Speaking Up

It is rare that I put my time and energy into being publicly negative about another person or project. I feel in general it’s best to focus on changing my own imperfections and focusing on the good in the world. However once in a while something comes onto my radar that is so outrageous I feel I need to speak up. This is one such occasion. The Festival of Dangerous Ideas which is local to me in Sydney has put on a session with Doctor Jen Gunter who will be speaking against the practice of women’s self-care through yoni steaming and moon cycle (menstrual health) ritual. I revere and advocate these practices in many ways they make up the foundation of my life’s work. It is heartbreaking to me to see a woman speak out against ancient wisdom that supports other women. Here is my public response to the marketing campaign that accompanies this session in the Festival. 

HERE is the session from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2024 that the letter below refers to. 

Open letter to The Ethics Centre / Festival of Dangerous Ideas organisers 

I write in response to the current marketing campaign you are running that leads with the headline: 

‘The fact that people are profiting from the idea that a woman’s reproductive tract is dirty and filled with toxins is really the core tenet of the patriarchy.’ – Jen Gunter 

I am an Inner-West local who has previously enjoyed much of the content of your festival but the headline above is both misleading and inaccurate. I believe it is clickbait and it’s harmful to women, particularly women who are of First Nations ancestry and / or have suffered trauma or sexual abuse. 

Vaginal steaming is an ancient practice women from all over the world have practiced for thousands of years. Well-documented, clinically evidence based studies have proved its efficacy: 

SEE HERE

Vaginal steaming is used to aid fertility, aid post-natal recovery and restore a healthy relationship to sexuality and self-worth after a sexual violation among many other benefits. 

My own experience as a women’s wellness mentor, work I have done for 25+ years, and for which I have a following of thousands, is that vaginal steaming puts the power for healing back in the hands of women. This is the antithesis of the patriarchy. These are women who don’t want to go to a doctor because speaking about what has happened to them means re-living a trauma. Women who don’t want to be touched or have a speculum inserted or explain themselves. Many other grassroots / ‘kitchen-sink’ (meaning you can do them at home, at low cost with relatively little expertise) practices also dismissed by Jen Gunter are also of enormous value to many women. Some of these women cannot afford to see expensive doctors or specialists and rely on what they can do at home and what has been handed to them from the wisdom of Elders. 

These women are seeking beautiful and ancient practices to heal themselves. To heal at home. To find their innate autonomy and inner wisdom without an external expert ‘helping’ them. It makes money for no one. 

Vaginal steaming has absolutely nothing to do with a perception that the vagina is ‘dirty’ or needs to be ‘cleansed’ – quite the opposite in fact. Through the practice a ‘reawakening’ occurs. A healing of a woman’s relationship to her own body which is so often shattered and damaged. 

There are several more aspects of this specific session in the festival, the marketing campaign and the sentiment and work behind it that I find disturbing but in the interest of brevity I will end here. 

As far as the suggestion for improvement or correction from this point forward I have two: 

• Add a session with someone who understands vaginal steaming as a practice. Perhaps a First Nation's person for whom is this part of their cultural ancestry (if you can’t find someone who fits this bill I will put my hand up for this task although this is absolutely not my motivation for writing to you today). 

• Invite Jen Gunter to be part of a discussion panel in which various viewpoints are shared and healthy disagreement can be exercised rather than a blindsiding of ancient Indigenous practices by a white women representing mainstream medical models. 

What is dangerous about the ideas in Jen Gunter’s session is the perpetuation the disregard for women’s trauma especially as a result of sexual abuse and the blatant disregard for Indigenous ancestral healthcare practices. 

On a personal note as a mother of five, a doula (child birth support woman), and published author in the women’s wellness space I have seen quite literally THOUSANDS of women over my decades long career benefit from practices such as vaginal steaming and douching (known by its Indigenous name of Uttara Vasti). 

Your marketing campaign is ill-informed and offensive. I’m not sure how this aligns with the intention behind a festival designed to ‘create safe space for open and honest conversations’ as you state is your mission. 

I will be sharing this open letter on social media and I sincerely hope to enter into constructive dialogue with you about it, or at the very least receive a response. 

Katie Rose

Edit note: Since sending this letter I have also posted on Instagram HERE. You can follow the conversation. I'm always learning from my community and one aspect I had literally not considered when I wrote this letter is the role of big pharma money in Jen Gunter's work and platform. Ironic given her statement about money being generated by grass-roots practices in women's homes. I'll leave each reader to contemplate this and connect the dots herself.

UPDATE: I am pleased to have received a reply from the organisers of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. I share it below for the sake of transparency. I believe this reply is thoughtful and considered. Let's hope it leads to a change in perspective for some. I really believe in the power of healthy disagreement and skilled communication and this exchange feels like a good example of that regardless of the differences in opinion. 

Dear Ms. Rose

Thanks for sharing with me your Open Letter. I have passed it on to my colleagues who will review the text used to describe the session being presented by Dr. Gunter.

Thanks too for your suggestions for other sessions on vaginal steaming and related traditional practices. There is not time to alter this year’s program – but it is certainly something to consider for a future Festival. Fortunately, FODI has been able to consider multiple perspectives on a range of issues – if not always within the same Festival, then over time. More generally, I am especially interested in Indigenous practices – and if they extend to Australia. My kinship ties are with the Anindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt – but I strongly suspect that this is an area which would not be open to me as most likely falling under ‘women’s business’.

Finally, may I sincerely thank you for taking the time to write. Your doing so is a fine example of the kind of engagement – respectful and principled – that we hope to encourage … even when opinions diverge.

Hoping that your disagreement with Dr. Gunter will not keep you away from FODI more generally.

Best wishes

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