To stick up for Fanny

[bluebeach]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/features/magazine-38749364/38749364

I have always called my vagina/vulva my Fanny. My 5 year old does too. To me it is the natural equivalent to Willy. It's a shortened girls name. However I if I refer to it as this amongst Mum friends and my own mother, It's like I'm calling it something disgusting, vile and shocking.

The more I think about it, most names for Vagina/vulva somehow end up being really bad words. Cunt, Pussy, Twat are all thought of as pretty shocking words where as Knob, Plonker and Dick are much milder insults and kind of jovial.

Most women I talk to seem to try and call it non words or sounds or things that are so euphemistic you don't even know what they are talking about. One friend calls it her 'hmmm hmmm', another just silently points to it if it ever needs acknowledging.
It's like we have to be so ashamed of our Fannys that we can barely even refer to them. How many men refer to their Dicks as their 'front bottoms'?

So in light of this BBC article asking for a new name to be thought up I just wonder what is wrong with Fanny?

[DontOpenDeadInside]

I always called it my fairy. Or Hairy Mary (which was awkward as I had an Aunty Mary. Fanny sounds vulgar to me, but I agree with you about the contrasts with the male words.

[hippopootamus]

Fanny is perfect! Not too vulgar, not too twee. It makes a nice mid-range insult too.

[bumpertobumper]

I'm with you!
We have fannies here

[Areyoufree]

I am happy to vote for fanny - if only to further confuse Americans...

[Feilin]

Foof cookie fairy lady garden . All used by me.

[FearTheLiving]

Where I'm from fanny is the equivalent of cock and is pretty rude. I'd be raging if someone taught my kid to say it.

[LemonyFresh]

We use foo or mini.

I think fanny sounds vulgar

[FearTheLiving]

Well actually, more like dick

[Sparklingbrook]

How often does this come up in conversation though? I don't have DDS but is it a regular topic to talk about? I never talk about it with my Mum or friends.

[DaisyQueen]

I wouldn't be happy with my dd's calling it a fanny, we have faries and to us boys have willies. It sounds very vulgar to me but I'm not sure why. Would you be happy for them to call a penis a dick? Because I think that sounds awful too

[Mehfruittea]

My mother never named it or spoke of it. My friends at school called it a la-la. Pre-tellytubbies.

DS 5 asked why girls don't have a willy and then what's it called. I was not prepared with a name and just said lady bits. so I'm not sure about fanny but keen for something age appropriate and boy appropriate!

[MyOtherNameIsTaken]

Inbetweeners called it clunge. I call it fanny or muff depending on my mood.

[AntiQuitty]

My preference is also fanny! It's what everyone called it round our way but it's probably deemed vulgar by the fairy users.

My Nana and mum used tuppence when we were kids.

[AntiQuitty]

My preference is also fanny! It's what everyone called it round our way but it's probably deemed vulgar by the fairy users.

My Nana and mum used tuppence when we were kids.

[MissMrsMsXX]

bits for boys and girls here.

[OliviaStabler]

Fanny was a description used a lot when I was growing up so I don't personally find it rude although appreciate others might.

From Greys Anatomy I have started using Ver Jay Jay

[AntiQuitty]

I hesitantly tried fairy out with autistic ds and he was withering, he knows exactly what fairies look like and it's not that!

[AntiQuitty]

I quite like vajajay!

In regular conversation I usually just use bits for both male and female.

[PebbleInTheMoonlight]

We've never used fanny, my matriarchs thought it was vulgar so was akin to a swear word (in their defence dick had the same banishment).

Growing up it was always tuppence but my husband couldn't get his head around that (he thought it sounded rude) to use for our daughter's so now it's foof.

To pre-empt the bashing at changing my language because of a man...every decision we make as parents is one that we agree on. If something makes one of us unhappy/uncomfortable then unless there's a really bloody good reason to go against those feelings they are respected. Changing one non word for another definitely wasn't something I wished to take a principled stand on.

[Mehfruittea]

I've been teaching DS 5 about the pants rule and his 'private area'. So say every morning to him, now wipe your 'private area' to clean himself. When I tried to stick with the same for a girl he was having none of it, and wanted the detailed name. At what age would you say to a boy the word vagina?

[GinIsIn]

I don't get why you wouldn't just say penis and vagina - they aren't dirty words..?

[LoisWilkersonsLastNerve]

It's used as an insult where I live so it would be weird for me to call it that, it sounds vulgar because of the context I usually hear it in iyswim? I'm not bothered if others use it though.

[ageingrunner]

I do say fanny, but I wouldn't teach my child to say it. It doesn't sound quite right. There isn't a good alternative to willy unfortunately. I say vulva. I only have a ds and said willy when he was younger. As he's getting older he prefers to say penis. It's a minefield 😳

[AntiQuitty]

ds2 was 4 when I told him vagina (after the whole fairy fail). It's just a word after all. Though I do feel the snooty weight of the vulva pedants of mumsnet criticising me in my head for being anatomically incorrect! But I do like a cutesy word as an opposite to willy.

I was in a seminar once about the use of language with children and ended up arguing with the whole class because apparently using words like penis and vagina was sexualising children

[SpongebobRoundPants]

Why not just call it what it is? A vagina.

It seems like everyone tries to come up with the most yoooonique nickname, I don't get it, One of my friends calls it 'aunt Viv'