Thinking on Sunday: Why the World Needs A Vagina Museum

There is a penis museum in Iceland, but no vagina equivalent anywhere in the world. Comedian Florence Schechter discusses why she chose to set up the world’s first bricks and mortar vagina museum and the strange reactions she’s received along the way.

The museum will have four permanent galleries: science, culture, society and history. The science section will cover topics from the anatomy to health, menstruation to menopause, contraception to consent, sexuality to gender identity. The culture collection will showcase the anatomy in the arts and their contribution to the discourse about our genitals, for example The Great Wall of Vagina or The Handmaid’s Tale. The society gallery will explore genitals’ place in society, e.g. religious rites surrounding menstruation, the practises of FGM, of which over 200 million people are living today suffering from, sexual violence and how these cases are dealt with in court. The history gallery will contain objects relating to the history of gynaecological medicine, contraception, menstrual products and sex work.

—