Attitudes Toward Women’s Genitals Scale

Women’s sexual and sexual health behaviors may be influenced by a range of factors including their perceptions of female genitals, such as whether vaginas are clean or dirty, attractive or unattractive, or whether they smell or taste pleasant. As an example, women who believe that vaginas generally smell bad or are “dirty” may avoid receiving cunnilingus or may avoid annual pelvic exams. The Attitudes Toward Women’s Genitals Scale (ATWGS) was designed with the intent to measure individuals’ perceptions of women’s genitals (Herbenick, 2006) rather than genital selfimage, a concept that relates to how one perceives one’s own genitals, which is measured by other scales.