Seventeen years ago the project began with one puppet, hand-made by a 40 year old woman in San Fransisco.Since then she has hand crafted 4,000 more, sending a message with each one, for people to share their stories, stories which have inspired many, including Eve Ensler when she compiled "The Vagina Monologues." They are a testament to the beauty of the human body, in beautiful hand crafted form.
The puppet is not exactly anatomically correct, it is more of an artistic representation of the Vulva; which for those of you not up on your anatomy, is the technical name for that area between a cis-girl's legs, the vagina is only the cavity, the labia, the clitoris, and the vaginal opening are all part of the vulva. While the fact that it does not look exactly like a vulva may seem like a negative when using it as a model I actually really like the design. Often people can be uncomfortable with sexuality and putting a realistic vulva in front of them could just push them over the edge and have them running for the door. This puts a playful spin on things while still representing the parts of the body appropriately. This could also be useful for therapists who specialize in counseling survivors of sexual crimes. The puppet shows the outer labia, inner labia, clitoris, clitoral hood, g-spot, and urethra. One important thing to note is that many diagrams and models often do not display the g-spot or clitoris since their only anatomical purpose is for pleasure (and why would that be important?) Between the two inner labia is a small pocket that represents the vaginal canal, including a small ridged piece of fabric right at the entrance to show the g-spot, the texture is actually quite similar as well. I wish that this was a little further inside since this g-spot is very shallow, pretty much at the opening. Above this is the urethra, represented by a small rose, and above that the clitoris and clitoral hood. The both of these seem a bit larger than I'd prefer. I wish they had tacked down the sides of the fabric a bit better around the hood to make it tighter to the clitoris but if they did that then you would not be able to pull the hood back to reveal the clitoris as you can on a real human body so I understand why they did this.Your vulva puppet is available in six standard colors, although they can make custom ones as well for an extra charge, I chose the Erzuli. The outer labia and vaginal canal are made of a felt material while the inner labia, clitoral hood, and clitoris are all made of a silk. The puppet is clearly handmade, when examining the stitching you can see minor imperfections and weaknesses, but this does not become apparent until one looks very closely. This is clearly due to the fact that these are not mass produced but are instead made to order. As long as good care is taken in storing and transporting your vulva puppet I see no reason why it should not last a very long time.
Want to learn more? Buy your vulva puppet or take classes here!
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