Vaginism stands for any psychosomatic alteration triggered by the rebounds of emotional nature. It manifests itself through such a conspicuous bodily response- a spasmodic and painful muscular contraction that hampers or prevents penetrative sex. Such muscular twitching, as involuntary and unnoticeable, is a rebound from profound anxiety lingered to penetrative sex.
Thus anxiety springs out, most often, from the lack of information pertaining to the sexual organs of both genders. Naivety as such is due to the sexual backlash that might still linger in modern society. Those women who suffer from Vaginism know very little if none about their own reproductive system. As far as they concern the vagina, including its location, elasticity and mobility, comprises an entire mystery.
In treatments for more serious cases of Vaginism, even more surprisingly information breakdown is likely to be spotted. Those women who display this psychosomatic streak in particular, in certain cases, seem unable to locate their vaginal opening. In certain extreme situations a woman with Vaginism could mistake her anus by the vaginal entrance.
Certain gynecologists remark that there are cases of women who barely manage to insert a pliable ring into the vagina in order to take measurements for a diaphragm (mechanical contraceptive, which can be placed by the woman herself).
To their understanding, the vagina virtually doesn’t exist as a receptive organ, capable of lodging a hardon penis. It’s as though there wasn’t any hollow in the surroundings. It comes as of no surprise, as it were, that any attempt done by either partner towards penetrative sex would turn out to be as traumatizing as painful.
Still around, in particular segments of modern society, the sexual organs of women come enshrouded by mystery. It’s supposed that their primary part lies internal and concealed. Yet, even those external ones are symbolically hidden. This so because the perception of human body varies culture wise. For example, for several indigenous tribes the testicles were not associated to reproduction but though to the corporal aesthetic, working as ornament.
Quite often humanly sexual organs are already symbolically “concealed” in childhood. This is due, for instance, when a girl begins to probe herself and runs questions by her mother; after all she winds up by listening at least to some well-described explanation in regard to ducts and ovaries. As for the “pleasure organs” (clitoris, vagina, etc) the mother barely hints or else disregards entirely.
The ignorance of the Vaginism victims’ about their genitals comes grounded on personal accounts, relatively frequent, of never taken a look at their genitals aided by the mirror. Some might get as far as feeling aversion when faced by the straightforward idea of undergoing visual probe during gynecological examination.
Aside from a strict upbringing, which supplies further data on issues of sexual nature, also traumatic experiences may linger to such like nuisances. In their midst, there could be cited the defloration of virginity followed by abnormal bleeding (unusual instance), and so attempts of sexual harassment. Still Vaginism is rarely tolerated, because it hampers or mess up with the relation. Creates hence a very delicate situation, whose instills devastating psychological backlash, not just for the woman herself, but also for her mate.
By Jonatas Dornelles
Anthropologist
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