ABSTRACT
The vagina, throughout history and across different cultures is seen as the symbol of female sexuality, serving as the site for regulation and contestations around gender identity, sexuality and reproduction, as well as the bio-politics around reproduction (Laqueur 1990). In different cultures, the social constructions of the vagina, associated practices used for modifications, cleansing and sexual pleasure have been found to be closely related to the notion of the vagina as a means of “balancing forces within the (female) body to prepare for acts of sex and reproduction”. More significantly, the vagina serves as an embodied organ (Bordo 1994); vaginal practices serve not only as reflection of sociocultural norms, but a means through which a woman legitimates and navigates her sexuality and reproductive life, and connects to “external processes” beyond her body (Hilber 2010a).
