although I enjoyed the entire video.

The last half an hour is an hysterical Q&A, including a great deal about Adam's MythBusters experiences and also about Adam's relationship with his MythBusters partner Jamie Hyneman.

~Riot.Jane

This Week's Curiosity -- European Sex Boxen (i.e. Boxes)

German Sex Boxen

When one finds himself living next door to a red-light district, he laughs it off, moves, ignores it, or becomes part of the scene itself, right?  At least, that's what I'd've thought.

Apparently, residents with homes overlooking Zurich's thriving red-light district are doing none of the above. 

"They get up to all sorts in broad daylight - and we're sick to death of looking at it."

~Unnamed resident Zurich resident

After receiving thousands of complaints, the local police are visiting Germany to study the implementation and results of  "sex boxen," drive-in areas where prostitutes can ply their trade in relative safety and privacy.  The boxes were reportedly first used in Holland in 2002, and, after their success there, have since spread to German cities where they've also been successful.

German Sex Box

"We can't get rid of prostitution, so have to learn how to control it."

~Zurich police spokesman Reto Casanova

Google is coughing up much else on the topic than what I've linked here, but I'm interested in seeing more data. 

~Riot.Jane

Helping Any Female Soldier (or Airmain/Marine/Sailor/Coastguardsman)

While reading through this satiric list of useless Care Package items that deployed service personnel receive and responses from those, same personnel, it occurred to me that I haven't sent an "Any Soldier" package.

Female Soldier Training at Annapolis

I decided that I'm going to. 

I ordered a package of Mili-Kit boxes from USPS (free!!).  These boxes are 12" x 12" x 5.5" and only cost $12.50 (at the Post Office) or $11.95 (at USPS.com) to send to an APO/FPO address, no matter how heavy they are! In addition to this box, I will need Customs PS Form 2976-A which I can complete/print or download/print and complete by hand.  Hints on completing it by hand can be found here.

Now . . . How to fill the boxes . . .

I'm sending to female soldiers in a hot, dry environment . . . They need pesonal care supplies.  What would I miss?  Tampons, soap, shampoo, conditioner, lip care, baby wipes (because they can't shower every day), cotton swabs, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and deodorant.  A couple of books or recent magazines.  Pencils, paper, and envelopes for letters home.  Got it. 

Who to send to?  From AnySoldier, I've chosen Sergeant Anthony Quail, currently in Afghanistan and expected to be there another year.  He is the contact point for 100 female soldiers.  Anything I send that one female doesn't need, there will be another who will. 
Once a month?  I can do this.  I just wish I could do it once a week.  And that leads me to . . .

The Jane Project doing this as a group!  I've found a wholesale outlet that will sell travel-sized shampoos and conditioners and soaps for less than $50 a case. I'd like to buy a case or two of these and break them up into separate care packages (supplemented with other items) and send them every couple of weeks.  If you're able to contribute, e-mail us, and we'll send you a PayPal address.  If you have any ideas for this project, pls let us know!

 ~Riot.Jane

Cosmo's Weird "Untamed Va-jay-jays" Cover

Lolly.Jane snapped this picture in the checkout line at a grocrery store and kicked it my way with the Subject line "untamed WHAT?!?!?!?":

(As if women need another negative message about our nether-regions! >sigh<)

As soon as I saw the cover, I asked, "You didn't happen to thumb through it and see what that headline is about, did you?"

"No," she responded, "I was already holding up the line."  That's the Lolly.Jane I know so well . . . Terribly polite and considerate.

I went to the pharmacy to refill prescriptions and was lucky enough to find this issue while waiting.  The Table of Contents doesn't mention anything that relates to this headline.  A search of the Cosmo website for the headline comes up empty. Odd.

Put a headline like that on the cover of your magazine, then not match it in the Table of Contents?  Trying to get me to buy the magazine?  Fail.

Sooooooo, I'm forced to come up with my own definition of "untamed va-jay-jays":

Okay, maybe my interpretation is better described as "rampaging" (vs."untamed"), but this really is the picture that popped into my mind when I read that headline. 

What popped into yours?

~Riot.Jane

Methods to Managing Menopause

Menopause “hit” me when I was 50. Naturally, like most women I was beset by fears that this marked the beginning of a downhill descent. I rushed off to my gynecologist who wrote a prescription for Premarin, assured me it was safe, and sent me on my way.

I left his office with a spring in my step, “Goodie, now I don’t have to get upset about hot flashes, mood changes and losing my sexuality.” It seemed as if all my worries were over, until I began reading reports of increased cancer risks in women who took Premarin. So, rushing off to my doc again to check this out, he added Progesterone which he said would balance the “horse pee” (Premarin’s source). Once again I felt confident that all would be well.

One day after completing a lecture on Exquisite Aging at New York’s Whole Life Expo, I was approached by Dr. Viana Muller who proceeded to inform me that her company offered herbs that were as effective as hormone replacement… without any negative side effects. When I asked her about her background, her answer, “I’m anethno botanist!” made me stand up and take notice. I’d never heard that word before, and was curious about what she knew about HRT.

Along with teaching me about indigenous herbs… those cultivated in the soil of their origin, she introduced me to a term that went on to play a major role in my understanding of how herbs function in the body. That word is “precursor”. It seems that most problems with HRT come from the fact that the chemicals they’re made of are actual hormones. As such they replace the hormones lost in menopause. Precursor Herbs contain no hormones but rather stimulate the body to keep creating its own Anti-Aging components.

Except for a short stint with bio-identical hormones, I’ve been using the herb, ROYAL MACA, from her company, WHOLE WORLD BOTANICALS for 20 years. Yes, aging can be a daunting prospect, but with this magical herb in my arsenal, I’ve maintained unprecedented youth.

Need proof? I modeled for a Dolce & Gabbana ad in a skin tight bathing suit at age 74! Thanks to this chance meeting with Dr. Muller over 20 years ago, I’ve been blessed with a youthfulness I never could have imagined.

Check out her company’s website www.wholeworldbotanicals.com.  A whole new world of indigenous Peruvian herbs will open up for you as it has for me!

~Hattie RetroAge
  www.holisticallyhattie.com
  www.bestcruisesandtravelnow.com (sponsoring my THE EMPOWERED WOMAN CRUISE in January)

25% of UK Lap-Dancers has a College Degree

An interesting video clip from BBC News recently crossed my desk.  In it, Dr. Belinda Brooks-Gordon of the Birkbeck University of London, strip club owner Peter Stringfellow, and not-present news columnist Kevin Maguire (proxied by a BBC anchor) discuss the results of a University of Leeds study that determined that 25% of UK lap dancers have a college degree and that these women are choosing this profession because they can make more money doing it than they can in more traditional college-graduate jobs.

The video is not embeddable, but you can find it here.  A 15-second commercial precedes the roughly 3.5-minute clip.

At some point I'll see if I can find the paper itself and try to find out if similar research has been done in the US.

~Riot.Jane