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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:
lightcola · 27/01/2017 15:13

I didn't realise plonker meant that. I called my boss it once, that will explain why she looked so offended. I also call my son it regularly. Whoops.

Gwenci · 27/01/2017 15:17

I didn't know that about plonker either!

It's a vagina here. Not quite anatomically correct but works for us. Though dd is only 3 so generally mispronounces it as 'jina'.

GrainOfSalt · 27/01/2017 15:49

Yep, fannies here too

pipsqueak25 · 27/01/2017 16:30

hate the expression front bottom, sounds so silly but everyone to their own,

Badcat666 · 27/01/2017 16:36

We always called it a minky (what my mum used to call it) or for a generalisation "bits" for male and female (as in "have you washed your bits?")

Now I'm old I refer to it as my lady garden Grin

Why do we need a particular name for someones meat and 2 veg and fango? To me you should be able to call it the hell you want to! Call your vagina whatever you want! I don't need or want someone telling me what to call my love tunnel thankyouverymuchindeed.

thejetpack · 27/01/2017 20:24

Fairy?! Seriously?! I have never met anyone who calls it that (thankfully). I would imagine most girls know that that's a sparkly little creature (that they'd probably love to be).
I have 2 girls (9&11) and we just call it what it is - a vagina. Think I probably referred to it as their 'front bum' when they were younger to avoid confusion.

(Sorry, haven't read whole thread as was too disturbed by the whole fairy thing! 😳)

SlummyMummyof3 · 27/01/2017 20:30

My Mum always called it a tinkler, and that you went for a tinkle instead of a wee. She got this from her mother, who probably copied hers!

I find fanny a bit vulgar although I suppose it depends on the context. Personally I find it a bit weird when kids refer to their penises or vaginas. My husband definitely never refers to his 'penis' and I'd never talk about my vagina other than in a medical context to a doctor. I wish there was a more universal word for girls that was understood by everyone.

During my second pregnancy, I had a gender scan and the sonographer pointed to what she called 'girly bits'. In the absence of anything better we have always referred to the vulva and vagina as girly bits. I'm interested in other suggestions though as she's now nearly 7, I think it might be too late.

Ohyesiam · 27/01/2017 20:59

But it's not vagina we are talking about is it? The external bit is vulva. Otherwise it's like telling a child that her mouth is called her tonsils.

KateRP · 27/01/2017 21:13

It's appropriate? Really?!?!

Whingewine · 27/01/2017 21:17

We say Minnie's here x

BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington · 27/01/2017 21:23

It's funny that some people are is shocked by the word fanny. It has such a quaint old fashioned sound to me. And it's not in any way sexual unlike pussy. Would any woman ever refer to her fanny when trying to sound seductive. 'Touch my fanny Rupert Campbell Black!'. Nah.

I think fanny is a great word for girls to use.

MacTweedy · 27/01/2017 21:29

I tried to teach my 2 yr old DS penis, and now he calls it his penis-willy. We also laugh like children calling DDs bits her Volvo, but we actually call it her woo. DH almost fainted when I tried to teach DS 'vagina'.

insan1tyscartching · 27/01/2017 21:42

Fanny was thought to be rude when I was small so we called ours a tuppence and boys had mickeys. Dd's had pippas and ds's had willys when they were small.

DoNotGiveYourBabyAnUnusualName · 27/01/2017 21:56

But friend, heed this warning, beware the affront
You'll most certainly get if you call it a cunt!

cannotmakemymindup · 28/01/2017 00:20

I have taught my nearly three year old DD vagina. I think she just says 'gina'. Plus she's learning that bums and what is in everyone's underwear is private, including hers. Mainly because she finds bums funny, so wants to look at mine, her dads etc.
And i know its not completely accurate to say Vagina, but I thought it was better than minnie because there's minnie mouse, mini cars etc. I do want to protect her. I got brought up with 'between your legs' and I definitely didn't have a way to say what had happened to me or at the very least what was private.

cannotmakemymindup · 28/01/2017 00:23

Oh and also started to go accurate because all boys know they have a willy. So why shouldn't my Dd know what she has. Why should I fear anatomical words?

twattymctwatterson · 28/01/2017 00:27

In Scotland fanny is an insult and I wouldn't use it in polite company to refer to my vagina/vulva. I like vajayjay or lady garden. DD use flower

bumsexatthebingo · 28/01/2017 00:35

Same up here. Calling someone a fanny is like calling them a twat. Eyebrows would raise if a child said it.

squoosh · 28/01/2017 00:41

But really who cares if eyebrows are raised? How often does one need to refer to one's genitals with strangers? Not very often.

I'd raise my eyebrows at fairy and flower but if that's how someone wants to refer to their genitalia then that's fine.

nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice · 28/01/2017 00:43

My mum called it a penny (like spend a penny like the old days) and dinkle for boy parts. I've never know anyone else to call them that. Now I have my own daughter I call it a fanny. I don't think it's offensive or rude term. Girls at school used to call it a Minnie lol.

IamPoopyHead · 28/01/2017 00:46

It will always be fanny to me. It's the norm where I grew up. I love language. Isn't it funny that something that is a completely normal term for some people is seen as offensive by others.

bumsexatthebingo · 28/01/2017 00:46

Well I don't really want my child to be using what is, where I live, a swear word. I'd no more be wanting her to tell her her teacher she'd banged her fanny than that she'd banged her twat. Both just words but neither appropriate for kids to use round here.

squoosh · 28/01/2017 00:50

And that's fine. Whereas I'd be mortified if a teacher thought I was the kind of parent who encouraged her daughter to refer to her vulva as a fairy/Minnie/tuppence.

Swings and fanjo-bouts I suppose!

Astro55 · 28/01/2017 01:09

Under carriages or 'difference' as in nearly slip your difference

Fancy is an acceptable word - I cringe at flower or foof or foof foo

Rachel0Greep · 28/01/2017 01:20

How often does one need to refer to one's genitals with strangers? Not very often.

True. Or with anyone else indeed...
I appreciate that with children you have to think about / discuss but otherwise, no...