Seventeen-year-old Vaishnavi Siripurapu got tired of listening to terrible things her friends would say about the vagina, so she started a podcast to clear their doubts and break the myths that were blooming inside their heads from God knows where. Lack of sex education, maybe?

And so, this Indian prodigy started a revolutionary initiative (known as Euvie Podcast) in 2016 to openly discuss the female reproductive system, thereby helping the women understand their body well.

IWB spoke to the aspiring doctor, currently studying in North Carolina, about those awkward visits she paid to the gynaecologist that ended up teaching her things her family/school probably hesitated to discuss. Excerpts below:

Introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born in Ongole, Andra Pradesh, India, and grew up in a very Hindu household, so a lot of my early memories involve going to temples and performing Hindu rituals. I immigrated to the United States when I was 5. I’ve moved around the east coast quite a bit, but I have spent the most time living in West Virginia, and North Carolina where I currently reside. I am currently attending the North Carolina School of Science and Math, and I will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill next year.

Do you remember your first visit to the gynaecologist?

Very much! I remember she was an Indian doctor, and she asked me “Can I check you down there?” I said “Yes”, assuming that “down there” meant checking my feet or my legs or of some nature. However, she asked me to pull down my pants and underwear past my knees, put on gloves, and prodded around my vulva. Her hands were very cold and I was very surprised that the genitals would be an organ that was medically inspected.

Did you ever put your parents in an awkward state by asking them about sex or related topics?

I think when I was younger, I put my mother in an awkward state. I would always ask what the differences between men and women were. For the longest time, I thought that it was just that women had longer hair than men. *facepalm* When she wouldn’t answer, I would ask what the difference between male and female dogs or male and female buffalos were. I was always wondering where babies came from, and I was curious about the processes of menstruation and pregnancy and the like. My mother would always respond by telling me that one day, I’d learn when I grew older. She was right! However, I do advocate for parents to have open dialogues with their children about sexual health topics.

What inspired you to come up with the idea of the Euvie Podcast? Do you answer the queries of listeners or is it mostly the gynaecologists who you indulge in conversations with discussing body-related topics?

Euvie podcast, for me, was inspired by the lack of education about sexual health and specifically, the female reproductive system that I saw in my own school and also, externally in the society. Having grown up in India, I realized that a significant amount of the violence against women and discrimination of women is due to a lack of understanding of the female reproductive system and I felt that if I could educate people about the female reproductive system, I could remove some of the discrimination women or people with female reproductive systems face. Throughout history, people have always feared or ostracized what they do not understand, and women are no exception. I realized that women are oppressed and ostracized mostly in part because people do not understand the female reproductive system, and if I can educate about it, then I can push women everywhere forward.

As for my podcast, I have not answered queries thus far, but I do make it a point to answer questions and engage in conversations in my seminars. Usually, I write out scripts for the podcast and produce it. I feel that my level of expertise is not high enough to provide medical advice, so I typically refer to medical doctors in order to answer questions I receive from viewers.

How well is it received? Which age-group and gender listen to you the most?

I personally feel that my podcast is fairly well received. I have not noticed any rudeness from the general public thus far. I believe it’s the younger women who follow my podcast religiously.

How serious is the issue of teen pregnancy in the West? Do girls reach out for help?

Teen pregnancy is considered a taboo in the West. I personally believe that teen pregnancy is generally seen as a taboo globally by most major cultural/ethnic groups. This is the reason why widespread gynaecologic education is so important, to better equip young people to prevent pregnancy and also to provide adequate support to young people who do find themselves pregnant. As far as the severity of teen pregnancy in the United States is concerned, it varies by state and demographics. However, the teen pregnancy rate in the United States, according to the center for disease control, was 22.3% for 2015. This means that a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years in 2015. The rate has been steadily decreasing since 2007.

I don’t normally receive questions from younger women asking me about what to do if they are pregnant, but I do receive questions related to preventing pregnancy. I feel that it is extremely important to provide young people with the tools they need to prevent or deal with pregnancy, so I strongly believe in contraceptive education and education around pregnancy.

I am sure a lot of hardwork goes behind handling a startup, attending the school and being a responsible researcher and humanitarian, and volunteering at the American Red Cross. How do you do it?

It certainly is a bit difficult. I try to implement strong time-management and prioritization techniques in order to produce the podcast episodes and develop lesson plans for my seminars. The more people I educate, the easier it will be to spread reproductive education. Typically, in a day, I will attend classes, visit my research lab, connect with students and teachers to plan various gynaecologic activities, and complete any schoolwork I have to do for the day. I see gynaecology as a personal and societal developmental opportunity, so I complete gynaecologic planning and activities just as I would my schoolwork.

What’s your role at PERIOD?

At PERIOD, I work to help answer questions people may have about menstruation. The questions are sent in via an online form, and I answer them along with a team of professionals. Along with this, I also help develop teaching materials for gynaecologic education.

Where did you first learn about menstruation?

I first learned about menstruation in a biology class in school. My mother never brought up the topic to me, and no one had ever talked to me about menstruation in a biological context, so when I learned about it in the context of anatomy, I was very intrigued and began to develop an interest in the female reproductive system.

In India, especially in rural areas, women cannot afford pads or tampons and hence, are prone to deadly diseases. What has your ground research revealed about the West?

This is certainly true in the West, as well. In fact, I see a lack of access to menstrual products as a global issue, not just as an East vs. West issue. In the United States, some of the most requested products in homeless shelters are menstrual products such as pads or tampons, but these are also some of the least donated products due to the unbearable stigma surrounding menstrual health.

I am very fortunate to work with the PERIOD organization as it helps provide menstrual products to homeless people. There are also certainly rural areas and poorer communities in the West where people cannot afford these products. Since this issue is such a widespread global issue, menstrual education and de-stigmatization are incredibly important.

Do you have any plan to extend your services to India?

To be honest, my ultimate goal is to extend my services to India with the support of the country’s youth. It’s the mistreatment of women in India which originally propelled me to pursue my interests in gynaecology, so I genuinely hope to improve conditions there in the future. I also believe that the youth are the future, and through young people, social movements can impact society the most. As a result, I honestly do hope to extend educational resources to Indian youth to help push the stigmatization of menstruation and women’s health in India.

You often come across trolls. How do you handle them?

I do come across people who are not particularly supportive of my work. However, I realize that I cannot tailor my life to what others want and that I must drown out hurtful words if I hope to push forward in the future. I try to keep in mind that the work I am doing is important to me, and I let my passion and desire to help others be my guide away from negativity.

What’s your suggestion to children who want to follow the same path?

I would suggest people who want to follow the same path to exhibit tenacity. Changing taboos in society is not an easy path to follow, and there will be many hardships along the way. However, anytime the work becomes difficult, I would suggest you keep thinking about what made you involved in the work in the first place. Never forget your passion, and you are sure to create change in the world.

Lastly, talk about the crucial role of your parents in your successful journey.

My mother has always been supportive of my work. Though at first, it made her uncomfortable as a result of the taboo in Indian society especially, she has grown to be one of my biggest supporters. I am honestly so thankful that she has been so accepting of my passion and so kind to me throughout my journey.

(picture source: Vaishnavi’s Facebook)

This article was first published on April 25, 2018.