Welcome to Vagilante Nation
by Dr. Sameena Rahman--aka Gynogirl
Hi. I'm Dr. Sameena Rahman.
OB/GYN. Sexual medicine specialist. Menopause specialist and advocate.
South Asian daughter. Truth-teller. Wife. Mother of 3 kids and 2 dogs.
And now, unapologetically — the founder of Vagilante Nation.
This newsletter is for everyone who has ever been told:
“That’s just aging.”
“Relax, have a glass of wine”
“Women’s bodies were made for pain”
“That’s normal for your culture.”
“Sharam karo” (in urdu it means, have shame).
“Just lose weight.”
“It’s all in your head.”
I’m here to say: Absolutely not.
📚 A Little About Me
I trained at some of the top institutions in the country: Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Massachusetts. I’ve taught/teach at some of the best hospitals in the country : University of Southern California and Northwestern University.
I’m board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, received mentorship from the founder of Female Sexual Medicine (Dr. Irwin Goldstein) , and am certified by the Menopause Society (TMS) and a fellow for the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH). I also serve in leadership positions for both organizations (Board of Directors for ISSWSH, Medical Education Committee for TMS). I’ve published research, trained other clinicians, spoken on national and international stages (hello Dubai, Rio, and many more), and built a medical practice focused on treating real women with real problems — with compassion, evidence, and zero shame. After years in academic medicine and being burnt out as an academic OBGYN, my husband, an interventional pain specialist, was starting his own practice. He could see the trauma I had experienced from 100-hour weeks delivering babies, sleepless nights and my personality and outlook on medicine was bleek. As he had built a new office space, he asked me one day, “ you seem disgruntled with medicine and that was never how you were. Why don’t you start your own practice and do gynecology on your terms. Share my office with me”. I started laughing. I could not imagine the business aspect of medicine nor did I even know where to start. And sharing office space with the person I share a bed with ? No thanks! Also, this is NOT something you ever learn in medical school or residency (how to start a practice) and was waaay before people were doing it on social media (2014). How do I even get pap smears and vaginal cultures in my office? What labs would I do? How do you even bill? Do I need a biller? How do you contract with insurances? How will people know that I exist? I spent years failing at private practice (read: heavy in the red, not knowing how to bill, providing free care) as I had no idea on how to do any of it and none of my colleagues would help me. At All. But what I did learn was how to love medicine and women’s health again. I learned how to listen to my patient’s concern and spend the time and energy they deserved . And when I did not have the answers when speaking to patients about the sexual health and midlife concerns? Realizing I was never taught any of this in medical school or medicine? I went out and figured it out. I attended menopause conferences , took courses, got certified and ISSWSH conferences and spent time being mentored in people’s offices (like Dr. Goldstein, as mentioned above). Now after 11 years and thousands of patients, I AM the expert—doing the research and teaching it to others. After 11 years of an insurance-based practice serving the greater Chicago land, I have now partnered with the amazing concierge group, Ms. Medicine led by the amazing, Lisa Larkin MD . I am their first gynecology concierge practice and I am excited to partner with them as their Medical Director of Gynecology. Through the Ms. Medicine collaborative and maintaining a faculty position with HER Medicine, the non profit associated with it, I am able to provide personalized , extended visits to a limited number of patients—without the insurance obstacles that come with women’s healthcare. I am also able to help teach the generation of doctors that never learned how to serve midlife women.
But none of that tells the whole story.
A Lot About Me
I’m also a South Asian woman (from the American South —North Cackalackee) who grew up in a culture of silence around bodies, sex, shame, and pain. Even in my sex ed at school ( I got zero at home), the culture was just around abstinence. I know what it feels like to keep questions to yourself. To feel erased from the health system. To walk into a clinic and feel invisible. Or worse — dismissed.
I saw it in my family. I saw it in my friends.
And eventually, I saw it in myself.
That’s why I started getting louder.
That’s why I created Gynogirl. Back Story of Gynogirl—I was in residency at the time that the Scrubs TV show was popular
and I joke, we were residents at the same time. They have a fun episode about gynecologist on the show— they called them gynogirls.
When I first moved to Los Angeles after residency in Massachusetts in 2005 (when I worked at USC), I was invited to go to the Emmy’s and I was so excited-at the time. Well, I met the Scrubs cast !!!!! And I remember talking to “the Todd”, remember him??
I know lol. So I told “the Todd” and crew that I was an actual “Gynogirl” and that’s what he called me. Fast forward to marriage life with three kids and my family is obsessed with superhero comics, so my husband was like, why don’t you call yourself a superhero called Gynogirl because of how you are pushing the message of women’s health and so it started …..
🎙️ Where You Might Know Me From
I’ve built platforms to speak directly to the people medicine forgets but also get asked to comment on various issues in the media, all the time.
🎧 Gynogirl Presents: Sex, Drugs, and Hormones (Podcast):
Candid, evidence-based convos on sex, menopause, and the patriarchy in our pants.📺 Gynogirl TV (YouTube):
Real talk for real women on libido, leaking, lube, low desire, and living loud in midlife.📸 @gynogirl (Instagram):
Where my community shows up, shares stories, and spreads truth like pelvic confetti.
✊ Introducing: Vagilante Nation
You — yes you — are the reason I’m here.
If you’re reading this, it means you’re done whispering about your vagina ( I never did lol. Mine was always a loud outburst at the dinner tables that got me censored).
You’re tired of suffering quietly. You’re craving education, empowerment, and yes — rage, too.
That makes you part of something big.
That makes you a Vagilante. (Fun fact, my husband also came up with that—)
This Substack is the headquarters for women educating one another and demanding more. Each week, I’ll bring you:
💡 Clinical truths that your doctor may have missed
🔥 Cultural commentary on how race, gender, and shame shape care
💬 Real stories from patients, listeners, and Vagilantes like you
🧠 Bite-sized science you can actually use
💋 Resources to reclaim pleasure, power, and pelvic health
📢 Join the Nation
This is your place.
Whether you’re bleeding, drying, flashing, foggy, faking orgasms, avoiding them, or finally reclaiming them — welcome home.
Let’s take back the narrative. Let’s burn down shame. Let’s rewrite the script.
One clit, one culture clash, one cortisol spike at a time.
We are Vagilante Nation.