Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Use of the term "hamburger" by sonographers to describe baby girl "bits"

331 replies

ahhhhhpushit · 23/02/2012 12:31

I've heard this term reported by mothers so many terms that it must by the term sonographers aee taught at sonographer school.

Anybody else feel uncomfortable by it?

Imagine it being said about a baby's bits once she'd been born!

Is it just me?

OP posts:
LineRunner · 23/02/2012 21:19

Yes they are pointing at female genitals. There are names for various parts. 'Vulva' is not the entirety of the female genital area.

However, having 'hamburger' as a default description position is - responding to the OP's question - one which makes me uncomfortable.

SardineQueen · 23/02/2012 21:19
AyeRobot · 23/02/2012 21:18

I did a bit of idle googling and found:

"Look to see what sort of shape is between the legs. If you see something that resembles a hot dog or a turtle in a shell, then it is mostly likely a boy. The "hot dog" is the , and the turtle shell is the scrotum of the baby boy. The turtle head and neck would be the baby's "

Confused
LineRunner · 23/02/2012 21:16

'Those lines - see there, where my finger is pointing - denote female genitals; you'e having a baby daughter. Congratulations.'

Works for me.

SardineQueen · 23/02/2012 21:16

Aren't they pointing at the genitals then?
I am super confused!

brandysoakedbitch · 23/02/2012 21:16

There are things to get upset about and this is not one of them and certainly not a feminist issue.

SardineQueen · 23/02/2012 21:15

the description upthread seems to be talking about dislocations - which are not good? I'm confused.

Beachcomber · 23/02/2012 21:14

I think you would have to be careful with macaroon too TBH.

And I say that as someone who lives in an area of France where macaroons are placed on a patisserie pedestal. (Hence)

Women/burger patty not tricky to pick up as crass surely though?

Not a terrible crime against women, sure. Little things count though, insidious and all that.

JerichoStarQuilt · 23/02/2012 21:14

aitch - the vulva is the visible bit of female genitals, right? Confused

SardineQueen · 23/02/2012 21:11

hamburger?

really?

first i've heard of it Confused

really?

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 23/02/2012 21:11

sorry, you do all understand that they're not pointing at the vulva, don't you?

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 23/02/2012 21:10

but it doesn't look like meat and two veg, or even a hotdog, particularly. that's the point. what about the knee/whatever joint, surely that's the clincher? clearly it's a term in use for other things that present in the same shape.

AyeRobot · 23/02/2012 21:08

I think that's probably the point, Voidka. Why do you think that is?

I think my slight wince at hamburger is because of the beef curtains and badly packed kebab type meat references and the thought that it all starts in utero. Not calling for a banning of the term or a strongly worded memo to all sonographers or anything.

StewieGriffinsMom · 23/02/2012 21:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JerichoStarQuilt · 23/02/2012 21:06

But aitch, since there is an unfortunate connotation to associate female genitals with meat, why not avoid it? 'Vulva' is the correct medical term, or you could just say 'these three lines', surely?

Beachcomber · 23/02/2012 21:04

Thanks Aitch. Got you.

Yes I would think it was crass with regards to a male child.

Doesn't carry the same connotations as women/meat though.

But still crass, yes. ("See that bit that looks like meat and two veg/a hotdog")

Voidka · 23/02/2012 21:02

I bet there are more people who find the word Vulva uncomfortable than hamburger.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 23/02/2012 21:01

that would be crass, even it the unlikely event that his partly formed genitalia did look like a cocktail sausage rather than a turtle, hence 'turtle sign'. but that's not what was asked. clearly things shaped like hamburgers get referred to as hamburger shaped, in sonography. whether that be a female vulva (although i think what you're actually looking at is the clitoris and labia so that would be innaccurate) or a busted joint.

Original poster
ahhhhhpushit · 23/02/2012 20:56

I would for example find it crass if a boy was described as a cocktail sausage.

OP posts:
ArtexMonkey · 23/02/2012 20:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ToothbrushThief · 23/02/2012 20:55

...as an aside

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 23/02/2012 20:55

from don quixote, beach, he fights enemies that aren't there. i really actually MUST go now but i'd be interested to know if you'd also find it crass if a hamburger sign indicated a male baby.

ToothbrushThief · 23/02/2012 20:54

Some days I think MN has been the main source of my exposure to porn related matter. Not the top shelf at the newsagents ...but here. Part of me wishes to be informed of the hideous attitude to women, but mostly I feel it taints me

bibbitybobbityhat · 23/02/2012 20:54

Actually, I agree with Linerunner.

Beachcomber · 23/02/2012 20:54

X posts galore!