# Why ‘vagina’ should be part of every young woman’s vocabulary Morrissey, H. (2016) ‘Why “vagina” should be part of every young woman’s vocabulary’, _The Eve Appeal_ [Preprint]. Available at: [https://eveappeal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Eve-Appeal-Vagina-Dialogues.pdf](https://eveappeal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Eve-Appeal-Vagina-Dialogues.pdf). ## Notes - one in five young women couldn’t name a single correct symptom of any of the five gynaecological cancers - less than a quarter of young women said they felt confident that they were well informed about gynaecological health issues - over 42% of older women said they felt confident that they were well informed about gynaecological health issues - 65% of young women struggle to say the word vagina or vulva - younger women know less about their own bodies than older women - older women are less embarrassed to visit the doctors about gynaecological issues - nearly a third of young women admit they avoid going to the doctors with gynaecological issues due to embarrassment - 1 in 10 young women find if hard to talk to their GPs about gynaecological health concerns - there is a misconception that younger generations are more open and knowledgable about women's health - breaking the taboo %% ## Highlights ### id459599996 > a new survey released today by women’s cancer > research charity, The Eve Appeal. [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gq4w6zyrqmq2kbjr8wb54fdx) ### [[one in five young women couldn’t name a single correct symptom of any of the five gynaecological cancers]] ### [[less than a quarter of young women said they felt confident that they were well informed about gynaecological health issues]] ### [[over 42% of older women said they felt confident that they were well informed about gynaecological health issues]] > One in five women aged 16-25 years surveyed couldn’t name a single correct symptom of any of the five gynaecological cancers, and less than a quarter said they felt confident that they were well informed about gynaecological health issues, compared to over 42% of women aged 66-75. ^ytup1 [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gq4w79fxg6cqv9wqghttytat) ### [[65% of young women struggle to say the word vagina or vulva]] > Perhaps more shockingly, it’s the language of gynaecological health that is proving an additional barrier to young women opening up about concerns around gynaecological cancers, with 65% saying they have a problem using the words vagina or vulva, and nearly 40% of 16-25 year olds resorting to using code names such as ‘lady parts’ or ‘women’s bits’ to discuss gynaecological health. ^gu6nz [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gq4w7mam0nbx7h3ebf3c1ttb) ### [[younger women know less about their own bodies than older women]] > Lack of basic anatomical knowledge is also an issue, with women in the younger age groups struggling to correctly identify the five areas that can be affected by gynaecological cancer (womb, cervix, ovaries, vagina and vulva) on a simple diagram - just half of women aged 26-35 were able to label the vagina accurately. In contrast older women aged 66-75 were much better educated about their bodies, with eight in ten able to correctly label ovaries and nearly nine in ten the womb. ^66xqs [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gq4w80k887h1mr2wnrvz0ds3) ### [[1 in 10 young women find if hard to talk to their GPs about gynaecological health concerns]] ### [[nearly a third of young women admit they avoid going to the doctors with gynaecological issues due to embarrassment]] ### [[older women are less embarrassed to visit the doctors about gynaecological issues]] > Whilst more than one in ten of 16-35 year olds said they found it very hard to talk to their GPs about gynaecological health concerns, and nearly a third admitted that they had avoided going to the doctors altogether with gynaecological issues due to embarrassment, these figures dramatically decrease amongst women in the older age groups. ^117cy [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gq4w8nqdq6j7y6td2cnr4txw) ### [[there is a misconception that younger generations are more open and knowledgable about women's health]] > These findings are in direct contrast with the popular misconception that society is more open these days, making it much easier for women of younger generations to talk about gynaecological health. Nearly three quarters of all women surveyed across every age group agreed with this statement, and over 60% said they thought that young women knew more about gynaecological health than older women. ^pj66g [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gq4w92fvbm7c68fh8p7srcb9)