art by the amazing Miranda Makaroff
TAKE BACK THE SPECULUM
Sunday August 16, 2026
10-1 PST / 1-4 EST / 6-9 GMT
ONLINE
Let’s talk about bodily autonomy, bbs.
Let’s talk about all the ways we have been taught from the beginning to surrender our authority, our knowing, our opinions, our comfort, and, far too often, our health under pressure.
Let’s talk about what that looks like under political systems in which what we choose for ourselves may not be available, depending who’s calling the shots on what is legal, what is possible, what is affordable.
And then let’s flip all that shit on its head.
Take Back the Speculum is a crash course in body literacy and sex education for people who never received the transformative, agency-focused, pleasure-centered, gender-affirming, body-honoring initiation into powerful adult embodiment that sex ed always should have been.
We continue the powerful tradition of self-help at the center of the feminist healthcare and reproductive justice movements, and we stand with our elders and ancestors at our backs.
Join me for a deep dive into everything you need to know to reclaim your innate powers, connect with your body, take the reins of your destiny, & make sure your doctor knows that they’re working for you.
You’re invited. Because it’s never too late.
Class covers:
a medically accurate, gender inclusive overview of the full spectrum of healthy sexual anatomy (& the destruction of the misogynist, racist bs materials most commonly used to educate us *and* our providers)
an invitation to participate in the Gallery that Destroys All Shame
a demonstration of a cervical self exam
an opportunity for all participants to examine themselves with guidance (and, if desired and permitted, observe others)
This class is open to & appropriate for all human beings with internal sexual anatomy. This is an explicitly queer and trans-inclusive space.
Trans/nonbinary/gender expansive fam, you are honored here - pls come get the info you need to get the care you deserve.
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PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A CLASS FOR ADULTS THAT ADDRESSES VULNERABLE MATERIAL. AS SUCH, IT IS ALSO A REAL-TIME LESSON IN CONSENT, BY WHICH I MEAN THAT NO ONE WILL EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, BE REQUIRED OR PRESSURED TO DO ANYTHING THAT THEY DO NOT WISH TO DO.
If you want to learn but are nervous about this material, please know that your comfort will always be centered.
Registration for TBTS is a 2 part process:
1) Fill out the registration form below, AND
2) Send your chosen payment from within the sliding scale - $30-90 USD - over Venmo or Paypal.
Please consider your access to wealth and ability to pay, and choose the amount within the sliding scale that is appropriate and in integrity for you. Thank you!
(If you use Paypal, please select Friends and Family if you can, or else account for the fees by adding a little extra - thank you!)
Scholarships are always available as needed - please contact me to discuss this.
NOTAFLOF 4EVER.
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Speculums will be provided for all in-person classes.
If you are in the US and want to order yours online, single speculums in all sizes can be ordered here.
*Medium speculums are the standard size used in all gynecological clinics. I recommend a small if you have ever experienced pain or discomfort with penetration in any context, and a long/large if you know that your cervix can be difficult to find with your finger. You cannot go wrong if you order all 3 available sizes!
*Please note that all registered participants will receive an email with all information to join within the week before the class!
Please contact me if you would like to bring this workshop to your community!
Some feedback from participants:
“You offered information in the space of three hours that helped me make sense of my own body in a way that I never got in my years of medical training. It is unbelievable that this education, which should be taught in such a uniformly unashamed, straightforward way to everyone, is so rare.” - JR, Portland OR
“You delivered on your promise for us to come further into our sovereignty. From the welcoming space, the asking of pronouns, the introductions, the history lessons, the welcoming of all body types, the open nature of sharing or not sharing as we choose, the lessons on consent thereby experienced.
It was a really fantastic and invigorating event. Thank you for teaching us so fearlessly. - GF, Los Angeles
“I've had a complicated relationship with my genitals for a lot of reasons, gender being one of the big ones that keeps me from feeling totally connected with my body. Dysphoria is messy but the space you created made a nest for any of that messiness to be acknowledged and held. It was so moving to hear people's stories and relationships to their bodies.
I also sincerely appreciate the ways you use language during your class. It's all fucked and forever changing, but I so often see instructors acknowledging that and still sticking with binary language throughout their class - the nuance and fuckery helps with the white supremacy bullshit unlearning of it all. I also appreciated the knowing with which you held yourself. It was as if all that got you to this point in your life were there with you. It sounds like there have been some big dawgs in there and I'm happy to have shared space with them all.
I'll probably have a lot more things to say that my journal will receive a lot of. I feel more equipped to tend to my Black Trans body and help witness others with theirs. My partner has so much shame around their labia and we spent hours talking about labias, our bodies, and shame yesterday. Thank you for that.” - DB, Connecticut
“As I said in class, there is no education around any of this where I grew up, and my family would rather die than acknowledge that bodies exist. I feel so relieved to have seen other bodies, looked at pictures together, learned what my body is made of, and found out that I am normal and have nothing to be ashamed of. I feel so much lighter today, it’s really indescribable.” - KF, Ireland
“I’m forever changed by the experience of TBTS, and dream of the day when teenagers are able to bear witness to a show-and-tell experience so that they never have to endure the decades of self-loathing that so many of us go through.” - DN, Sebastopol CA
“Last night I had the immense pleasure of getting to learn how to do self exams. I also learned a lot about my own fears and traumas on a deeply visceral level. I have always had a fear of vaginal pain & it got worse after my very first pap smear at the age of 17. I had never been penetrated by anything much less something like a speculum. [The doctor] also used the wrong size for me. She was so rough and mean and I left feeling like I couldn't walk properly. I cried on the table and on the way home. Little did I know that even though it grossly common for people to feel this way after exams, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE. You can have good experiences around your sexual health and reproductive health. Last night, I had a lot of emotional stuff come up for me around sexual violence, experiences of oppression around being queer and trans so I wasn't able to get as far as my little brain was telling me I *should* be able to go, but I know eventually it will come. At its own sweet pace. I want to share my deepest love and gratitude to Pamela of @embodyworkla & everyone who held loving and tender space to me as I went through this process in a safe and trans affirming way. ” - DC, NYC
“I took very few photos at Burning Man but one of my most proud moments was helping some new friends get to know their own bodies by showing them how to look at their own cervixes. Even within a group of sex positive and body positive people we are still so distant from this important part of our anatomy. Im so grateful we had a space to use that was enclosed and wind free keeping the dust away. I am grateful for the friends who participated and shared with me, and I’m so grateful to @embodyworkla for lighting the spark with her workshop last month and the empowerment I feel that came from it.” - MJ, NYC