Vagina Museum crowdfunds to get first physical building
Written by News on 26/03/2019
A campaign is under way to give the Vagina Museum a home.
The museum is the first and only registered charity in the UK with “vagina” in its title.
Its mission is to educate on gynaecological anatomy and health, break down taboos and stigma and act as a forum for women’s rights and trans-inclusive values.
Florence Schechter, a science YouTuber, founded the museum in 2017 after finding there was no physical vagina museum in the world – despite there being one dedicated to male genitalia in Iceland.
She and her army of volunteers began hosting pop-up programmes and exhibitions from May that year, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Now two years on, there is a crowdfunder for the Vagina museum to find its first bricks-and-mortar home.
“It’s so important to build the Vagina Museum because it is a hugely stigmatised part of the body, and I think a museum would be an amazing way for us a community to make the statement that vulvas are a part of the body that should not be so taboo as it is now,” Ms Schechter told Sky News.
An appeal for £300,000 is under way to open a space in Camden Market in London in November this year.
The museum is unable to raise donations via Facebook, which reportedly said the project did not pass their community standards.
The museum, which would be free to enter, will have exhibitions and events on a range of subjects including anatomy, health, periods, sex and history.
The project is backed by The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, with vice president Alison Wright saying: “We believe the museum will be a huge asset to help people to understand women’s health and to talk about it more openly.”
The crowdfunder acknowledges that some people might be shocked or find the name of museum funny, but sets out the serious issues behind the project.
They cite, among other issues, that there has been a 500% increase in the number of labiaplasties on the NHS between 2002 and 2012, nearly a third of 16 to 35-year-olds said they avoided going to the doctors with gynaecological issues due to embarrassment and that half of men wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about gynaecological issues with a female partner.
“With a Vagina Museum, all people can learn that there is nothing shameful or offensive about vaginas and vulvas and by fighting stigma, we can be a part of helping solve these problems,” the crowdfunder explains.
Not everyone appears convinced, with one Twitter user commenting “really?” under a post highlighting the appeal.
(c) Sky News 2019: Vagina Museum crowdfunds to get first physical building
