Charlene Douglas, who stars on Channel 4 show Married at First Sight, has opened up about the incident in her childhood that put her off having kids “for life”.
Speaking to Express.co.uk about working with Balance Activ the Big Vagina Report, which explores the complicated relationships women have with their vaginas and aims to destigmatise talking about women’s sexual health, Charlene discussed her career as a sex and relationship therapist.
Speaking about the inadequacies of sex education during her time at school, she reflected on the archaic teaching methods she had to endure growing up.
“I think sex education has definitely got much better at school,” she reflected. “In my day, I remember the girls and boys were separated.
“I found out about childbirth, which put me off for life,” she continued. “And it’s the secret that you weren’t really supposed to tell the boys about.
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“So, as a woman, I knew nothing at that age about the male experience. We weren’t in that group.”
Charlene went on to praise modern-day schooling for its more progressive approach to such topics.
“It’s got better now and, from my understanding, sometimes they integrate the boys or girls and it’s all wonderful.
“They also talk about different types of relationships – relationships, heterosexual relationships – and talk about trans people.
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“It’s a bit more inclusive now,” she confirmed. “But I still believe we have a long way to go. And what I will say is that I think sometimes teachers are really uncomfortable talking about this topic.
“So they may avoid discussing certain parts as well,” she lamented. “So we’re lucky if they talk about the clitoris. They may or may not… Who knows!”
Elsewhere in the interview, Charlene spoke about working with clients who have issues around intimacy, noting that women often feel uncomfortable speaking about their own bodies.
“The fact that most people don’t even call it a vulva,” she said. “You know, you get all these like little fancy names like ‘it’ or ‘down there’.
Speaking about the Big Vagina Report, she added that it was a “big topic that more people need to hear about” and that an unwillingness to talk about female anatomy often comes from a place of “shame” that has been reinforced since childhood.
It means that many women do not even have proper awareness of health issues such as bacterial vaginosis, which is a very common cause of unusual vaginal discharge.
Charlene Douglas has been working with Balance Activ on the Big Vagina Report, the biggest dive into women’s intimate health, which explores the tricky relationships women have with their vaginas.
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