1282: The Vagina | Skeptical Sunday

26:00I know, right? Because tightness isn't like a personality trait. It's sometimes a medical problem. And vaginal stenosis, that can be congenital or it can happen after scarring from childbirth or like a radiation treatment or certain surgeries. And it can make sex painful or even basic exams painful. And that's where dilation therapy or surgical repair comes in. I associate dilation with labor. What is dilation therapy? So it's the same concept, but it's a different purpose. Dilators are medical tools used gradually over time to gently increase vaginal comfort and flexibility, especially when they're scarring or like a short, narrow canal.

26:48And it takes time. It's slow, consistent, medically guided progress, which also kills the myth that penetration stretches out a vagina. Those women would be like, where do I sign up for that? Got to find a big one one night and then you're good to go. No more inserting whatever that thing is and leaving it in there for six weeks. I mean, again, that's not how muscle tissue works. The goal is supposed to be pain free. And if someone is in pain, that's a health issue, not a compliment. I see. How are these procedures done? It sounds invasive and it sounds a little bit scary. Sometimes it's minimally invasive tools.

27:26Sometimes it's surgery. It just it depends on the problem. So the headline here is vaginas aren't one size fits all and the medical stuff is about health. Exactly. Then there's the other category, cosmetic procedures marketed to perfectly healthy women. So the labiaplasty that's done for symmetry, there's clitoral hood reduction, vaginal rejuvenation. That's where the line blurs between health and culturally desirable aesthetics. Rejuvenation is a weird one. That's one of those, oh, is your vagina tired? Like, what are you rejuvenating? Offensive. Yeah. Do you think porn plays a role in these aesthetic procedures?

28:07Because there's got to be some sort of industry standard people are going for. I would imagine, let's say in the 70s or 80s or before that, you didn't see 10 ,000 vaginas and go like, oh, they should look like this. You had sex with whatever handful of people or couple handfuls of people. And you were grateful. You were like, all right, this works for me. Yeah, porn has pushed this narrow, ideal vulva look. Hairless, small, barely visible labia. There's one acceptable model. But most vulvas don't look like that, and they don't need to. Well, it depends on the porn you're watching, I guess, but yeah.

28:43And then labioplasty, that can be medically necessary if a woman experiences pain during exercise or sex. Exercise. Yeah, things are moving around down there. Oh my gosh, I never thought about that, but I guess you're right. You're like, you're the only one who needs a cup. No, I'm just kidding. I guess if your scrotum was like attached weird and you couldn't run well, you'd want that to be fixed up. Yeah, it could be painful. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. But a lot of these procedures have become cosmetic. They're driven by comparison, probably some shame. So if you're considering a procedure, just ask, is this solving pain or function, or am I trying to look like an unrealistic template?

29:27And there's a whole industry built around that template. Oh, man, it's a whole industry selling insecurity. And not just through procedures. The products pushed on women to fix, tighten, or clean their vaginas, it's outrageous. Is there maintenance required to have a healthy vagina? No, there isn't. Here's the really boring truth. The vagina manages itself. It has a microbiome that maintains its pH balance. The outside, the vulva, wash like normal skin. The inside, leave it alone. I remember when I was a kid, you'd see ads for like Summer's Eve or whatever. I still don't know what that is. It's not good.

30:09No, it's maybe leave that outside. So all these pH balancing products or whatever, they're not doing anything. Oh, please. pH balance your balls, guys. it's all mostly marketing. So the vagina is self-cleaning. If somebody's selling you detox pearls or these vaginal steam treatments or rejuvenation surgeries and designer vaginas, ask for their data, not their discount code. Yeah, hang on. I'm pH balancing my balls. I'll be right with you. Yeah, please do. But seriously, these perfumes, these beads, They're harsh cleansers. They can cause irritation and infections. So when an ad says feel tighter, look younger, that's not medicine.

30:55That's Botox for your insecurities and maybe your lack of satisfaction. So you don't need to steam your vagina. Only if you're cooking dumplings in there. Wow, you really can do everything with those. I did see somewhere online, people are apparently, oh gosh, they're eating cow vaginas and they call it a fragrant delicacy, which makes my stomach turn a little bit somehow. Oh, great. I didn't come across that. It's like Vietnamese or something. Oh, fun. Let's not cover every incorrect use of a vagina here. It's a slippery slope, I guess. Self-vibricating slope, in fact. Yes, yes. But I guess that's proof that vaginas can be delicious.

31:38Yeah, I have read about common problems like a lot of women get bacterial vaginosis and they don't even realize it. Is that from these products like the summer's EV type stuff, pH balancing, whatever? Sometimes, definitely. Messing with the microbiome can increase the odds of BV and yeast issues. and then people buy more products to fix the problem the product created. So it's like this expensive little doom loop. What about the probiotics and supplements and things like that? Is there any science behind those? I mean, there's real science on lactobacillus being a key part of a healthy vaginal environment, but the supplement world is a mess.

32:22The rule is if someone's promoting vaginal detox, run. So stick to the old-fashioned douche then? Absolutely not. I can't stress this enough. Shower like normal and you're good. Douching is one of the fastest ways to disrupt the microbiome. And here's the fun fact. The douche didn't even start as a vaginal product. What would it be for? Your ears? Yeah. Oh, damn. I was kidding. You're actually dead on. These Parisian guys invented the douche for bodily irrigation of ears, sinuses, bladder, intestines and vagina. So they went back to the drawing board and then just started aggressively marketing it to women as hygiene.

33:11In 1910, they even introduced a breast douche for, quote, thorough breast washing. But so that's not internal because you can't get anything in there. But honestly, I get so many sinus infections, I probably could use a sinus douche. Douche your nose. That's right. Nothing says medical innovation quite like, man, this is not working. This has failed completely. Let's market it to women by telling them that they need it. I know. It's like shame has always been a business model. Yeah. I've actually recently gotten targeted for ads. I don't know. Somebody must have been using my phone, but I'm getting ads for Yoni pearls.

33:45Sure, somebody. And tightening cream. and a lot of women-owned wellness companies sell this stuff, like Goop and Lemmy. There's a yoni pearl is what, a pearl that goes in your vagina? Oh, yeah, just place this stone in there and watch the magic happen. I'm not exactly sure what kind of psychosomatic stuff is supposed to be happening. It's all pseudoscience nonsense. Wellness does not mean science. A couple months ago, Kourtney Kardashian's company, Lemmy, launched Pussy Pops. lollipops for your vagina that are, quote, formulated with pineapple and vitamin C. So I don't know about other women, but my vagina is the last place I'd like to put citrus.

34:29And my favorite part about the Pussy Pops is that her ad campaign shows her with a lollipop in her mouth, which makes me wonder what she thinks a vagina is. So I don't know when people started thinking they should or could alter their body's pH balance, but you can't. And if you do, you could die. It reminds me of those people that they sell different kinds of water and they're like, this changes your blood pH. And I'm like, no, it doesn't, because that would kill you pretty much immediately. Your stomach and intestines digestive tract changes that into what it needs to be, which is regular water.

35:05And you don't need the machine. Way to get around the marketing restrictions on labels and things like, OK, we'll try this till they outlaw it. Exactly. Your lungs, your kidneys, all that stuff takes care of your body's pH balance. And what actually maintains vaginal health is balanced flora, hydration, diet and just overall health. If your genitals require a goop subscription, maybe capitalism's the real infection. Keep your communism down there in Echo Park, you hipster. Right. Well, studies show there are more bacteria in your mouth than in your vagina. So relax and just don't believe the marketing hype.

35:48What about discharge? People treat that like it's dirty, but not to be too gross. Isn't special cleaning needed there with the discharge and the smells and stuff? Not even a little bit. Go ahead and douche your penis hole and get back to me. Whatever. But I pee out of there. So is that not that's kind of cleaning. Discharge is part of how the vaginal microbiome maintains itself. It changes throughout a women's cycle. It's not dirty. It's information. And so if something smells sharply fishy or you have itching or burning, that's when you see a doctor, not a steam spa. Got it. The vaginal microbiome sounds like an absolutely fire punk band.

36:28But what exactly is that? We should have probably covered that earlier. The vaginal microbiome is one of the most finely tuned ecosystems on Earth. What's happening there is the role of lactobacillus. So it does get affected by antibiotics, by what you eat, sex and hormones, which is why over cleansing can backfire. If you use mouthwash 50 times a day, it just nukes everything and then bad stuff moves in. Yeah, I understand that. I actually knew a girl who used mouthwash literally like 30 to 50 times. Every time we did anything, she was always mouthwashing. And it was like an OCD thing, I think.

37:06But she had sores in her mouth. And I was like, oh, but you're using all this mouthwash. And our friend who's like a doctor, he goes, no, what's happening is she's killed all the healthy mouth bacteria. So all these opportunistic infections that a normal person would never have move in there. It's like when you have HIV or something in the 80s and they couldn't counteract it, you'd get all this stuff that doesn't make sense because you're basically your immune system is totally gone. So there's a whole industry that has convinced a lot of people that vaginas need maintenance. Yeah. I mean, it's the same thing when you're douching your vagina, you're you're cleaning out all the good stuff and the bad stuff moves in and people are just convinced that vaginas are inherently wrong.

37:48In the 1920s, Lysol, the household cleaner, was marketed as a vaginal douche. Oh my God. Ouch. It's not the same thing though. Is it that spray that kills all the, is it the same thing? The thing people would clean their toilets with. Oh my God. Yeah. The ads suggested that women who didn't douche were failing their husbands. Oh my God. Color me surprised that vaginal douching is encouraged because of men, but that had to cause chemical burns. If you get Lysol on your skin and you don't wash it off, it hurts, let alone on a mucus membrane. That's absolutely. But the ads kept running because shame sells.

38:25And that's still the playbook. The feminine hygiene industry is worth billions and it's all based on lies. So what should people actually do? Wash the vulva with warm water and mild unscented soap if you want. That's it. Don't put any cleansers inside. If something feels off, talk to a clinician, not an influencer. So don't give it a lollipop. Okay. But what about smells? What should vaginas smell like? They should smell like you. They should smell like you. The owner. Not like me personally. Every vagina should smell like Jordan Parchinger. Yeah. A lot of them do, actually. Unfortunately, see a doctor if your vagina smells like me.

39:08A healthy vagina, it has a mild scent and that's normal. Your diet might affect it slightly, but the obsession with making it smell like flowers is just more marketing. And it's not consistent. Like, throughout our cycle, our scent changes. Men have scents too, by the way, which is fine. But I have noticed these bogus products that are always marketed to women, they're starting to creep into the men's department too. I assure you guys, you don't need Fresh Meadows scrotum mist. Yeah, this episode brought to you by scrotum mist. Don't fix the problem. Mask it. Okay, so does scrotum mist actually exist?

39:48Is that a real? I made it up, but there are products that, yeah. I mean, isn't that kind of what Axe body spray used to be? Yeah, Axe. Yeah, like you could spray this under your armpits, or we can get people to use more by telling them it should go all over their body. Yeah, or you could just jump in the shower for five minutes. Yeah, no thanks. That's too much work. All right, let's talk about periods, because even saying period makes people weird, and there's people pausing this right now and stuff. I know, right? That time of the month, Ant Flow, Shark Week. Just say period. It's a basic body function, not a shameful mystery.

40:23It literally happens to every woman once a month. Just say it. It seems like we're still shaking off how women were treated during their periods throughout history. Yeah, we are. For most of human history, there were no pads or tampons. People used whatever worked, right? moss, animal skins, papyrus. Even in ancient times, they would wrap lint around sticks, which I can't even imagine. That sounds awful. And then cloth rags became the standard. That's literally where the phrase on the rag comes from. Gosh, that all sounds miserable. Yeah, definitely not comfortable. And disposable pads didn't show up until the early 20th century, designed by men who didn't menstruate.

41:07So these early versions, they had to be like pinned in place or worn with belts. What are you pinning? You're pinning it to your clothes, I hope. Yes, not your skin, your clothes. Adhesive pads didn't become common until decades later. Yeah, that's insane. Both that the products came so late in that women weren't the ones designing them. Because you'd think if you're going to make something, you might want to, I don't know, consult somebody with a vagina. I know, and it's almost like women should be the ones making decisions about female issues. Don't be ridiculous. This show is free because our advertisers are somehow less afraid of the word vagina than most politicians.

41:43We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Drip Drop. I take hydration seriously. Your body runs on water. If you're a little behind, you feel it. I work out. I'm on the mic a lot. I need to keep these vocal cords nice and lubricated. So drip drop is my go-to for staying properly hydrated when i'm on top of it My focus is sharper energy is steadier. My mood is just better It's one of those habits that quietly makes my whole day work better drip drop is doctor developed proven fast hydration That helps your body and mind work better, which is exactly what 2026 you actually needs What makes it different is the formula it uses a precise ratio of electrolytes and glucose for rapid absorption Delivering three times the electrolytes and half the sugar of leading sports drinks so you feel the benefits fast without that heavy, sugary aftertaste or crash.

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42:55Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code Jordan. That's dripdrop.com, promo code Jordan for 20 % off. Stock up now at dripdrop.com and use promo code Jordan. This episode is also sponsored by Shopify. I literally just bought something from a Shopify store and I knew it immediately because the checkout was almost too smooth. Like, wow, they made it so incredibly easy to take my money. Smooth. That purple pay button pops up. It's one tap and I'm done. I don't hunt for my card. I'm not trying to remember a login. I don't have password roulette going on. Honestly, it shouldn't be that hard to give you my money.

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43:54Bottom line, less juggling, more selling. See less carts go abandoned and more sales go with Shopify and their ShopPay button. Sign up for your$1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash Jordan. Go to Shopify.com slash Jordan. That's Shopify.com slash Jordan. Thank you for listening to and supporting the show. all the deals, discount codes, and ways to support the podcast are searchable and clickable on the website at jordanharbinger.com slash deals. Now for the rest of Skeptical Sunday. Why did it take so long for product options for women to come on the market? It seems like this would have been lucrative in the first place.

44:31It seems like this should have existed forever. It was just ignored because menstrual health research was and is underfunded. And disposable products then became insanely profitable, which discouraged more innovation. If men bled from their balls once a month, every toilet would come with a built-in bidet and free products. These products are expensive. Yeah, I'm famously a bidet guy, so I can get behind that. But when profit drives design instead of safety, people pay the price, like with the toxic shock crisis in the 1980s with these super absorbent tampons. I kind of remember that. What exactly happened?

45:13So toxic shock syndrome is this rare but life-threatening illness, and it's caused by bacterial toxins that enter the bloodstream. It's historically linked to these high absorbency tampons that were left in too long. But it's also seen with skin infections or surgery sometimes. It often shows as a staph infection, and it comes on fast. You get like a high fever, vomiting, rash, dizziness. So if symptoms appear, remove the tampon immediately and run to the ER. But it was really bad in the 1980s because these ultra absorbent synthetic tampons, they let bacteria thrive and toxins build up, especially when they were left in too long, which was this design failure.

46:00and it turned convenience into a really serious risk until those products were pulled and safety standards changed. That didn't happen until after several women died. Oh, wow. Women died from this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It peaked in the early part of the 80s at about 100 deaths a year. Wow. But they pulled the products, and by 1989, there were zero menstrual deaths that were reported. So today we have more options. They're safer tampons, pads, cups, period underwear. The cups are the healthiest because they can be worn for up to 12 hours. They're reusable. They're eco-friendly. And period underwear has these built-in absorbent layers you wash and reuse.

46:42And they're game changers. So I discourage women from using tampons at all. Again, designed by one man, this guy Earl Haas, who didn't seem to think about how those fibers leave tiny scratches in our vaginas, which sets us up for infections. I did not realize that. By the way, the cups, is that like a silicone thing that you dump out and wash? Dump it out, rinse it, and put it back in. I hate to use this terminology. I feel bad. But it just sort of like plugs you up for a while. Is that what it does? Yeah. I mean, it's just thoughtfully designed and it just collects the blood. And then when it's filled, you dump it out and rinse it and put it back in.

47:23It seems like you could accidentally make a huge mess doing that if you pull it out wrong. I assume you got to be sitting on the pot to do that. Yeah. I mean, I've seen people do it in the ladies room at the sink. Savages. No, I'm kidding. We're good at this. Yeah, that seems because for me, I'm trying to imagine doing that down there without being able to see everything. And I just it's like seeing a woman take her bra off without taking her shirt off. You just kind of learn. Yes. Impressive. OK. Okay. Can you lose a tampon inside you? This seems dumb. I know people are going to be like, you're stupid.

47:54You don't know what vaginas are like. No. It's a fine question, but it can't go past the cervix. So a tampon can get stuck though. And yes, accidents happen. I grew up with a girl. Her brother kicked her so hard in the crotch that her tampon had to be surgically removed. So these accidents can happen. And gosh, I haven't thought about her in so long, but Taylor, wherever you are now, I hope your vagina is happy. Her vagina might be fine. Her cervix has a dent in it. That's incredible. Wow. This is why anything you put inside your vagina should have a string on it. Yeah, but I assume it went into her uterus through, like it punched through her cervix or something.

48:36That must have hurt so bad. Yeah, it was quite the talk of ninth grade. Talk of the town. What about menstrual huts, Jess? What do you think of those? What about them? Do you think they're a good idea? Women being sent away during their periods to face exposure, sometimes violence. Women have died in menstrual huts. In places like Nepal today, girls are still sent to isolated huts during their periods because they're considered impure. And these huts often have poor sanitation, little food, no protection from cold or animals. And people have gotten seriously hurt or died from exposure. I read about a lot of snake bites happen to girls in these huts.

49:20So it's illegal in some countries now, but it still happens. So a menstrual hut, it's not a spa retreat for you to enjoy and relax a little. Not even close. It's period shaming to its most extreme form. And that same idea that menstruation is contamination, it shows up in subtler ways, too, like tampon taxes. People are embarrassed to buy products. We just treat periods like something to hide. What about period pain? because I feel like the default setting is take some ibuprofen and shut the heck up. It can't be that bad. Yeah. Again, women have not historically had a seat at these research tables.

50:02So some cramping is normal, but debilitating pain is also really common. There was a recent study done by female doctors that shows menstrual pain can be as painful as myocardial infarction. A heart attack. Yeah, indeed. It hurts. A lot. Not every time and not every one, but women experience vomiting, passing out, inability to function because there are often underlying conditions like endometriosis or fibroids. Again, the language about how complex female anatomy is matters. It's not just cramps. It's intense pain. Endometriosis is when tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus.

50:51That can cause severe pain, heavy bleeding, sometimes infertility. And about one in 10 women have it. And it currently takes an average of seven to 10 years for a woman to be diagnosed. That's crazy common. And seven to 10 years, why so long? Because doctors just don't take women's pain seriously. They say it's just part of being a woman or it's in your head. Women's pain is routinely dismissed as emotional or exaggerated. Yeah, that's horrifying, though, because endometriosis is crazy pain. I've heard of that before. People are just living with it. And it's well documented. This is a systemic issue.

51:31And it's rooted in centuries of medical sexism. Medical sexism sounds bad. It's really bad. And modern gynecology in the United States was literally built on experiments and torture on enslaved black women. So this guy, J. Marion Sims, is often called the father of modern gynecology, but he developed surgical techniques by experimenting on enslaved black women without anesthesia. Without anesthesia. That's Nazi level stuff. He operated on one black woman over and over, like at least 30 surgeries. And he claimed black women didn't feel pain the same way white women did, which is a racist lie that still echoes in medical bias today.

52:18That is truly disgusting. Yeah. And today, black women in the U.S., they're still three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications. Recently, Serena Williams, she almost died after giving birth because the doctors didn't listen to her symptoms. If Serena Williams, who's probably a billionaire, can't get doctors to listen, what does that say for everyone else? So when we talk about vaginas, we're not just talking about anatomy. We're talking race, class, power, history and sex. Still, women's pain is generally dismissed as hysterical. Yeah, so the word hysteria has a fun little etymology, doesn't it?

52:58Yeah, it does. Hysteria comes from the Greek word for uterus. And for centuries, any woman who was anxious or depressed or angry or just inconvenient could be labeled hysterical and was institutionalized. And then one of these treatments was pelvic massage. So doctors manually stimulated women to orgasm to supposedly release their hysteria. And eventually the vibrator was invented as a medical device, not to help women, but to speed things up because, and this is a real quote, the doctor's hands got tired. Wow. So the vibrator was invented to make male doctors jobs easier. That is ironic. So now it just replaces husbands.

53:48So I've heard. Oh, I also think it's worth noting here. This is before gloves. Yeah. Raw dog medicine. Yeah. The fact that pelvic massage brought women pleasure was treated like a side effect. So that's the level of absurdity we're dealing with historically. it's amazing they could even figure it out since the clitoris was barely acknowledged until the 20th century like it wasn't fully mapped until 1998 this is insane it's like men who probably never even saw a vagina were treating them and treating them absolutely i do think it would have been funny to be a doctor back in the day who specialized in hysteria oh yes sir i'll be over right away situate your wife on the kitchen table and go to bed she'll be fine by morning wink wink Just put some gasoline in my special vibrator tool here.

54:37Oh, God, gross. I mean, this ick is why I've always insisted on a female gynecologist. Yeah. But I want to tell you, the first gynecologist I went to was a man. I was 14, 15, whenever you first go. He had also delivered me at birth. And he was in my whole family's vaginas, my mom and sisters. But at that first visit, I thought it was weird it wasn't a woman. And then, Jordan, I saw his car in his designated parking space when we were leaving. My mom just laughed when I pointed out his license plate. This man's personalized license plate read Goldfinger. Oh, God. GLDFNGR. It's 100 % true. And I refuse to go back.

55:25I think Dr. Stack's dead now. So I'm sure he was a fine doctor, but I would never have been comfortable discussing my body's development with him. Certainly did not want that man giving me a pap smear. What are those actually for? I've heard of those before. Yeah. So a pap smear is a screening test to find abnormal cells on the cervix that could become cancer. and it's incredibly important and it saves lives. And the procedure is relatively easy, but really vulnerable. If you lie on the table, your feet are in the stirrups, a speculum is inserted to open the vagina. I assure you, you're not aroused.

56:05And the doctor uses this small brush to collect cells from the cervix. Yeah, that sounds like a medieval torture session. Yeah, it kind of looks like a torture device. It's uncomfortable and for some people, painful. But regular screening dramatically cuts cervical cancer deaths. And generally, if you have a cervix, you should be screened every three years starting in your 20s. It just seems like there has to be a better way than a metal beak from 1900. Not surprising, women doctors have now invented better options. Things like HPV, which is the human papillomavirus, which is extremely common and it's spread through skin-to-skin contact.

56:47It has no symptoms, but it can lead to cancers that are now easier to screen for. So there's tests that look directly for high-risk strains of the virus that cause cervical cancers. There's swabs for HPV that you can do yourself with no speculum now. And there are improved speculum designs. Thank you, lady doctors. And techniques that focus more on patient comfort. But the whole like women should feel pain, childbirth is supposed to hurt, stop complaining mindset, that's really slowed innovation. But that's not all you go to the gynecologist for, right? There's other issues specific to the vagina you have to look out for?

57:28Oh, yeah, of course. Yeast infections are really common. That's an overgrowth of yeast that normally lives in the vagina and causes intense burning and itching. There's bacterial vaginosis, which we mentioned before, which is an out-of-balance bacterial infection. That usually expresses itself after sex. Dirty dicks. I knew it. Yeah, that seems to be the culprit. And women often suffer urinary tract infections. That's not the vagina, but it's all in the same zip code. So people confuse the three. And studies show only a third of women who buy these over-the-counter yeast medications actually have yeast.

58:10So the rest have something else. Again, vocabulary matters. So trust your body when something feels wrong, but go to the doctor. Which isn't always so easy in America, depending on the options you have within your state and through your health insurance. Sure. That's why we need Planned Parenthood. But as far as birth control, every method has pros and cons. The pill is still very common. It's around 99 percent effective if you use it perfectly. So it's closer to like 90 percent in real life because people miss doses. But there's side effects from that. Some people feel great. Some get mood changes, weight shifts, lower libido, and all of this gets brushed off by doctors.

58:53What about IUDs? Are those any better? Yeah, IUDs are over 99 % effective and they last for years, which is great. So this is an intrauterine device. It's a device that goes inside your uterus. Yeah, they alter your hormone levels. There's hormonal and copper versions, and they're great for many people, but the insertion is actually really painful. Doctors often downplay that. I actually have a friend who's she's going through it right now. Her IUD went missing in her uterus. Just lost. Like, yeah, we don't know what happened to it, which I've heard is more common than we think. But there's not a lot of equivalent like, oops, we lost a medical device in your scrotum.

59:36But it's scary. She had to have an MRI and is currently waiting to have it surgically removed because it's like just floating around in her uterus. Yeah, I feel like us guys, we would have a task force for that. I know. She's just sitting around freaking out. Yeah, it's just floating around in there. But there's also implants in the arm. There's shots every three months, patches, rings. Condoms are still the only method that protects against STIs, sexually transmitted infections. There's emergency contraception like Plan B. It has a huge target on its back politically, but it's a critical tool for preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex.

1:00:14And Plan B has a pretty long shelf life, so it's not a bad idea to stock up right now because depending on what happens in your state, you may be able to help someone in a few years if that drug becomes unavailable. I also just read a report, non sequitur, but I just read a report that says one of the most commonly door-dashed items is Plan B. early morning delivery guys providing health care amazing yeah like where do you get your health care door dash and amazon we could probably do a whole episode on birth control but why so much fear mongering about this that's a million dollar question but because reproductive autonomy threatens systems of control when women can control if and when they have kids then they can control their education their careers their lives and that makes some people very uncomfortable It's wild that our vaginas are regulated by the government.

1:01:10Yeah, let's not open that can of worms just now. But man, women are strong to deal with the fact that they are born with a vagina in the first place. I know. And we keep getting stronger. That's why kegels are so popular these days. Yeah, everyone's heard of those. Not to brag, but I used to hold the record on Kegel Camp, which is a kegel app by my friend Emily Morris. She runs Sex with Emily podcast and stuff. I was on level 20. Nobody else even came close. That is amazing. I don't even know what that means, level 20, but for anyone who isn't a record holder like you, kegels are exercises for the pelvic floor muscles.

1:01:46And that supports your bladder, your uterus, your bowel. And done correctly, they can help with incontinence and they can improve sexual function. And they can help men too, like things like premature ejaculation and bladder control. I don't know what your problem is, Jordan. None. I got a distance record. The problem is most people do them wrong and they're not for everybody. How do you do them wrong? So you can do them wrong by clenching your abs or your thighs or your butt instead of the pelvic floor. The vocabulary matters. You have to know what you're targeting. Or if you bear down instead of lifting up or you hold your breath, you can make things worse if your pelvic floor is already too tight.

1:02:29So some people need to relax their pelvic floor, not tighten it. So a good doctor can guide you to what exercises you should be doing. So not everything is solved just by doing Kegels. I actually don't even know how to relax your pelvic floor or stretch it or whatever. I mean, you would have to probably take some pregnancy courses, I think. Squats. Got to do some deep squats. Yeah. It's back to the literacy again. You need to know what you're talking about. What happens with age? Because vaginas don't just retire. Definitely not. As estrogen declines, especially after menopause, you can get vaginal atrophy, thinner, drier tissue, less elasticity, more discomfort with sex, more infections.

1:03:11But the good news is there are vaginal moisturizers, lubricants, and low-dose vaginal estrogen that acts locally. So hormone therapy has been unfairly demonized. And for lots of people under medical guidance, it can be really safe and life improving. So staying sexually active, solo or with a partner can help maintain blood flow and elasticity. So sex in your 60s, it might be different than in your 20s, but it can still be really good. And sex should always be really good. That's kind of the point. Yeah, always. For all the men listening, it's important for you to understand the complexities of the female anatomy to make your sex life better, too.

1:03:55So communication is everything for healthy, fun, satisfying sex. I like to think of sex as like a competitive sport. OK, so like be louder than your neighbors. I don't know what you mean. Just understand the game, understand the positions and the equipment. And I don't know, I'm going to win. But once I knew about the orgasm gap, I feel like I got competitive. What's the orgasm gap? In heterosexual encounters, men orgasm 95 % of the time. Women orgasm 65 % of the time. And in lesbian encounters, women orgasm about 85 % of the time. So the common denominator is what? Prioritize female pleasure.

1:04:40It's not women's bodies. It's knowledge and effort. Yeah, sounds like a lot of work. But I guess we all deserve participation trophies and snacks and you just you hope you don't pull a muscle. Warm up, everybody. Right. And respect your teammate. Asking questions about vaginas isn't indecent. It's necessary. The more we understand about our bodies, the less power shame and pseudoscience have over us. The feminine hygiene industry, the cosmetic surgery industry, a lot of these wellness brands, they profit from making women feel broken. Vaginas are not broken. They're incredible. Anything that can produce pain, pleasure, and another human being should probably be celebrated and not be a taboo.

1:05:22So to the vaginas of the world, I salute you. Yes, me too. You are powerful. You are weird. You are wonderful. You're not a problem to be solved. So just let your vagina do its job and stop buying detox pearls. Right, yes. It's time to retire the pussy pop. All right, I'm going to go buy my wife and her vagina, some flowers and candy, maybe not candy for the vagina. Thanks, Jess, for letting us get inside a woman. Of course. And thank you for listening. Topic suggestions for future episodes of Skeptical Sunday. To me, Jordan at jordanharbinger.com. Advertisers, deals, discounts, and ways to support the show, all at jordanharbinger.com slash deals.

1:05:59I'm at jordanharbinger on Twitter and Instagram, where you can connect with me on LinkedIn. You can find Jessica on her sub stacks between the lines and where shadows linger. We'll link to those in the show notes as well. This show is created in association with Podcast One. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Tata Sadlowskis, Robert Fogerty, Ian Baird, and Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own. And I'm a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer, and I'm definitely not a gynecologist, as evidenced by this episode. Also, we try to get these as right as we can. Not everything is gospel, even if it's fact-checked.

1:06:28So consult a qualified professional before applying anything you hear on the show, especially if it's about your health and well-being. Remember, we rise by lifting others. Share the show with those you love. If you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use a good dose of the skepticism and knowledge we doled out today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn. And we'll see you next time. What if the most powerful painkiller, memory booster, and mood shifter wasn't in your medicine cabinet, but in your playlist?

1:06:57Well, experiential fusion is a term coined by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who works closely with the Dalai Lama about altered states and meditative states and such. And the idea is that it's sometimes referred to as flow, although it's slightly different, a flow state. You're in the zone if you're a basketball player or if you're a coder, you just lose track of time. But the experiential fusion that you and I are talking about with music is that under the right circumstances, you forget that you're listening to music. You might even forget who you are. You become one with the experience.

1:07:36There is an evidence base now for music therapies and music interventions. We know that music can affect the immune system in several ways. Listening to pleasurable music can increase levels of immunoglobulin A, an important antibody that travels to the site of mucosal infections and helps fight them off. We know that music that is pleasurable to you can increase the production of natural killer cells and T-cells, also important for fighting disease and infection. Some music can lead to reductions in inflammation. Why music does this and why the immune system responds to it, we don't know. But it does.

1:08:21For more on how music hacks your brain's chemistry to heal in ways that medicine can't, check out episode 1147 with neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin. Quick break to recommend something that's useful. If you want to stay in the loop on what's happening in the world without doom scrolling for an hour, Simple English News Daily is perfect. at seven minutes a day, super easy to follow, gives you the most simple version of the biggest stories from different continents every day. Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, you name it. And the best part, no opinion, no analysis, just the news, clean, clear, and done.

1:08:53Just search Simple English News Daily in your podcast app or go to send7.org.