Read My Lips (39 page)

Phone: 812.855.0861

Address: HPER 116, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405

Center for Young Women’s Health

A collaboration between the Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine and the Division of Gynecology at Children’s Hospital Boston, it is a great place for teens and parents to learn about their changing health needs. Full of great fact sheets, including information about labial adhesions.

Web:
www.youngwomenshealth.org

Phone: 617.355.2994

Address: 333 Longwood Ave, 5th fl., Boston, MA 02115

The Kinsey Institute

The one that started it all. We are proud to be associated with The Kinsey Institute, a continued source of research and art about sex and sexuality.

Web:
www.kinseyinstitute.org
and
www.kinseyconfidential.org
(for Q&A)

Phone: 812.855.7686

Address: Morrison Hall 313, 1165 E. Third St, Bloomington, IN 47405

Just Causes

The International Vulva Knitting Circle

We said it before and we’ll say it again, we love the message of the Circle! Celebrating vulva diversity while doing crafts = a perfect afternoon.

Join/Like them on Facebook: International Vulva Knitting Circle

The Muffia

Sinead King and Katie O’Brien take their muffs to the streets. Outrageously phenomenal performance street artists, they make people stop and think about the ways in which we critique women’s bodies.

Web:
www.themuffia.co.uk

The New View Campaign

Vulvactivists unite! Originally started to challenge Female Sexual Dysfunction in 2000, they now have a variety of pro-genital programs successfully connecting academics and activists.

Web:
www.newviewcampaign.org

Address: PO Box 1845, New York, NY 10159-1845

Pads4Girls

Girls in developing countries may be forced to miss school or work if they do not have the proper tools (e.g., tampons, pads) to help them manage their periods. Pads4Girls donates reusable pads to women and girls in need through several different programs listed on their web site. They will take cash or pad donations!

Web:
www.lunapads.com/padsfgirls

V-Day

It all began with a single performance of
The Vagina Monologues
. This past year, there were over fifty-four hundred events (including performances of
The Vagina Monologues
) to raise money and awareness to end violence against women and girls globally.

Web:
www.vday.org

Phone: 212.645.8329

Female-Friendly Sex Shops (listed alphabetically)

Ann Summers

Web:
www.annsummers.com

Phone: +44 0845 456 6948

Multiple locations across the UK. In-home parties.

Aphrodite’s Toy Box

Web:
www.aphroditestoybox.com

Phone: 404.292.9700

Address: 3040 N. Decatur Rd, Atlanta, GA 30079

Babeland

Web:
www.babeland.com

Phone: 800.658.9119

Addresses:

707 E. Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122

462 Bergen St (Flatbush/5th Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11217

94 Rivington St (Ludlow/Orchard), New York, NY 10002

43 Mercer St (Broome/Grand), New York, NY 10013

Early to Bed

Web:
www.early2bed.com

Phone: 866.585.2BED (2233)

Address: 5232 N. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60640

For Your Pleasure

Web:
www.foryourpleasure.com

Phone: 603.925.4397

In-home parties throughout the United States and Canada

Good for Her

Web:
www.goodforher.com

Phone: 877.588.0900

Address: 175 Harbord St, Toronto, Canada M5S 1H3

Good Vibrations

Web:
www.goodvibes.com

Phone: 800.BUY.VIBE (289.8423) Locations:

899 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103

603 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110

1620 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109

2504 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702

308A Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

My Pleasure

Web:
www.mypleasure.com

Phone: 866.697.5327

NOMIA

Web:
www.nomiaboutique.com

Phone: 207.773.4774

Address: 24 Exchange St, Suite 215 (2nd fl.), Portland, ME 04101

Passion Parties

Web:
www.passionparties.com

Phone: 800.4.PASSION (727.7466)

In-home parties throughout the United States and Canada

Pure Romance

Web:
www.pureromance.com

Phone: 866.ROMANCE (766.2623)

In-home parties throughout the United States and Puerto Rico (and expanding!)

Self Serve Toys

Web:
www.selfservetoys.com

Phone: 505.265.5815

Address: 3904B Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108

She Bop

Web:
www.sheboptheshop.com

Phone: 503.473.8018

Address: 909 N. Beech St, Portland, OR 97227

Smitten Kitten

Web:
www.smittenkittenonline.com

Phone: 888.751.0523

Address: 3010 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408

Sugar

Web:
www.sugartheshop.com

Phone: 410.467.2632

Address: 927 W. 36th St (Hampden), Baltimore, MD

Surprise Parties

Web:
www.surpriseparties.com

Phone: 1.877.Surpriz (787.7749)

In-home parties throughout the United States

Tulip Toy Gallery

Web:
www.mytulip.com

Phone: 877.70.TULIP (88547) Locations:

1422 Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

3459 N. Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60657

1480 W. Berwyn Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

Va Va Voom

Web:
www.vavavooom.com

Phone: 828.254.6329

Address: 36 Battery Park Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Whole DC

Web:
www.facebook.com/WholeDC

Phone: TBD. Keep an eye out for this LGBT-friendly sex shop.

About the Authors

Debby Herbenick, PhD,
is associate director and research scientist at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University; the sexual health educator for the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction; and a widely read sex columnist for various newspapers and magazines. She is also the author of
Because It Feels Good: A Woman’s Guide to Sexual Pleasure and Satisfaction
(2009) and the forthcoming
I Love You More Book
(StoryPeople Press). She has served as an expert on the vagina and vulva (and other sex topics) for the
Tyra Banks Show
and
The Doctors
and writes about sex for MySexProfessor.com,
Psychology Today, WebMD
, and
Men’s Health
magazine. She is also a member of the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease, the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, and the International Academy of Sex Research. As a widely cited sex expert, she has been quoted in more than five hundred magazine and newspaper articles including those in the
New York Times
,
LA Times
,
San Francisco Chronicle
,
Washington Post, Cosmopolitan
,
Glamour
,
Marie Claire
,
Women’s Health
,
Men’s Health
, and
SELF
.

Vanessa Schick, PhD,
is a social psychologist and a research scientist at the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University. She has conducted a variety of studies on the vulva that have been published in peer-reviewed journals ranging from the changes in the portrayal of the vulva in sexually explicit magazines to understanding how women’s concerns about their vulva appearance impact them in the bedroom. She has presented her work to diverse audiences, from the Kinsey Institute to students in the classroom to sex researchers at the European Federation of Sexology conference in Rome, Italy. She is also a member of the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease and the International Academy of Sex Research.

Dr. Herbenick and Dr. Schick are also two of the scientists behind the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), the largest nationally representative study of sexual behavior in the United States, which surveyed individuals ages fourteen to ninety-four about their sexual lives.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Meet the Vulva

WHAT’S A VULVA?

VULVA INTRODUCTIONS

VULVARIATIONS

THE CLITORIS: IS IT REALLY THAT COMPLEX?

THE VAG IN ALL

LUBRICATION

GENITAL FIT

VAGINAL-WALL RELAXATION

AROUSAL

HOW DO VAGINAS FEEL?

VAGINA FACTS

VAGINA CONTROVERSY

FEMALE EJACULATION

PERINEUM

FEMALE GENITAL SELF-IMAGE

VULVA AND VAGINA LOVE

2 A Healthy, Happy Vulva Taking Care Down There

WHAT WE’RE MADE OF

VULVA SELF-EXAMINATION: HOW TO CHECK YOURSELF OUT DOWN THERE

VULVA AND VAGINA SELF-CARE

EXERCISE

DITCH THE ITCH

SEXY TIMES

PERIOD DOS AND DON’TS

BIRTH CONTROL

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING (TO GO TO THE GYNECOLOGIST)

RAISING A DAUGHTER

V-PROBLEMS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

OPENING UP: VAGINAL DILATORS

YOUR HEALTHY HOOHA

3 Vulvalicious Vulvas and Vaginas in Bed

THE AGE OF CLIT-ARIUS

THE EXCITED VULVA AND VAGINA

TRANSUDATE: A BORING WORD WITH EXCITING IMPLICATIONS