Ending the Pelvic Floor Taboo, with Dr Catherine Blackledge

Pelvic floor problems are surrounded by stigma and shame, but have you ever wondered why? Why do we find anything remotely related to our genitalia so embarrassing? In this episode Helen meets Dr Catherine Blackledge, author of Raising the Skirt: the Unsung Power of the Vagina (originally published as The Story of V). They explore historical attitudes towards female genitalia and the importance of language, when even the words we use have a literal root in the Latin for ‘shame’. They look back to a time when the vulva was feared and revered and ask 'what changed?'.