Tyra Banks Talks HPV and Pap Smears Using a Vagina Puppet

Talk show host Tyra Banks dedicates an entire show to Vagina Talk on “The Tyra Banks Show,” airing Monday Nov 5th.

From the look of the vagina to the newest ways to prevent HPV, Tyra holds a no-holds barred discussion with her audience about the least talked (and looked at) about part of a woman’s part.

Tyra says, “I have wanted to do this show for two years. I know for a lot of women talking about what is going on in our bodies is extremely difficult, but it is incredibly important. We should be able to talk to our daughters, sisters, mothers and friends about our bodies and not be embarrassed. I hope after this show women will not be ashamed about what’s up down there.”

Tyra begins with giving her audience a test to see if they can name all the parts of the vagina and only 11% of her audience filled out the anatomical chart correctly. Shocked by the results, Tyra welcomes a gynecologist to give her viewers a quick tour using a velvet and satin “vagina puppet” pointing out the clitoris, the labia minora and labia majora and the urethra.

Having avoided the doctor for 28 years, Tyra takes a Texas woman to her very first gyno appointment. After the woman breaks down in tears, Tyra holds her hand while she has her first PAP test and breast exam.

Tyra says, “As we were getting closer to the exam, I could literally feel how tense she was.”

Also on the show, Tyra introduces a gynecologist who educates Tyra’s audience on the importance of PAP smears and the newest vaccination for young women that can prevent the human papillomavirus – a virus that can cause cancer.

Tyra also shares with the audience the moment her mother gave her a hand mirror and told her to look at herself “down there.”

Tyra says, “My mother told me to look at myself because, ‘It’s just another part of your body that needs to be healthy just like your eyes, your nose, your ears, your mouth and everything else.’”