SINGAPOREAN women certainly do not know the “hole” truth when it comes to their own bodies.
A survey done by feminine care products manufacturer Kotex revealed that a staggering six out of 10 Singaporean women polled are clueless about the number of openings they have down south.
The correct answer: three – the urethra, the vaginal canal and the anus.
The Kotex BodyLife IQ Study involved 1,800 women in Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Malaysia in April last year.
There were 302 respondents from Singapore. The respondents,whoare between 16 and 24 years old, had to answer 10 questions which tested their knowledge of women’s biology and myths associated with pregnancy, among other things.
In addition, in late 2008, Kotex also commissioned extensive interviews with women in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The results of the study were released late last month.
Sixty-three per cent of Singaporean women getting the orifice question wrong may be bad, but women in other countries fared worse.
Overall, 82 per cent of all the women surveyed answered this question wrongly.
This reveals that there is a serious gap in knowledge of biology and the female body across the six countries despite the wide social, economic and cultural differences, the survey authors said.
More interesting facts revealed in the survey: 61 per cent of the Singapore respondents could not differentiate between myths and truths about their own bodies.
Some of the more prevalent myths include believing that eating papaya will help your breasts grow.
There was also confusion about virginity and pregnancy.
One Singapore respondent asked anonymously: “Can you really lose your virginity by wearing a tampon?”
While Singapore came out tops in the survey, scoring an average of 7 out of 10 for the test, our knowledge of virginity and pregnancy is just on par with (or in some cases lower than) our counterparts’ knowledge in these areas.
For example, 42 per cent of the respondents from Singapore mistakenly believe that they cannot get pregnant while they menstruate, compared to only 37 per cent of Indonesian respondents who think so.
Singapore came up tops on the question on sexually transmitted diseases (STD), with all 302 respondents answering this question correctly.
In response to the performance of Singaporeans in the survey, Association of Women for Action and Research’s executive director, Ms Corinna Lim, said that the apparent lack of knowledge in female biology does not mean that Singaporean women do not know howto practise safe sex.
She said: “Knowing something does not dictate how we behave. In other countries, people may know the facts, but might not necessarily know how to engage in safe sex.”
STD knowledge
Ms Sheena Jebal, founder of Nulife Care and Counselling Services, said that our knowledge of STDs is high as it is taught in schools and reported in newspapers.
However, the youth might not know much about the female anatomy and myths related to it as they don’t think it is useful to know such things.
Said the 37-year-old: “The youngsters see the point of learning about STDs and contraceptives as they want to avoid pregnancy – that is their objective. “But they might not see the objective of brushing up their knowledge on the female anatomyand biology.”
Coming in at the bottom of the survey was the Philippines with an average score of 4. India scored anaverage of 5. Fifty-four per cent of Filipino women surveyed subscribe to the myth that drinking beer increases menstrual flow.
Another astounding myth held by 38 per cent of them surveyed – applying the blood from your first period to your face will prevent pimples.
And, 24 per cent of Indian women believe you can tell if a woman is a virgin by the smile on her face. Malaysian women, on the other hand, scored the worst for their inability to differentiate between mythand fact – 87 per cent.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
