This morning, ‘vaginitis’ was trending as a search term on Google. One can only imagine why. Perhaps a serious outbreak of the infection among university students? Maybe a ground-breaking documentary was announced about how under-researched it is, along with countless other women’s health issues?
Oh no, of course not. Vaginitis couldn’t be trending for any legitimate reason – only when used as the butt of a joke about masculinity. In an Instagram gallery posted yesterday, internet personality Jake Paul accused Love Island’s Tommy Fury of having vaginitis after he pulled out of a heavily promoted boxing match the pair had arranged later this month. According to Tommy’s Instagram, he has a ‘severe chest infection and broken rib.’
‘Tommy’s pulling out because of a “medical condition” called vaginitis,’ Jake wrote in the caption. ‘Unlike the Fury’s, Tyron [Woodley] actually has some balls [and] is stepping in.’
Posting a screenshot of the urban dictionary definition of vaginitis – which defines it as ‘when a guy complains about small injuries and he is acting like a pussy… he is suffering from vaginitis’. As a result, ‘vaginitis’ became a breakout search term under Tommy’s name – as well as a series of questions like ‘Has Tommy Fury pulled out of fight?’.
By any other dictionary, vaginitis is a medical condition where the vagina becomes inflamed due to infection or bacterial changes, it can result in discharge, itching and pain.
Should we be happy this will help some people learn about vaginitis – a condition that affects at least one third of women at some point during their lives? Maybe. Should we be disappointed that once again the word ‘vagina’ is being used to imply someone is weak? Absolutely.
It may seem like a flippant issue, but with 17.8million followers on Instagram and an audience aged between eight and 18, it’s really not. Once again, Jake Paul is teaching children to associate cowardice – which appears to be what he’s accusing Tommy of – with women, in that most people who have vaginas identify as women (although that is not exclusively the case.)
It’s not the first time Jake has used women’s identities to imply a lack of ‘masculinity’ – which let’s be clear, women are more than capable of expressing – nor is he the only boxer to do so, not by a long-stretch.
So often women become the centre of every insult when male boxers are attempting to create a grudge-match narrative.
Last year, Jake used Tommy’s relationship with Molly-Mae Hague to try and anger the boxer, sharing screenshots that appeared to show her sending flirty messages to him on Instagram. Fans later pointed out inaccuracies in the screenshot, including the wrong username and use of emojis that were not published by Instagram until after the date of the message, with Molly also insisting the DM was fake.
Tommy’s camp hasn’t been better either. Last month, the boxer was visibly embarrassed when his dad, John Fury, told Jake during a press conference ‘You know when Tommy knocks you out he's going to bend your girlfriend over and do her like a dog, in front of you.’
Essentially, as with countless other boxing bouts, women are the butt of every joke and the centre of every insult. And what’s the result? We’re constantly undermined, disrespected and made fun of all in the name of petty feuds and physical brawls. While they get more eyeballs for creating a ‘grudge-match’ narrative around the fight – and thus, more money for the increase pay-per-view watches – their female partners sit on the sidelines, representing all women treated like objects in quests for ultimate male dominance.
Boxing might be entertaining to some, but the way this male-dominated sport consistently relies on the degradation of women to inspire feuds between boxers needs to end. Find something else to argue about, make fun of your own bodies, but leave women out of the ring.
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