Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States reports (via Gimcrack):
Throughout Indonesia, a majority of women regularly engage in a number
of practices to "clean," "dry," "tighten," or "deodorize" their
vaginas. These practices derive from longstanding traditions designed
to achieve conformity with expectations about the appearance, function,
and sexual performance of the vagina. These are rooted in a widespread
belief that "tight sex" or "dry sex"-vaginal intercourse without any or
with minimal lubrication in the vagina-is more pleasurable for men and
gender norms that require women to "please" men. . . .
The traditional preparations are called jamu and are sold
throughout the nation, either as raw products in the market, or in
commercially manufactured packets sold in supermarkets or small shops. Jamu
is a combination of herbs and roots in the form of fresh or dried
leaves, seeds, roots, or bark, often crushed into powder and prepared
with hot water, honey, and lime juice.
Among the Javanese and Sundanese, and many other ethnic groups, a
bride is prepared for the nuptials by a professional wedding dresser ( tukang pais ). There is no standard way of preparation, but jamu
is typically used to reduce vaginal odors and any "excessive"
secretions. Occasionally, the dresser will advise the bride to undergo
a special pre-wedding beauty treatment. At a beauty salon or spa, the
bride might have her vagina "smoked," by sitting on a chair with a
whole in the middle over a charcoal fire on which special herbs are
placed to create a fragrant steam.
Because of the common belief that sexual pleasure, especially men's
sexual pleasure, relies on friction, married women are often anxious
about having an "excessively moist" vagina. A large proportion of women
wash the outer genitalia with a betel leaf solution, purported to clean
and dry the vagina, when they practice the routine washing cebok .
Betel leaf solution is now commercially packed in the form of moistened
tissues or liquid soaps and shampoos. Many women have also started
using Jamu Sari Rapat (literarily means the essence of tightness ) or other jamu products that promise to tighten and dry the vagina. . . .
The most recent innovation of jamu products is Tongkat Madura,
a calcium carbonate rod about 15 cm in length and 3 cm wide that is
inserted into the vagina to absorb fluid or vagina discharge and then
rinsed and reused. This product is now available across Indonesia , and
even in markets of neighboring countries. The advertisement for Tongkat Madura
on an Internet site states that it "is made from traditional herbs and
is especially formulated to deodorize, tighten and cleanse the vagina." Interviews with women who have used the device indicate that it is sometimes abrasive.
Here's how the tongkat madura is advertised:
The Jamu herbal stick has been
widely used in Indonesian traditional medicine for more than three
centuries. It is prescribed for the noble woman who faces intense
competitive pressure among the courtesans to retain the favor of the head
of the household. The formula is closely guarded and handed down from the
family line. Today, it is an effective natural remedy for the many
discomforts of the modern woman.
Kinda looks like a styptic pencil, doesn't it?
