Women's Health

Tools & Resources

Font Size

Women’s Health Urban Glossary

The V Scene Urban Glossary: Gynecology Real Talk for Young Women

It's not always comfortable to talk about your "equipment," the stuff that makes you female. But if you hold back on asking the questions, you aren't going to get answers.

That’s why you need this real-talk guide to the female body. It pairs up the terms your friends may use with the straight facts -- and sometimes even a little humor.

Recommended Related to Women

How to Get Your Sexy Back

By Colleen Oakley You used to want to have sex. A lot. There was a time when you couldn't wait to rip your guy's clothes off, when you felt empowered and excited by the mere thought of a bedroom romp. Ah, the good ol' days. Recently, however, it seems that watching American Idol — or watching paint dry — are more appealing options than getting it on with your fella. Whatever happened to that sexy, flirtatious girl you used to know? Don't worry — she's still in there. While many of...

Read the How to Get Your Sexy Back article > >

It’s your first step in getting answers about your V-scene -- your vagina, your other female parts, and what’s going on down there.

The Skinny on Menstrual Health

Formal Term: Menstruation

Most commonly called: Your period.

Slang terms that don’t make us blush:

Time of the month: How lady-like.
Aunt Flo: As in, "My Aunt Flo is visiting."
Crimson tide: Not those athletes wearing the University of Alabama colors.
On the rag: As in, "I'm on the rag; please don't talk to me."
Riding the cotton pony: A cowgirl rides any time of the month.

Menstruation Real Talk: Your period is a monthly reminder that you are not pregnant (as long as your periods are typically regular every month). The menstrual cycle is a series of events that prepare your body for pregnancy. The blood flow at the end of the month usually indicates you’re not pregnant. Here’s how it normally works: if there’s no fertilized egg growing in your uterus, your uterus sheds its lining; causing bleeding that lasts 5 to 7 days.

Periods usually start around age 11 or 12 and stop at menopause, which usually occurs at age 50. Periods can cause painful cramping, but for most women, periods are just an inconvenience.

Choices for absorbing menstrual flow include:

Sanitary pad: Made of cotton, sanitary pads attach to the inner lining of your underpants and absorb menstrual blood.

Pads range from thin and light to thick and highly absorbent. They can also have "wings" on either side that prevent the pad from bunching.

Slang terms: Cotton airplane, mattress, napkins, hammock

Tampons: Tampons are cotton plugs that you insert in your vagina via a cardboard or plastic tube.

When you’ve inserted the tampon, your vagina hugs it so it stays put, and you shouldn’t be able to feel it.

Sizes range from light to super-absorbent.

Tampons have a string, or wick, that you gently pull to remove them. You should change a tampon every 4 to 6 hours to prevent leakage and infection.

Toxic shock syndrome is rare, but it’s a fast-progressing staph or strep infection that can affect your kidneys, lungs, and liver. Symptoms of toxic shock syndrome include a high fever and vomiting, skin rash, and confusion.

Slang terms: Cork, plug, wick, pen (as in “My Aunt Flo needs a pen.”)

Panty liners: Panty liners, or mini pads, are shorter, thinner sanitary pads. Panty liners are designed for lighter menstrual flow and to absorb vaginal discharge, which can be fairly regular and is natural, especially during ovulation.