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AIBU?

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Original poster

To stick up for Fanny

183 replies

bluebeach · 27/01/2017 09:54

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?

OP posts:
LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 10:23

Fanny is a horrible word - it's as bad as pussy etc.

Why not vagina until they are old enough to learn the difference between their vagina and their vulva? I hate vulva too but MN seem to swing between the twee, the offensive and the anatomically totally correct

Popskipiekin · 27/01/2017 10:24

We have two DSs. There just isn't a satisfactory equivalent of willy for girls, imo, and as we don't have daughters and presumably won't have to use the word regularly, I have already told DS (2.4) that mama doesn't have a willy, she has a vulva/vagina (as appropriate). He asked so I had to give it a name. I suppose I am letting myself in for him yelling "vagiiiiiiiina!!" in our local sainsburys but it's not a rude word and hopefully I'll cope Blush

dangermouseisace · 27/01/2017 10:25

I don't use Fanny as I had/have a fair number of older relatives called Fanny. I can't call my vagina the same as a dearly beloved Aunt!

I love tuppence- I was introduced to it through conversations with older ladies. I also like Foof

But at the moment we just use privates/bits for both girls and boys in our house. I like 'privates' for young kids as it says what it is and what it should be- your privates are 'private' and only you should be touching them!

GoesDownLikeACupOfColdSick · 27/01/2017 10:29

my DM used "front bottom".

DNs call theirs "minnies".

My friend at university used "tuppence" or "muffin".

Not sure yet what I will say to DD. Tuppence maybe the best of those when she's tiny, and then just "vagina" as she gets older. I think using the right words is important, but somehow a 2 year old saying "vagina" feels a bit too grownup!

GoesDownLikeACupOfColdSick · 27/01/2017 10:30

also, minge or growler are the absolute worst names, I think. They just sound disgusting.

TurquoiseDress · 27/01/2017 10:31

Ha ha yes I'll stick up for Fanny!

I totally agree with the male equivalents being somehow more acceptable or jovial in some ways.

Have a lovely French friend called Fanny, she realised as a young teen what her name meant to the young British kids coming to France on holiday...don't think she's ever quite got over the shock of it!

Evilstepmum01 · 27/01/2017 10:32

See, in scotland, 'ya fanny' is a common insult for someone whos being a numpty! (see amusing Irn-Bru adverts

So, we call it a flower round here, otherwise it sounds like you're taking the piss!!

TurquoiseDress · 27/01/2017 10:32

Urrrgh- Minge & Growler are just grim in my opinion!
As well as Gash which I find appalling!

TurquoiseDress · 27/01/2017 10:33

Have to say I do like hoo-ha but thats more between me & my close friends

Liiinoo · 27/01/2017 10:37

If we are interested in biological accuracy its not the vagina, it's the vulva and I don't think I would want to hear a child referring to a vulva. Accurate as it is, it sounds too sexual. And I think my prudish DH would have gone into shock if one of our DDs had said vulva in front of him.

We used front bottom and back bottom and willY. It might be a cop out but it worked for us.

Flumplet · 27/01/2017 10:38

My ds says he has a dinkle and ladies for some reason have a polly

MollyHopps · 27/01/2017 10:39

We call them "Winkie" (DS) and "Minkie" (DD)

EpoxyResin · 27/01/2017 10:40

Why don't you just call it a vagina/vulva? Well why don't we call our tummy or our belly our stomach, intestines or abdomen? Sometimes you don't need a specific medical work for a particular bit, you can just use a general term of reference. I like fanny for just this reason. Long live fanny!

splendide · 27/01/2017 10:41

Accurate as it is, it sounds too sexual.

Vulva sounds too sexual? I have honestly never heard anyone object to it on that basis. It sounds clinical to me. Do you and DH plays doctors a lot?

GimmeeMoore · 27/01/2017 10:41

I like fanny as a general put down/insult/observation.i know its peurile bout makes me giggle

squoosh · 27/01/2017 10:41

Why not just call it what it is? A vagina

Because it isn't?

GimmeeMoore · 27/01/2017 10:43

Aye,evilstepmum ya fanny is a general put down. Love that irn bru clip too

amusedbush · 27/01/2017 10:44

Where I'm from fanny is the equivalent of cock and is pretty rude.

Same here. It's pretty coarse and I'd be a bit Shock if I heard a small child say it.

squoosh · 27/01/2017 10:45

I think 'fanny' is absolutely fine. If some people are shocked and appalled well what of it quite frankly.

SmashingInAthleticWear · 27/01/2017 10:46

My brother and I both just had "bits" when we were children.

I might start a campaign to re-popularise QUIM.

pipsqueak25 · 27/01/2017 10:47

some people get vulva and vagina mixed up, vulva as we know is outside.
i always used medical with my dc from very young but then i was a nurse and, while nicknames are ok i always preferred actual names, although i can see why people might feel awkward using them.

CoraPirbright · 27/01/2017 10:49

Don't like fanny as a word for the front bottom/private area/vajayjay. Sounds a bit vulgar but also I use it as a euphemism for not getting on with stuff eg "will you stop fannying about and get your shoes on - we are going to be late!"

Bringbacksummer · 27/01/2017 10:49

We just call it girl bits or boy bits in our house!

Redpony1 · 27/01/2017 10:49

Fanny is what myself and all my school friends were taught to call it growing up. I think it's a light & inoffensive word.

Fanny or Foofoo is what i call it now, this is the first i've heard of fanny being coarse or offensive!

QuiteQuietly · 27/01/2017 10:50

I am very intrigued by this as a foreigner. It's hard to know where the draw the line between appropriate and non-appropriate. We've gone anatomical because I didn't know what else to do and I was confident that that at least would be ok. But DS was roundly scolded at school for saying "penis" (he had hurt himself and was explaining - not randomly shouting the word out). DDs both use vulva/vagina at home/doctors but refer to their "bits" with other people. DS just points now. It would be nice to have a manual of what is appropriate instead of blundering about. In my own language we have a word like stomach (anatomical and specific) and a word like tummy (a general word for the area which is ok for children to use and won't scare grandma). The regional thing in the UK makes it harder I suppose.

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