This week, Planned Parenthood launched its new YouTube series "How to Take Care of Your Pussy," a show narrated by comedian Sasheer Zamata that uses actual felines to talk about reproductive anatomy and care down there.
The first episode specifically looked at two parts of the female reproductive anatomy that people often confuse: the vagina and the vulva. Contrary to popular belief, these two terms are not interchangeable and instead refer to two different parts of the human body. The vulva, as the video states using diagrams (and cute cats), includes the outer labia, inner labia, clitoris, urethral opening, and vaginal opening. Meanwhile, the vagina is the "soft, stretchy tube inside your body, between your vulva and cervix." Why couldn't health class in school been this straightforward?
Planned Parenthood also points out that there's no such thing as a "typical" vulva; every person's vulva may come in different shapes, sizes, and colors, and it's each person's choice what to do with the hair on the vulva.
Planned Parenthood's chief medical officer Raegan McDonald-Mosley hopes people not only enjoy the videos but know that there are so many ways to learn about reproductive and sexual health. "While it might be uncomfortable for some people to talk about their bodies or sexual health, it’s important not to let embarrassment or anxiety get in the way of taking the best possible care of yourself,” she said in a statement. “The experts at your local Planned Parenthood health center can answer any questions or concerns you may have, and they’ve heard it all. You can ask us anything.”
Zamata was equally excited to narrate the series to make this information more accessible. “I think it's important for people to understand their bodies and feel comfortable talking about their sexual health, and Planned Parenthood is one of the best places to get more information on all of that," she said in the statement.
If you're interested in learning more, you can read up on the different parts of female reproductive anatomy on Planned Parenthood's website, then check out the next two installments of the "How to Take Care of Your Pussy" series, which tackle sex and masturbation and keeping the vagina clean.