How do I feel better about my labia

[TortoiseJump]

I have what I guess I have learnt is an outie and lately it has been bothering me more and more. Basically since I started periods. How do I feel better about it?

[CaitlinEve]

The journey to self-acceptance can be hard, but it's definitely worth it! I suppose my first question is what specifically bothers you about having an 'outie'? Does your dislike stem from worrying about how you and your genitalia are/will be perceived, or does it connect more towards your own perception of yourself?

[TortoiseJump]

I think what bothers me is that it dangles if that makes sense? Like it looks a bit more like what I would imagine a boys genitals look like but its not. I worry if anyone saw it they would make fun of me

[CaitlinEve]

That makes sense! I know other volunteers and staff linked you some articles in your other thread about genitals, but I also want to offer you this one: Vagzilla! (Or, All Genitals Great and Small) . It might help you with accepting your body a little more. I wish there was something I could say or offer you that would help you accept yourself and your body, but this is something that will take time. What I can say is that anybody who would make fun of your body is not somebody who deserves you. Everybody and every body is different and that's okay; it's what makes us all unique. I guarantee there are other people with genitals that look like yours as well, even if you haven't seen them represented yet.

[Heather]

I want to be clear that inner labia almost ALWAYS stick out and dangle. In fact, when they don't -- which is most often much, much later in life, way down the road after someone has been in menopause for some years -- it often causes some troubles, so not only is this normal, it's also a good thing.

It sounds to me like you might misunderstand or not know (as it doesn't sound like you've seen many genitals, period) that this is how the labia simply are on most bodies.