vagina_museum

vagina_museum, 1 day ago

The Museum of Mankind team are especially proud to acquire this precious 21st century ritual training set. A man would use this to symbolically re-enact his farming prowess during times of famine. His pattern-making mind could create ritual designs. Only a man was sufficiently dexterous.

vagina_museum, 1 day ago

Vagina Museum team here, logging back on. Sorry about that. We have no idea how Eugène Delacroissant got hold of our password. What's going on at the Museum of Mankind? It looks like they're applying gender roles where it makes no sense to. And this happens all the time...

Close up of a typewritten and jankily photocopied section header saying: The patriarchy likes to pretend that modern gender roles are biological because that would mean they can’t change and the status quo can persist. This idea is reinforced by applying patriarchal values inappropriately throughout history and science. Sometimes it is purposeful, insisting the biological truth of gender roles using evidence that wouldn’t be considered strong enough for other theories; and sometimes it is subtle and only noticeable once pointed out.
Close up of a section of the defaced panel titled Grave goods. Grave goods A 2010s study of 664 graves in Sweden found that one of the Vikings buried at Birka was not a cisgender man, as had been assumed. A genetic test revealed no Y chromosome in the individual buried in Grave Bj 581. The skeleton had been assumed male due to being buried with weapons; the individual may have been a woman warrior, a trangender man, or an intersex person. When the results were published, the researchers were accused of mixing up their samples or ignoring an apparently undiscovered second skeleton in the same grave, rather than the individual not being a cisgender man. The discovery challenged assumptions about hypermasculine Viking culture and the notion of a binary based on chromosomes. A photo of a skeleton in a grave is next to it.

vagina_museum, 1 day ago

Discover more biases in museum interpretation, history and archaeology at our exhibition The Museum of Mankind. Free admission, open Wed - Sun, 10am - 6pm at the Vagina Museum https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk/exhibitions/current

vagina_museum, 1 day ago

And if you'd like to undertake feats of dexterity with some ritual training equipment, whatever your gender, why not try your hand at crocheting a clitoris? https://vaginamuseumshop.co.uk/collections/crafts/products/crochet-clitoris-pattern

vagina_museum, 2 days ago

To us, creativity is about seeing and being seen. We provide a space for education, celebration, and the beginning of a conversation. In a world dominated by shame, we are a safe space and the start of a journey towards knowledge and empowerment.

Support the Vagina Museum's work in erasing stigma and changing the world. https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk/donate

See the other incredible work being done by the cultural and heritage sectors at the #CultureMakes tag.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

The vaginal microbiome is a name for colony the microorganisms that live in the vagina, known as vaginal flora. The balance changes throughout life, and "good" bacteria such as Lactobacillus strains help the vagina to self-clean and prevent infections. Imbalances can result in infections. Research into the vaginal microbiome is in its infancy: we know a bit, but we don't know everything yet.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

The way paid-for at-home microbiome test kits work for the consumer is that you take a sample from your vagina and send it off to a lab. You'll then be sent a report, telling you if your microbiome is "healthy" or not, sometimes indicating the presence or absence of other microorganisms in there.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

In the lab, various techniques are used to analyse the sample. The sample is compared to a database using an algorithm, or relative prevalence of various microorganisms is analysed, also using an algorithm. Because the companies offering these tests are private, the algorithms and databases are usually proprietary, meaning there's no way to scrutinise the computational techniques or datasets on which results are generated.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

Because the data isn't publicly accessible by publication, it's rare to find a testing company who will be transparent about the basics, such as if a test was run on the same sample twice, it would give the same results. When a comparison database is used, it's also hard to know how representative the dataset is.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

Because we know so little about the vaginal microbiome in general, datasets are, at best, as incomplete as the rest of science. A database probably won't include every single genetic variant of a strain of bacteria. They're also likely to be skewed specifically towards white populations.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

At the end of the day, we don't know enough about what a typical and healthy microbiome looks like, and it's likely that this differs across populations anyway - for example, African American women are more likely to have a healthy microbiome which contains very little Lactobacillus and more of other bacteria.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

There's also a question over clinical validity and utility: whether the test kits are genuinely establishing a disease that needs treating. If a test detects presence of a small amount of a specific bacteria in absence of other symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean you need treating with antibiotics - in fact, this could be harmful to your microbiome!

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

It's also worth noting that many companies that sell vaginal microbiome test kits also sell probiotic supplements. There's not enough evidence to say whether these are effective or for whom.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

The surge in these products comes for several reasons. First of all, there are likely to be lots of benefits to at-home testing for infections rather than going to a doctor for your swab, and this is a preferable for some people for a variety of reasons. There are clinically-backed, regulated pilot studies and programmes happening around the world to assess at-home testing for STIs or HPV.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

The other reason is that gynaecological health concerns are often dismissed by doctors. If you're having recurrent yeast infections or symptoms, sometimes it can be hard to feel heard and continue advocating for yourself. These tests can feel like they provide answers.

These are genuine and real problems that healthcare providers must address.

vagina_museum, 5 days ago

Science has a lot of catching up to do on the vaginal microbiome and its role in vaginal and broader health. The research is now happening, and every year a clearer picture begins to develop. But we're not quite there yet in this understanding.

vagina_museum, 6 days ago

we're not sure what the baggy thing in the lower left is. anyone got any ideas?

vagina_museum, 6 days ago

@CaptainJanegay @mshaw we are still not entirely convinced it's any part of the gynae anatomy whatsoever because 17th century anatomists were obsessed with putting entirely random pictures together on a page.