Evangelina Tafoya

FHS 2450 Human Sexuality

U2E2 Urban Legends

Question

OPTION C: URBAN LEGENDS

Identify one "urban legend" that relates to the class (examples abound but common ones
are that underarm deodorant causes breast cancer or that frequent erection in men without
ejaculation leads to painful testes). Research and discuss the origins of the legend. Many of
these myths are Internet based. How can these legends be detrimental to people?

Answer
An urban legend that I have heard about a lot as I get older is that fruity juice, such as pineapple
juice, makes your vagina taste better. Not only is this hack for vaginas but men can also use it. I
remember when I heard this I thought that it was very logical, but ignorance is bliss. I tried to
look up the origin of this urban legend, mostly found in old BuzzFeed articles and influencers
who promoted this idea of fruity tasting vaginas. I probably heard it from a life hack video for
young ladies who are single on YouTube. Many of the instructions for this life hack are to drink
lots of pineapple juice about 45 minutes before you have oral sex. The pseudoscience used to
back this idea is that the fruit has acids and sugars that will help you taste better. There's not a lot
of studies that prove this myth to be true. Although it is a hopeful idea it is not realistic in any
way. Our vaginas are meant to be self cleaning ovens. As women we know that our vaginas
sweat, discharge, bleed, and all sorts of other mysterious juices come out of there. It is not
natural for our vaginas to have an appetizing or sweet smell or taste.

Misleading hacks like this could and almost always lead to other hacks that convince women to
put things in their vaginas. If you don't know already you should not be using douches. Nothing
should be shoved up your vagina for cleaning purposes. If it is not natural or meant to be up there
it shouldn't go up there because it can offset your pH balance. When your pH balance is off it can
trigger yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis. Most recently I saw a trend floating around the
internet that told women to put ice cubes in their vagina. Internet trends can be very harmful
because women actually try these things thinking it will enhance some sort of sexual feeling, that
is totally false. My aunt is a gynecologist. From a very young age I have learned a lot about my
vagina and what should and should not be in there. I am lucky enough to be educated on the
subject of my own body, many women are not, so they do harmful things to themselves for the
sake of better sexual experience.

In conclusion, no pineapple juice does not make you taste better. There is no scientific evidence
that fruity juices will make your vagina taste fruity.(Boston, Chapple, 2014) Diet does have an
impact on how you smell but it's more about being healthy and less about what you taste like.
The little evidence that does support this Theory is about living a healthy lifestyle, drinking less
alcohol, not smoking, and watching your diet. Anything that you would consider a toxic food is
the food you should stay away from because that does make you smell bad. No one should be
expected to taste like a fruit roll-up. If taste is something that ruins it for your partner then maybe
you should consider re-evaluating who you are with.

Reference

Knox, D., & Milstein, S. (2017). Human sexuality: Making informed decisions (5th ed.) [with
Salt Lake Community College supplement]. Redding, CA: BVT Publishing.
Alexander, Brian. “Anything You Can Make We Canielp You Make Better.” Chemical &

Engineering News, vol. 44, no. 27, 1966, p. 45., doi:10.1021/cen-v044n027.p045.

Boston, Jonathan, and Simon Chapple. “Myths, Misconceptions and Misunderstandings.” The

Child Poverty Debate: Myths, Misconceptions and Misunderstandings, 2014,

doi:10.7810/9781927277751_2.

“How to Eat Pineapple.” Scientific American, vol. 5, no. 46, 1850, pp. 368–368.,

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican08031850-368e.

Kaplan, Matt. “How Does Your Dinosaur Smell?” Nature, 2008,

doi:10.1038/news.2008.1192.