# Girls-- When did you first see yourself-- down there? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447 "2005-07-07T13:01:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/1 "2005-07-07T13:01:28Z")
My daughter, a talented, smart and well read 18 year old recently admitted to me that until quite recently she wasn’t _quite_ sure how many holes she had down there. Her brother and her best friend (also a boy) had to explain it to her. “Well, I’ve never actually _seen_ it.” Me, I knew what was down there-- even before the internet, pictures of vaginas weren’t all that hard to come by. Although, if you went by the drawings in health textbooks, I can see how you could not be _quite_ sure of how many holes you have down there. I mean, did they ever depict an asshole in those drawings? So I was surprised by what I saw at [at The Door (NYC premier youth development agency is what the call themselves)](http://www.door.org/about_home.html). I was 16 when my first time ever gyno there put me up in the stirrups, handed me a mirror and said, “I’m leaving. You take a good look. Us girls should really be more aquainted with our girly parts.” They are kinda hard to get a look at though, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/2 "2005-07-07T13:14:24Z")
Eek. I think I was like…23. No, really. I was raised that that part of me was “dirty” and I shouldn’t touch it. By the time it occured to me to lay a mirror down on the floor I had already been having sex! I really, really, regret this. I wish I had been told to look at myself much younger, as soon as I got my period. (12). And I wish I had looked throughout the years to see the changes, especially pre-virginity/post-virginity. Young girls, if you’re listening, _look at yourself_. Lay a mirror down on the floor in a well-lit room and squat down over it, and admire yourself! Both emotional health and physical health is better if you know every part of yourself intimately. No pun intended. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/3 "2005-07-07T15:27:32Z")
Is that common? For people not to look? I always looked at it. There were times when I was on such a busy schedule of being locked in my room with the mirror that I had time for little else. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/4 "2005-07-07T15:44:21Z")
29 years old. I know, I know, and I’m the lay-expert on girly-bits, menstrual cycles and fertility! I never felt it was “dirty” or anything. But I never felt a need to look at 'em until I had a Gartner’s Duct Cyst which protruded from the vagina. (Um…OW!). Terrified I was prolapsing or hemmoraging or something, I grabbed a hand mirror and had a peek. Except…I didn’t really know what “normal” looked like, so I couldn’t really tell what was out of whack visually. So I too recommend looking early and often, if only so you can tell what’s going on if something goes awry. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/5 "2005-07-07T15:47:06Z")
I became pretty interested in what I was all about pretty early. I know it was before I was menstruating, but after I started budding breasts, so probably around 9 or 10. I used a hand mirror in the bathroom while taking a shower to check things out. That’s around the same time we had Sex Ed in school, I think understood everything, so I had a pretty good idea how everything worked. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/6 "2005-07-07T15:51:12Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But I never felt a need to look at 'em until I had a Gartner’s Duct Cyst which protruded from the vagina. (Um…OW!). Nit-picking my own post. Yes, of course I meant a [Bartholin’s Abscess](http://www.mamashealth.com/women/bar.asp) that was extremely painful. The Gartner’s Duct Cyst was years ago and not at all painful, and didn’t prompt a lookin’. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/7 "2005-07-07T16:19:06Z")
I was 9 the first time I checked myself out with a mirror. Have done it regularly since. Girly parts are fascinating. Also, knowing what you look like can give you an early heads up if something is amiss. I’ve also seen my cervix. And felt my ovaries and uterus (actually, I do that often accidentally, mine are pretty easy to feel through my tummy). I watched my son & his placenta be born, but I balked at watching the doctor stitch me up (stitches freak me out for some reason). It’s weird to see how the contour of my labia has totally changed since childbirth. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/8 "2005-07-07T18:48:35Z")
About 5th grade. Sex ed that year included a little booklet about your body and what will change during puberty that included an illustration and the recommendation that you find a small mirror and look at the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/9 "2005-07-07T20:11:01Z")
I got a mirror and examined my nether regions when I was seven years old. I was worried because I’d noticed that my mother had pubic hair, and I wanted to see whether I might have any. I didn’t. Like most redheads, I still don’t have much. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/10 "2005-07-07T20:33:33Z")
When I bought the video, same as everyone else. Kidding. I did see it for the first time on video, but it was just a private one (no pun intended). I think I was 22. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/11 "2005-07-07T20:51:38Z")
12 or 13 prompted by reading Our Bodies Our Selves. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/12 "2005-07-07T21:18:45Z")
As a guy, with easy access to view my bits, this might be a really dumb question, so I’m just gonna whisper it: [sub]Why can’t you look at your girly bits without the aide of a hand mirror? Can’t you just sit on the edge of a chair, spread your legs, lean forwad and look? I know your parts aren’t as visible as guys’, but I would think you’d still be able to see them without a mirror. Hey! Stop laughing at me![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/13 "2005-07-07T21:27:55Z")
[Calling **AwSnappity** …](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=266702) ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/14 "2005-07-07T21:29:59Z")
Thirteen or fourteen. I’d read somewhere about a woman looking at hers in a mirror, so I got mine and took a look. I’ve looked at them every so often ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/15 "2005-07-07T21:32:14Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nit-picking my own post. > > Yes, of course I meant a [Bartholin’s Abscess](http://www.mamashealth.com/women/bar.asp) that was extremely painful. The Gartner’s Duct Cyst was years ago and not at all painful, and didn’t prompt a lookin’. Oh my that looks painful. I think my girly bits are, er, well not retreating, exactly, but at least cowering. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/16 "2005-07-07T21:33:08Z")
Well, I wasn’t the one who initiated looking at myself. It was my mother. Apparently, I had some sort of urinary infection when I was a kid, about six or seven. So, when I peed, it felt like something was poking me down there and it hurt. So, my mother got a little mirror and told me to drop my pants and underwear and stand over it because she wanted to see if there was some external sign of discomfort. Then, I looked down and saw myself. And that’s the only time I’ve ever done that. I’m more liberal about these sorts of things than my girlfriends. They have trouble saying that they’re having their periods, even if nobody asked. Anyways, all the Doper Women are saying it’s healthy to look at yourself, so maybe I should do it more often. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/17 "2005-07-07T21:34:24Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > As a guy, with easy access to view my bits, this might be a really dumb question, so I’m just gonna whisper it: > > [sub]Why can’t you look at your girly bits without the aide of a hand mirror? Can’t you just sit on the edge of a chair, spread your legs, lean forwad and look? I know your parts aren’t as visible as guys’, but I would think you’d still be able to see them without a mirror. > > Hey! Stop laughing at me![/sub] Girly bits are actually under us. Imagine trying to look at your asshole without a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/18 "2005-07-07T21:35:14Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > As a guy, with easy access to view my bits, this might be a really dumb question, so I’m just gonna whisper it: > > [sub]Why can’t you look at your girly bits without the aide of a hand mirror? Can’t you just sit on the edge of a chair, spread your legs, lean forwad and look? I know your parts aren’t as visible as guys’, but I would think you’d still be able to see them without a mirror. > > Hey! Stop laughing at me![/sub] Sweetie, I ain’t seen my feet without bending forward in years! Ain’t no way I’m flexible enough to see what’s 'tween my legs. Think about it. To get in a postition to see the vagina, you’d be in a position to orally pleasure yourself. if I could do that, you’d never read a post of mine, 'cause I would never be on the Dope! Can you see the bottom of your scrotum? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/19 "2005-07-07T21:35:23Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > As a guy, with easy access to view my bits, this might be a really dumb question, so I’m just gonna whisper it: > > [sub]Why can’t you look at your girly bits without the aide of a hand mirror? Can’t you just sit on the edge of a chair, spread your legs, lean forwad and look? I know your parts aren’t as visible as guys’, but I would think you’d still be able to see them without a mirror. > > Hey! Stop laughing at me![/sub] The hand mirror gives a much better vantage. Looking at it from the top down, you only see it, well, from the top down. On preview, what **Biggirl** said. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447/20 "2005-07-07T21:42:10Z")
I was _maybe_ three or four and it was completely by accident. My mom had a mirror on the floor that propped up against a chest in her bedroom (It was at about the same angle as the shoe mirrors at Pay-less) and apparently I’d developed quite the habit of staring at myself in said mirror. This wasn’t a problem until one night, fresh out of the bath, I decided to take a gander at my lovely self. The next thing I remember is freaking out and crying until my mom came to check on me because OMGTHERESAHOLEINMENOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I may have some of the details slightly off, but I definitely remember being panicked and I know that it was before I started kindergarten (at age 4.5). I didn’t really look again until I was 12 or 13, and then it was just because I’d noticed that my inner labia didn’t quite match in size. That still irks me, though the doctor insists that I’m far from alone in my asymetricism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-when-did-you-first-see-yourself-down-there/311447.md?page=2)