Excellent News For Ladies Who Like To Get It On — A Lot
Chalk this up to another sex-shaming myth used to scare women away from having a healthy sex life.
We’ve all heard the jokes:
“Her vagina was like throwing a hotdog down a hallway!” No it wasn’t. “You could park a buick in there!” Nah, bro, you can’t. Please do not try.
These jokes are wrong on more levels than one, but from a biological perspective, the idea of an particularly active vagina equating to more spacious real estate is simply untrue. That’s right — a girl who catches a lot of D does NOT stretch from sea to shining sea. It’s just another myth to shame women into believing they’re undeserving of a healthy sex life.
Expert Lauren Streicher, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and author of Love Sex Again, told Women’s Health that the biggest penis in creation wouldn’t be able to permanently alter the width of a vagina.
“Even the largest penis in the world won’t compare to the size of the baby, so it won’t affect the size of the vagina,” says Streicher.
According to Streicher, our hoo-has are designed to expand and accommodate everything from a big penis to childbirth. The walls of the vagina are actually bumpy, and they go through physical changes when women are aroused. When the bloodflow increases in the vagina, it lubricates. When this happens, the walls relax and unfold, giving more space to accommodate whatever’s about to enter. When natural lubrication isn’t enough (especially with larger visitors), consider a lubricant. Streicher recommends a non-water-based option.
Right after sex you might feel a little more…erm, open, than usual. That’s normal. Your va-heen just expanded to accommodate a foreign body — it’s going to take a minute to return to normal size. After an hour or so, you should be right and tight.
If your grip doesn’t seem as strong as it once was, don’t blame your vagina or your sex drive. The muscles surrounding the vagina, aka the pelvic floor, may just need a bit of strengthening. You can try Kegels or speak to your gyno, who can recommend exercises.
Bottom line? A woman’s partner list could look like the Declaration of Independence (and include as many amendments), but it still wouldn’t change the shape of her vagina permanently.
If you think your pelvic muscles could use a bit of a boost, physical therapist Michelle Kenway can provide you with a couple of easy and effective kegel workouts.
