Why mailing your enemies a 'vaginal cleansing kit' is an insult to all women

It’s bad enough that women have to deal with slut-shaming—now we have to deal with vagina shaming, too, thanks to a terrible new service.

In the spirit of “mailing your enemies stupid crap” (glitter bombs, dicks, poo), the female creator of WashYourBox.com came up with the idea to mail one’s foes a “vaginal cleansing kit,” which includes liquid soap, a loofah, an offensive note of your choosing—plus this hilarious meme:

Get it? It’s funny because you’re insulting the person by saying, “Hey, your vagina smells, clean it with this stupid kit.” Please excuse me while I scream into a pillow.

The thing is, it’s not funny. For one, it promotes girl-on-girl crime. “It’s been about 65 percent women sending kits to other women,” the creator, who goes by Eva Stara, told Fusion. She added that she came up with the idea because the Internet enjoys “off-color humor” and it’s meant to be a “harmless gag.” Fair enough, but is it?

Two, women are constantly being judged on pretty much everything: their body, hair, weight, makeup, clothes, sexual partners, food choices, tone of voice, and on and on. We really don’t need to add vaginal odor to that list.

Women already feel self-conscious enough about their vaginas. Many say they’ve felt shame over their perfectly functional and healthy vagina based on what some stupid guy said about it. And while art installations like “The Great Wall of Vagina” are trying to help women become more accepting of their nether regions, “harmless gags” are taking us two steps back.

Not to mention, the all-powerful vagina is self-cleaning, and douching can be dangerous. Mic drop.

Taryn Hillin is Fusion’s love and sex writer, with a large focus on the science of relationships. She also loves dogs, Bourbon barrel-aged beers and popcorn — not necessarily in that order.