Seeing the menstruation stigma (slowly but surely) break down brings us nothing but joy – it’s all we’ve ever wanted! Especially when you think about these incredible moments of periods in 2020. And what’s been super exciting to see is people in 2021 continuing to talk openly about the everyday items that remind us of periods and our vulvas. Maybe they’re intentional, maybe they’re happy accidents, but either way it’s another step closer to normalising the totally normal.
Janelle Monae’s trousers
Janelle Monae made feminist waves with her PYNK music video. Given how suggestive her lyrics for the song were, it’s indisputable that these iconic trousers are purposely resemblant of our vulvas, and let’s be honest, we love to see it.
World Cup 2022 Qatar Stadium
Is it us or does a bird’s eye view perspective of Qatar stadium look rather vulva-esque? Considering the controversy surrounding the human rights laws in this country, we can’t imagine that this was a purposeful design choice. But it’s architecture worth admiring nonetheless!
Peeled blood orange, half a pomegranate or any red fruit
We’ll put our hands up here, we’re absolutely guilty of using stock images of fruit that slightly insinuate certain body parts. But there’s a reason why these images are so widely used across period or health websites – they really do look like vulvas!
Cloyster, the Pokémon
All those years of playing Pokémon and only now has it clicked with us that Cloyster looks suspiciously like a vulva. 90s Nintendo probably didn’t intentionally design it to look like this (its name is Cloyster after all) but at a period products company, we’re naturally going to spot the accidental innuendos.
Madonna del Naviganti by Maria Scanu
Only in Santa Teresa di Gallura in Italy would you find a monument of Virgin Mary looking more like a vulva than a person. Whether or not this was a happy accident or not is hard to tell. The virgin Mary is often viewed as a symbol of divine femininity so the vulva resemblance could be intentional, but a minimalist/abstract design for a statue is also very plausible.
This image of Madonna del Naviganti by Maria Scanu at Santa Teresa di Gallura has gone viral recently because some eagle-eyed viewers have noticed it looks more than a little like a vulva. But is it deliberate? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/0NmH7sn8m9
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) August 23, 2021
Clitoria ternatea aka the butterfly pea
‘Giving your flower’ is a known euphemism for losing your virginity (*eye rolls in feminism*), and maybe the appropriately named clitoria ternatea is why. This beautiful flower originated in Africa but is now widespread across Asia and Australia. It serves many purposes like soil remediation, a popular drinks ingredient, but most notably it’s an aphrodisiac and helps people with periods relieve menstrual cramps.
Cardi B’s 2019 Met Gala dress
There’s no better way to make a taboo breaking statement than wearing a couture dress that screams “I AM ON MY PERIOD!” The colour is only part of its ode to menstruation. The flow of the dress, the stitching, the way it highlights certain body parts – everything is giving periods. It’s a bloody work of art in our eyes!
Rokudenashiko’s kayak
Would you believe your eyes if you saw a kayak resembling a vulva floating down a river? No? Well you’d better get used to it. Artist Rokudenashiko designed this kayak based on her own vulva in a bid to destigmatise the manko (vagina/vulva in Japanese) with a fun and playful design.
Georgia O’Keefes pink tulip
Painted flower + pink paint = vulva. Don’t come at us. We don’t make the rules.
This strawberry jam gif
We hope this doesn’t change your perception of strawberry jam for the rest of your life like it has ours, but this gif is particularly blood-like. Anyone else? Just us? Okay probably just us…
The Renault logo
Admittedly, this one’s a stretch. But when you see it in the context of there being a person drawn around the brand’s recognisable diamond, it’s easy to envision this as a vulva.
my other car’s a vulv-o pic.twitter.com/ZPyhaxsPPq
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) October 7, 2021
Hydnora Africana
No plant looks more like a labia than the Hydnora Africana. This flower not only has teeth-like traps to lure insects into leaving or picking up their pollen, but it emits a faeces-like scent to attract dung beetles. Fascinating, but not one we’d want to get too close to.
Let us know in the comments below whether you think any of these look like intentional vulvas, periods, or are just a happy accident!
