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Or if you want to wear a full-piece because you don't like the stretch marks on your tummy, that's okay. "So if you want to wear a dress at the beach and keep it on, that's okay. "One thing I encourage to do is to wear whatever you feel comfortable in for summer," Ellie says. READ MORE: 'I saw not feeling aroused and not producing my own lubrication as a failure'Įllie sets "homework" for the clients that come visit her, suggesting they take selfies when they're wearing what makes them comfortable - so in summer, it could be comfortable swimwear or summer clothing - in a place that may make them uncomfortable - the beach, for example - and send it to someone they love and ask for positive feedback. "It's okay to reach out for help with trying to make yourself feel better," Ellie says.Īs summer looms, she's expecting an increase in enquiries from those that are self-conscious about their bikini bodies. Įllie, who is based in Byron Bay, does photoshoots of vulvas, workshops and runs an Instagram page about everything to do with sex, sexuality, sex organs, bodies, and love. What started out specifically as a movement dedicated to vulvas has morphed into all-things self-love - emotionally and physically, and how the two often intertwine - and body positivity. He just asked me to stand naked, and he looked at me and he was like, 'You're so beautiful.'" "A lot of people come to me just to stand naked in front of someone and not feel judged. "I think the whole thing is having someone stand there and look at you naked, and realising they're not judging you for the way your vulva looks," Ellie says. Thus, from the portal Ellie was once ashamed came Comfortable In My Skin, a movement aimed at empowering vulva owners to love their labias, and themselves, through taking photos of something that is largely stigmatised. READ MORE: 'Some men think, "I pay so I can do whatever I want," and that's not the case' He changed my life, for sure."įor Ellie, once she felt empowered about something that she used to loathe about herself, that empowerment rippled in every aspect of her everyday life - once she realised it was possible to be loved with the way her vulva looked, she felt worthy, and wanted to bestow that wisdom onto other vulva owners. And I remember saying to him, 'I want to make other girls feel the way that you've made me feel like.' It changed everything," Ellie says. Every day, would tell me how good I felt, tasted, looked. "Then he went completely out of his way to make me feel good.
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I was hugely self-conscious of it."Įllie says the man told her she's completely normal, that there was nothing wrong with her body, and that she looked like all the other women he had slept with. And I ended up bursting into tears and crying. "On the third time, he asked me why I was so self-conscious of my p-y.
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"I actually met a guy on an airplane coming back from India, and I ended up sleeping with him about three times," Ellie says. With societal messaging inextricably linking female sex organs with womanhood and sexuality - and one's worthiness of such - when Ellie felt her vulva was ugly, she did not feel like she was worthy of love. READ MORE: Sexologist Chantelle Otten tackles Australia's lack of a comprehensive sex education curriculum "I used to feel not worthy of being in love because I thought no one would love me for the way my vulva looked," Ellie recalls. This year, however, searches for 'labiaplasty' spiked early, increasing to almost 22,000 searches in July, a trend that's steadily been sustaining. What Ellie was asking the aforementioned plastic surgeon for was a labiaplasty, something that, per Semrush, is searched for by Australians on average 15,000 times a month - and usually spikes in peak summer months.