Not long ago, I came across an image on Instagram. It featured 5 different elements within the ‘female reproductive organs’ map, with letters attached to them, to match with their actual names: womb, vagina, cervix, ovaries, and vulva. Alongside the picture came a simple question: “Can you name these?” And it got me thinking. Why? Because I wondered, could I confidently say what was what? And if the options were not offered to me, would I even be able to answer what each one was, off the top of my head? I’m ashamed to say this, but I probably wouldn’t. But then, I thought, when was the last time I actually had to figure out what the attributes of my birth sex were, and when did I learn any of this?

Author: Shems Rocha

Category: SELF

Listen to the full story, or read it online - also available in Easy Read.

For more Self-related stories, head to https://www.thespillmag.com/self