Should We Be Renaming The Vagina?

Quim sounds all trembly and timorous to me, I'm not sure why.

Napdamnyou that word makes me wince - but its just the sound of it, it sounds wrong.

Are people really getting worked up about what they call their bits??? I don't really like the word vagina, but I don't like anus or colon either, but i have them.

A luscious quim with a nice fluffy muff.

Has a friendly sound. :)

Thank you for a fascinating discussion (that I haven't contributed to) today. I have been sucked right in and I would like to put my vote forward for quim. What a lovely word, it seems positive.

I like quim.

:)

Oh it was a very long time ago when teachers were allowed to be inspirational and make their own judgements on things and there wasn't a directive every 5 minutes about health and safety I expect.

Wow. How did she get away with that?! I love it.

Can I share a memory about the c word (which, rather pathetically at my age, I can't bring myself to say because of a lifetime of taboo which started when my brother told me to say it in polite company aged 8 and my Mum had a complete fit.....)

Anyway, about 30 years ago in my A Level English class, I remember my wonderful teacher (who must have been in her 60s at the time) introducing us to Chaucer and announcing, "Now, girls, it's a perfectly acceptable Old English word, let's get it over and done with and all say it out loud, shall we?" She then proceeded to march around the classroom shouting "CUNT CUNT CUNT!" at the top of her voice, followed by our rather more sheepish attempts. To this day, I love her, she was the best!

I have heard the clitoris referred to as a bean, which I dislike because it reflects people believing that the visible part of the clitoris is the whole thing.

Sorry, wasn't saying that to you PT, I was saying it to Tei. I would also like to know if there are other good words for clitoris.

Yes. I know the topic is about a name for the entire organ but I just wanted to know if there were any other names for this v. important part!

Oh, I love this. I'm just watching QI on Iplayer and Victoria Coren pointed out 'I know there's a lot of discussion about needing a new word for 'vagina' but 'jigger' isn't it'. If it hadn't been filmed days ago I would seriously assume she was here.

widow - I mean, because the words aren't precise anyway.

LRD - what's wrong with having the linguistic means to not only refer to the whole area, but also to parts of it? Where is the advantage in being not precise?

What's wrong with referring to the whole genital area, though?

Greer points out that the structures are all pretty interconnected, and I think I remember someone demonstrating how much of the clitoris is actually hidden, it's not just that little button-y bit.

I never realized that vagina wasn't used anatomically in ancient times. What would Romans have said, "cunnus" or did they have a euphemism like "front bottom"?

One trouble with Renaming The Vagina relates to the way we keep having to remind each other that it doesn't have the same meaning as vulva. If we keep the Latin names, we've got some precision that other words don't provide. Not cunt, not fanjo--they could both mean the vagina, the vulva, or the whole genital area depending on context. Maybe it's a sign of discomfort with the whole business that we prefer to be vague about the topic.

Is there any other (good) names for the clitoris? I hate "clit" for some reason.

It's faintly smutty, but not obscene, yes.

Lignum Vitae and Membrum Virile sound wonderful, don't they? Are there any grand, fancy names for fanjos out there?

Yep, I'm down with renaming the vagina. I know cunt is hated by some MN feminists, and I understand and kind of agree with the reasoning, but I quite love it.

frances - yes, I agree.

I have just majorly confused some perfectly lovely MNers chatting about history by mis-posting this. Oops. Anyway:

Ewww. Looked up the etymology further. Not keen.

'1680s, from L. vagina "sheath, scabbard" (pl. vaginae), from PIE wag-ina- (cf. Lith. voziu "ro cover with a hollow thing"), from root wag- "to break, split, bite." Probably the ancient notion is of a sheath made from a split piece of wood (see sheath). A modern medical word; the Latin word was not used in an anatomical sense in classical times. Anthropological vagina dentata is attested from 1908.'

It's a natural orifice, not something split. Ick.

(I am absurdly squeamish, btw, so don't make too much of this reaction, it would be the same to dozens of other things most people wouldn't care about.)

The penis has evolved to go into a vagina as much as the vagina has evolved to incorporate the penis. Of course both organs have other functions too, but the act of sex is equally explanatory for both of them. That is the sense in which there is a parity, a reciprocity, that the sword and sheath terminology doesn't capture.