17 Things Everyone With A Vagina Should Know

    There is no such thing as a "normal"-looking vagina.

    Tolani Shoneye
    by Tolani Shoneye

    BuzzFeed Staff

    How clued up are you when it comes to your vagina? I mean yeah, you've had it a while now, but do you really know what is going on down there?

    To learn even more about vaginas, read our previous reporting on vagina facts and facts on contraception.

    If you are interested in how your vagina works when it comes to sex, have a look at our reporting on the G-spot, squirting, and penetrative sex.

    And if you have any more questions, read this post on bad vagina habits and questions for gynecologists.

    1. During sex the vagina can expand up to twice its normal size.

    @bejayoharen / Via giphy.com

    The average vagina is about three to four inches deep, but during sex it can expand to double this. It's partially because of a process called vaginal tenting, which is what happens when you get aroused.

    "When women become aroused, there's more muscular tension in the body, that muscular tension draws the uterus upward, creating more space in the vagina lengthwise." – Dr Debby Herbenick, associate professor at Indiana University and author of The Coregasm Workout

    2. The vagina cleans itself.

    3. The amount of vaginal discharge you produce varies throughout your menstrual cycle.

    4. You can exercise your vagina.

    5. At least 3 out of 4 women will experience thrush at some point in their lives.

    6. There is not one set way to look after neo-vaginas.

    7. The G-spot is named after a German researcher.

    Jenny Chang/BuzzFeed

    You can trace the term "G-spot" back to the '80s in a book called The G Spot: And Other Recent Discoveries About Human Sexuality by Alice Kahn Ladas, Beverly Whipple, and John D. Perry.

    Whipple explains that they were reporting on the area that was first described by Dr. Ernest Gräfenberg, a German researcher and OB-GYN who wrote about it in a paper published in 1950. He talked about a sensitive area that you could feel through the front vaginal wall, which swells when stimulated and seemed to play a role in female ejaculation (which is not the same thing as squirting, FYI). In the book, they called this area the "G-spot," after Gräfenberg.

    8. The fluid produced during squirting is mostly made up of urine.

    BeyonceVevo / Via youtube.com

    Male ejaculation is the expulsion of seminal fluid, while the fluid produced during squirting is mostly made up of urine, according to this study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

    Dr Samuel Salama, one of the scientists of the study, told BuzzFeed Life that when analysing this type of ejaculate, they found that it was practically identical to urine. Via an ultrasound, they also found that the bladder was emptied each time squirting occurred.

    9. Condoms are the best defence against STIs and HIV.

    10. Other than abstinence, implants and IUDs are the most effective forms of reversible birth control.

    11. Non-penetrative sex is often more pleasurable than penetrative sex.

    EyeBodega / Via eyebodega.com

    "The most sensitive part of the vagina is the clitoris, which is located outside the vaginal opening. During penetrative sex, the penis comes into contact with the walls of the vagina, which is pleasurable for men, but less so for women. The vaginal walls have very few nerve endings, otherwise child delivery would be even more unbearable.

    "Statistically, men are more likely to have an orgasm during vaginal penetration, while women are more likely to have an orgasm when they practice a variety of sexual acts, which may include penetration or oral sex.

    "The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that only 65% of women who had vaginal sex in their most recent encounter reached orgasm, while 81% of those who had received oral sex achieved it, and 94% of women who had anal sex achieved orgasm."

    12. There is no such thing as a "normal"-looking vagina.

    13. Sitting around in your sweaty, tight-fighting gym clothes can increase your chances of getting an itchy yeast infection.

    14. The wetness of the vagina comes from glands that line the opening of the vagina.

    15. You are highly unlikely to damage the clit with "excessive" masturbation.

    Sex and the City / Via HBO

    "It would be highly unlikely to damage the clit, maybe if you masturbated 24 hours a day, but otherwise there is no health issue. Vibrators are fine, but the only problem with vibrators is you can get used to strong stimulation, it's not medically dangerous, but it can make it harder to climax without." – Dr Mary Jane Minkin

    16. You can get a sort of sticky, stringy mucus coming from the cervix around ovulation.

    17. Every vagina has an individual odour.