But before we get into it, let the record show that, as Angela Jones, ASTROGLIDE’s resident OB-GYN says, “Take it from me, I see over a hundred vulvas and vaginas every single week: Every vulva is unique. And every vulva is normal!”
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about one vulvar shape that’s colloquially known as the “outie.”
Let’s start with a quick anatomy lesson. While the terms “vagina” and “vulva” are often used interchangeably, the two aren’t synonymous.
The vulva is the outer bits of your genitals: the pubic mouth, inner labia, outer labia, the love-to-be-rubbed clit, and the urethra.
The vagina is just one part of the genitals: the muscular canal where babies come out of and penises/dildos/fingers/tampons go into.
So know that the term “outie vagina” is actually anatomically inaccurate.
“An actual outie vagina would be a medical emergency,” says Dr. Jill McDevitt, CalExotics‘ resident sexologist.
“It would be the vagina equivalent of your throat hanging outside your mouth like a bloody hollow tube.” Yikes!
The term “outie vagina” is used to describe a vulva that features inner lips that hang outside of the outer labia.
Basically, any vulva where you can see the inner lips without physically spreading the outer lips with your fingers.
A more anatomically accurate descriptor would be “outie vulva.”
“Vulvas are unique to our DNA, just like faces and any other body part, and therefore every single person has a different looking vulva,” says Dr. McDevitt. So no two outies are the same.
Some people with outies have curved horseshoe-shaped outer lips that leave the inner labia exposed in the middle.
Some have inner labia that are longer than the outer labia, and peek out from the outer lips.
Some people have inner labia that dangle down an inch or two lower than the outer labia.
Some people have inner labia that are the exact same length as the outer labia.
There can also be differences in the width, length, symmetry, color, smell, and hair patterns on the lips of folks with outies that make them look different.
“Innie” is used to classify vulvas where the outer labia are longer than the inner labia and other vulvar parts.
While less than 50 percent of vulva-owners have innies — Dr. McDevitt says about 44 percent do — this is the type of vulva most commonly seen in adult entertainment.
So if you’ve ever turned on mainstream porn, chances are you’ve seen an innie!
Just as no two outies look alike, no two innies are the exact same, either. There can be variations in labia width, length, and color.
Some people with innies have small, closed outer lips that conceal and contain the inner lips completely, while others have outer lips that are long, dangling down past the inner lips and sometimes outside of their underwear.
Raise your hand if you learned about how many variations of normal labia there are in sex ed. Chances are your hand is down.
Dr. Jones hypothesizes that the lack of education around what “counts” as a normal and healthy vulva is the main issue here.
“If it was normalized for vulva-owners to compare their bits at a young age in the locker room the way it is for people with penises, vulva-owners would know that vulvas come in an array of shapes and sizes, and that variation is nothing to be ashamed about,” she says.
Problem is, vulva-owners don’t know that vulvas are as varied as earlobes or snowflakes. And, in many cases, only see one kind of vulva — innies — in porn and other NSFW images.
“This can cause vulva owners, especially those who don’t have vulvas that look like the vulvas in porn, to feel anxious about their labia, vulvas, and vaginas,” she says.