Narrator: At a Catholic school assembly in Ireland, a Tampax representative made a simple suggestion to a hall full of twelve-year-old girls: take a hand mirror and look at your own vagina. The idea was met with disgust and ridicule. But that night, one studious girl, the future author Lynn Enright, decided to follow the advice. In the privacy of her parents' bathroom, she positioned the mirror, but a sudden jolt of arousal sent her retreating in fear and shame. She felt that this pleasure was something shameful, something reserved only for boys. This single moment of curiosity, crushed by a lifetime of cultural silence, deprived her of understanding her own body for years.

This deeply personal story of shame and misinformation lies at the heart of Lynn Enright’s book, Vagina: A Re-Education. It argues that this experience is not unique but is the product of a society that systematically keeps women ignorant about their own bodies, and that the only way forward is a radical act of re-education.

Narrator: The book begins by diagnosing a fundamental problem: a pervasive culture of secrecy and misinformation surrounding female anatomy. This ignorance is not accidental but is actively taught, starting with flawed sex education. Enright recalls her own teenage sex-ed, where there was extensive discussion of male wet dreams, framing the male orgasm as the entire point of sex. The vagina was presented merely as a receptacle. Girls’ pleasure and their orgasms were never mentioned, leading an entire generation to see female sexuality as secondary and less important.

This educational failure has profound consequences. Studies show a shocking number of women cannot correctly identify their own genitalia. For example, a 2016 study by The Eve Appeal found that 44% of British women could not identify the vagina on a diagram, and 60% could not identify the vulva. This lack of basic knowledge isn't just an academic problem; it leads to women feeling ashamed of their bodies, seeking unnecessary cosmetic surgeries, and delaying medical help for serious health issues out of embarrassment. The book argues that this widespread ignorance is a direct result of a historical pattern of controlling women's bodies, a pattern that can only be broken by smashing the stigma and demanding better education.

Narrator: Enright methodically dismantles the myths surrounding female anatomy, focusing on two key areas that have been deliberately misunderstood: the hymen and the clitoris. The hymen, she explains, is not a seal of virginity to be "broken" but a thin, flexible membrane that varies greatly in shape and size. For many, it wears away naturally over time. Yet, this biologically useless piece of tissue has been weaponized as a cultural symbol to police female purity, leading to devastating consequences like "honor killings" and a thriving market for hymen reconstruction surgery in cultures where a bride’s value is tied to her perceived virginity.

Even more critical is the historical erasure of the clitoris. For centuries, it was ignored in medical texts and sex education. In a startling example, the clitoris was completely removed from the definitive medical textbook, Gray's Anatomy, in 1948 and wasn't fully reinstated for decades. It took the pioneering work of Australian urologist Helen O'Connell in the 1990s to reveal its true size and complexity—a large, intricate organ dedicated solely to pleasure. O'Connell's research, initially met with skepticism, proved that the neglect of the clitoris was not an oversight but a reflection of a medical and cultural system that has consistently devalued female pleasure.

Narrator: The book moves from anatomy to experience, tackling the "orgasm gap." A 2017 study revealed that while 95% of heterosexual men usually or always orgasm during sex, only 65% of heterosexual women do. This 30-point gap, Enright argues, is a political issue. It is not a biological inevitability, as proven by the fact that 86% of lesbian women report regular orgasms. The gap is a direct result of a sexual culture that prioritizes penis-in-vagina intercourse and male pleasure.

This culture was heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud, who famously declared the clitoral orgasm "immature" and the vaginal orgasm superior. This myth has caused immense harm, pressuring women to achieve a type of orgasm that is anatomically unlikely for most, as the clitoris is the true center of pleasure. The book highlights the work of feminists like Anne Koedt, whose 1968 essay "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm" called for a redefinition of sex centered on mutual enjoyment. Enright argues that closing the orgasm gap requires dismantling these outdated ideas and fostering open communication, where female pleasure is no longer an afterthought but a priority.

Narrator: Vagina: A Re-Education confronts the systemic dismissal of female pain within the medical establishment. Enright shares her own harrowing experience of undergoing a hysteroscopy with inadequate pain relief. Despite her crying and begging the doctor to stop, he continued, later noting in her file that she was a "patient particularly sensitive to pain." This tendency to label women as hysterical, oversensitive, or emotional rather than believing their reports of pain is a well-documented phenomenon.

This bias has devastating effects on women suffering from chronic conditions like endometriosis, a debilitating disease that takes an average of seven and a half years to diagnose in the UK. Women’s symptoms are often dismissed as "bad period pain." Similarly, conditions like vulvodynia and vaginismus, which cause chronic pain and make intercourse impossible, are frequently met with unhelpful or dismissive advice from doctors. The book argues that this is a direct consequence of a historical lack of research into women's health. By sharing these stories, Enright makes a powerful case for believing women and demanding better, more empathetic healthcare.

Narrator: In its final, crucial argument, the book challenges the very premise that a vagina defines womanhood. It asks the question: in a book celebrating the vagina, where do trans people fit? Enright is unequivocal: feminism and discussions about vaginas must be inclusive. She highlights that not all women have vaginas, and not everyone with a vagina is a woman.

To illustrate this, she shares the story of Ani, a trans woman who explains that her gender dysphoria was primarily related to her upper body. After undergoing hormone therapy and top surgery, she felt her transition was complete and had no desire for lower surgery. For her, womanhood was a "spiritual and neurological" experience, not one defined by her genitals. The book condemns the invasive, often prurient focus on trans people's bodies and genitals, arguing that it creates a culture of silence and fear. Enright insists that a feminism that is "vagina-centric" to the point of excluding trans women is not feminism at all. True re-education means creating a space where all experiences are respected and where no one is reduced to their body parts.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Vagina: A Re-Education is that knowledge about our bodies is a revolutionary act. The shame, silence, and stigma surrounding the vagina are not natural; they are manufactured tools of patriarchal control. By arming ourselves with accurate information—about anatomy, pleasure, pain, and identity—we dismantle that control and reclaim our power.

The book leaves readers with a profound challenge: to continue this re-education in their own lives. It asks us to have the conversations we were taught to avoid, to question the medical advice we are given, and to build a more inclusive, compassionate, and honest world. It is a call to action to finally grab that hand mirror, both literally and metaphorically, and to look at ourselves and each other with understanding, not shame.