A woman has added a new accessory to her coronavirus face mask in an attempt to raise a smile - oh, it's a crocheted vulva.
Social worker Lulu Geraghty, 42, made the pink woolly item by hand before attaching it to her protective equipment.
Lulu, who lives in Brisbane, Australia, makes vulva tea cosies and hats in her spare time and decided to raise a smile by putting the interesting addition on a face mask.
She was quick to say that it was 'more a fashion item' if worn alone, seeing as it doesn't meet medical standards - but added: "It will certainly help with social distancing."
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She said: "I had a spare vulva just lying around so I whacked it on, for a bit of fun. It just seemed to lighten the mood a bit. I don't want to minimise the seriousness of coronavirus but I think we do need to be lighthearted as well."
Lulu started crocheting the genitals in 2017 to start a conversation about female body positivity and stigma.
She said: "I like to be a little bit confrontational and I like to have the competing ideas of something really uncomfortable with something pretty and domestic.
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"What I really wanted to do was break down the taboo - this anxiety that many women feel about the appearance of their vulvas.
"It's amazing how many women don't even know the basic words for their anatomy. I deliberately make them a little bit frilly, asymmetrical and hairy. Every one is different."
Lulu makes the tea cosies on commission and gives them as gifts to her friends, but it takes her a long time to craft each one.
She doesn't follow a pattern and instead makes the designs 'freestyle'. She added: "They're pretty divisive. People have strong reactions - they either love them and think they're great, or they're just repulsed."
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She has also made a YouTube video showing others how they can make their very own crocheted vulvas. The step-by-step guide now has more than 100,000 views with users trying their hand at the skill.
Lulu said: "I would say, go for it. There's nothing to lose. The thing about vulvas is there's no rules. You can just make it wobbly and however you like. I guess that's part of why I like doing it."
She went on: "Sadly the idea there is an ideal vulva is very censored and unrealistic. Young women especially feel under pressure when actually they're totally normal.
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"Even now more than ever. Procedures like labiaplasty, or vulval surgery, are on the increase, even for teenage girls. I find that really worrying.
"I thought we had come a long way in terms of body positivity and understanding inner beauty and being able to express yourself. I feel that there's still a lot of pressure."
Lulu's Youtube video on how to make a vulva tea cosy can be found here.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Awesome, Coronavirus, Community