Comments on: Guest Contributor Kwegyirba Aggrey-Orleans: Why do African women douche?

By: gyftedartyst

gyftedartyst — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:52:33 +0000

Hey, very interesting article. Learned a lot. Thanks.

By: leila

leila — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:49:41 +0000

a lot of people use ‘femfresh’ etc. i wash actually told by a doctor in the UK to stop using it as it gave me thrush.

By: Golda

Golda — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:58:30 +0000

Well, I was born to medical parents … and we were 3 girls for a long time until the last-baby – a boy came along. Hence, both parents used to warn as a lot about douching … I knew what it was as soon as i got to 6th Grade, and have always known its neg consequences.
Chapeau to Kwegirba for this article!

By: Kwegyirba

Kwegyirba — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:16:19 +0000

Ok, you’re on! Unfortunately, it will have to wait till my vacation is over. For now we can work on the questions and we will go from there.

By: Preacher's Wife

Preacher's Wife — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:48:23 +0000

I second the sex workers interview idea. I have so many questions. Like you always hear how prossies do what they do because they have no other choice. I think that’s a myth.

But on the topic, never douched and never will. Sounds scary.

By: Nana

Nana — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:15:15 +0000

@BrownAngel – It’s a great idea to interview Sex Workers – It could form part of “The Sex Interviews” process. I think Kwegyirba has already built some relationships and sounds like the best person for the job. @Kwegyirba, what do you say?

By: Sugabelly

Sugabelly — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:44:29 +0000

LOL. I don’t know what the alum ratio is. I’ve never tried it. I’ve always been very suspicious of the reported properties of alum douches. I keep thinking what if it burns my vagina shut? then what?

By: Kwegyirba

Kwegyirba — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:52:36 +0000

@Nana, I don’t think that would be technically douching. With douching a spray of liquid is pumped ‘into’ the vagina to wash it out. But from your description you were not quite there. I don’t think the lemon juice was harmful though. God’s own antiseptic. The dettol is another story.
@Brown Sugar, you will find that the “prossies” are the most liberated women ever. I asked them in a matter-of-factly manner. The key is not to be judgmental.
Yes I agree, sugabelly should give us the alum ratio… Maybe it might come in handy one day when I’m old and wrinkly! Hehehe.

By: BrownAangel

BrownAangel — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:15:11 +0000

I never did get the douching thing either Kwegyirba.. It plays a huge role in the way African women treat their bodies and their sexual relatioinships.
Thank God the vagina monologues made me curious about mine and encouraged me to get to know it.

ahem @ the “interviews with the prossies”. How did you select which of them to interview? and what was their reaction to asking them such personal questions? Are these people you know or did you just befriend them over time?

{P.s. Nana… I think we need to get a few questions and ask some prostitutes. i.e. What you’ve always wanted to know about the sex trade in Ghana…. i’m sure there are so many myths that can be debunked..such as the reasons for entering into the business and the tricks of the trade)

p.p.s. I never did get the ratio for the alum douche… this is a knowledge forum so please share the knowledge LOL.

By: Nana

Nana — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:14:36 +0000

I am not too sure whether this experience counts as “douching”. Is that even a word?

In secondary school I (and several friends) suffered terribly from thrush, popularly referred to in those days as “white white”. I remember washing my vagina sometimes with raw dettol to stop the itching! I even remember me and a friend taking it in turns to squeeze lemon juice into each others vagina because we had heard that stopped the itching. I think it was only in IB1 (the equivalent of Lower Six) that I stopped subjecting my poor vagina to such torture, when my room mate at the time expressed her horror at me washing my vagina with dettol.