Am I normal? Let’s take a look and see

You grow up. You develop. You learn to love your body and use it in adult ways. Then one day something catches you off guard and all of the sudden you’re wondering if you’re normal. Let’s tackle a few of those scenarios and find out.

• Smelling. Sweat glands. Secretions. Bacteria. Men and women have a lot of stuff going on down there and it’s normal to exude a variety of mild musky scents. You should see a healthcare professional if your scent becomes yeasty, fishy, or noticeably different from your usual.

• Bleeding/not bleeding. A normal period lasts about five days, but birth control may alter your cycle—or keep you from bleeding altogether—so look up your method to see how it typically affects menstruation. See a healthcare professional if you have really heavy bleeding or any of these period irregularities.

• Making sounds. A little trapped air in your snooch can create quite the queef. Totally normal. Condoms and certain sex positions are common causes, but really it can happen during sex, after sex, or even in pilates class. Please, try not to be embarrassed.

• Squirting. There’s female ejaculation and then there’s squirting. (Read more about the differences.) Some women can do one or both. Some can’t do either. Dry orgasms and wet ones are normal, so whether you gush or not, you’re normal.

• Changing. Things like childbirth and aging can change the muscle tone, strength, and look of your vulva. As long as it is functioning, healthy, and sexually satisfying, please consider it normal.

You know what else is normal? Trying different kinds of birth control until you find one that works best with your body. So don’t give up.

After reading this, we hope you relax knowing that you’re more normal than you think. You’re also pretty spectacular. And so is your lovely vagina, no matter what it looks like.

(BTW, that last link will show you hundreds of vaginas—all of them unique—and all of them NSFW.)

XOXO,
Bedsider