Columnist Recalls Boyfriend's Hypocritical Stance on Genital Hygiene
Metro's sex columnist Sydney Summers has shared a revealing personal story about a past relationship that exposed troubling double standards regarding genital hygiene and sexual respect. The account highlights how misconceptions about vaginal health can perpetuate harmful attitudes.
A Disturbing Revelation During Intimate Moments
Summers describes a moment when her then-boyfriend, referred to as Kevin, erupted in laughter after reading a text from a friend about performing oral sex on a woman. "They stink! You know this, you have one. It's disgusting, like fish," he reportedly said, finding the concept of pleasuring a woman humorous rather than normal.
This moment proved particularly revealing because Summers had regularly performed oral sex on Kevin despite noticing significant hygiene issues with his own genital area. "The smell was overwhelming," she writes about his lack of proper cleaning, yet he had never reciprocated oral pleasure during their sexual encounters.
The Development of an Unbalanced Relationship
The relationship began when Summers was 19 with limited sexual experience. After meeting through a mutual friend, Kevin quickly established a pattern of picking her up, having sex at his parents' house, and dropping her home with minimal other interaction. "We didn't do anything else," she notes about their limited relationship activities.
During what she describes as "mediocre sex sessions," Kevin would frequently request blowjobs, sometimes multiple times during a single visit. Summers obliged despite her discomfort, initially attributing his lack of reciprocation to personal preference rather than addressing the imbalance directly.
Confronting Misinformation About Vaginal Health
The incident prompted Summers to research vaginal health more thoroughly in subsequent years. She explains that a fishy odor can indicate bacterial vaginosis (BV), a common non-STI condition caused by bacterial imbalance that affects many women at some point.
"There is nothing wrong with the smell of a vagina," Summers clarifies. "In fact, the smell is good bacteria working to clean itself. If anything smells, it's the smell of cleanliness." She contrasts this with her experience of Kevin's "mediocre member" and poor hygiene practices.
The Relationship's Abrupt Conclusion
After expressing her hurt feelings about Kevin's comments, the relationship ended abruptly with him declaring "You're not my girlfriend" before driving away. Summers describes feeling relief at changing her Facebook status to "happily single" and moving on from what she characterizes as an immature and unbalanced partnership.
The experience ultimately contributed to her broader understanding of sexual health, respect in relationships, and the importance of addressing hygiene concerns directly rather than tolerating discomfort or double standards.
