Genital panics: constructing the vagina in women's qualitative narratives about pubic hair, menstrual sex, and vaginal self-image.

摘要: An emerging body of research targets women's relationship to their genitals, particularly as pubic hair removal and the promotion female genital surgeries increase in popularity visibility. This study asked women discuss subjective feelings about three related but distinct attitudes: grooming, sex during menstruation, genital/vaginal self-image. Specifically, this applied thematic analysis qualitative interviews with a community sample 20 (mean age=34, SD=13.35) from diverse ages, races, sexual identity backgrounds illuminate seven themes narratives vaginas: (1) "dirty" or "gross"; (2) needing maintenance; (3) unknown frustrating; (4) unnatural; (5) comparative; (6) ambivalent; (7) affirmative. Overwhelmingly, used strong emotional language when discussing often evoking descriptions anxiety, excess, need for control. Fusions between sexuality image, connections "genital panics" internalized racism, sexism, homophobia, also appeared.