Contents
DR. JEN GUNTER is an obstetrician and gynecologist with nearly three decades of experience as a vulvar and vaginal diseases expert. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she now practices medicine in San Francisco, California. She is the star of the CBC docuseries Jensplaining and has been called Twitters resident gynecologist, the internets OB/GYN, and a fierce advocate for womens health. She writes two regular columns for The New York Times, called The Cycle (monthly) and You Asked (weekly), and has written for a broad range of outlets, from academic publications to The New Republic, Chatelaine, Self, The Cut, and many more.
Praise for Dr. Jen Gunter
and
The Vagina Bible
Women must wade through a constant barrage of misinformation and fake health claims about their bodies. Dr. Jen Gunter is the warrior-in-chief in the battle against fake vagina news, and her book arms us with the facts we need to join that fight.
Dr. Danielle Martin, author of Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians
Dr. Jen Gunter is the vaginas most passionate defender and publicist. The Vagina Bible is a practical, informative, and hilarious guide to womens health but its also a biography about the most misunderstood and mysterious part of the human body. This book reads like a filmand like a great filmmaker, Dr. Gunter has delivered an intimate and loving portrait of the vagina. The vagina gets the star treatmentand its about time!
Elaine Lainey Gossip Lui, author of Listen to the Squawking Chicken and co-host of The Social
The Vagina Bible is an extremely important book, not only for all women but also all men. So many women have suffered shame and discomfort due to a complete lack of knowledge about how their sexual organs are designed to look, feel and behave. Dr. Gunter shines a much needed light on this very private subject aimed at bringing facts, confidence and joy into the personal lives of readers.
Miranda Esmonde-White, author of Aging Backwards
Dr. Jen Gunters The Vagina Bible brilliantly dispels myths and imparts knowledge with large doses of wit, wisdom and invaluable advice. This empowering and engaging resource belongs on every womans bookshelf.
Ami McKay, author of The Birth House
This book is basically everything youve ever wanted to know about the vagina but were afraid to ask.
Imani Gandy, Senior Legal Analyst, Rewire News
A marvel of medical writing: precise, funny, passionate and furious. In her engaged and amused writing voice, Dr. Gunters expertise becomes accessible instead of distancing; this book will become a model for how to write about healthand science, more generally.
Kevin Patterson, MD, and author of News from the Red Desert
In a time where pseudoscience has a large foothold, it is vital that physicians and scientists meet any reader where they live. With The Vagina Bible, Dr. Gunter has done exactly that! Her writing is rooted in science and steeped with humor and insight while the book is both inclusive and instructive. A vital book that will undoubtedly have a profound impact.
Mark Shapiro, MD, Founder and Host, Explore The Space podcast
Whether she is debunking the damage done by Freud or providing the low down on the science of sex, Dr. Gunter provides a frank, funny and thoroughly science-informed perspective.
Timothy Caulfield, author of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?
The Vagina BibleDr. Jen Gunters savvy, detailed, funny and wise guide to female healthshould be required reading for every woman seeking smart information about her body. I dont say this often but its a dont-miss book.
Deborah Blum, New York Times bestselling author of The Poison Squad
Men who want to understand the experiences of their partners or provide sound guidance to their daughters should turn to The Vagina Bible. Jen Gunter offers authoritative information with her trademark clarity and good humor.
Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mothers Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
Dr. Jen Gunter is a fountain of critically important information and shes funny as hell. Buy this book if you have a vagina or if you spend any time at all in reasonably close proximity to one.
Ayelet Waldman, New York Times bestselling author of A Really Good Day
Many know of Dr. Jen Gunter for her take-downs of bizarre wellness trends, such as vaginal steaming or jade eggs. While many of her rebukes are humorous, the San Francisco-based gynecologist really wants to educate women about their bodies and debunk bad and even dangerous myths about womens health.
TODAY.com
PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE CANADA
Copyright 2019 Jennifer Gunter
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published in 2019 by Random House Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto, and simultaneously in the United States by CITADEL PRESS BOOKS, an imprint of Kensington Publishing Corp., New York. Distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
Random House Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.
PUBLISHERS NOTE
The reader is advised that this book is not intended to be a substitute for an assessment by, and advice from, an appropriate medical professional(s).
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: The vagina bible : the vulva and the vaginaseparating the myth from the medicine / Jen Gunter, MD.
Names: Gunter, Jennifer, author.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2019010998X | Canadiana (ebook) 20190110295 |
ISBN 9780735277373 (softcover) | ISBN 9780735277380 (HTML)
Subjects: LCSH: GynecologyPopular works. | LCSH: VaginaPopular works. | LCSH: WomenHealth and hygienePopular works. | LCSH: SexPopular works. | LCSH: WomenSexual behaviorPopular works.
Classification: LCC RG121 .G86 2019 | DDC 618.1dc23
Ebook ISBN9780735277380
Cover design by Kristine Mills
Cover photograph Shutterstock
v5.3.2
a
For every woman
who has ever been toldusually by some dude
that she is too wet, too dry, too gross, too loose,
too tight, too bloody, or too smelly.
This book is for you.
Contents
Introduction
I have a vagenda: for every woman to be empowered with accurate information about the vagina and vulva.
One of the core tenets of medicine is informed consent. We doctors provide information about risks and benefits and then, armed with that information, our patients make choices that work for their bodies. This only works when the information is accurate and unbiased. Finding this kind of data can be challenging, as we have quickly passed through the age of information and seem to be stalled in the age of misinformation.