Aibu to think “loola” and “noony” aren’t words interchangeable with genitals?!

[Mightymelon]

And that cutesy words for your genitals help NOBODY AT ALL?

To cut a long story short - I’m friends with a girl, who has seen one of those posts on Facebook, about correctly naming genitals to avoid confusion when kids have uti’s or worse, have been abused.
DF mentioned that in this thread as well as the willy/mini/front bottom names loola and noony being used by children instead of vagina/ vulva and penis, and said she’d never heard of it before. Nor have I?

Firstly I would like to know if IABU to have never heard of these words?

SECONDLY I WOULD LIKE TO URGE YOU WITH EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING TO TEACH YOUR KIDS APPROPRIATE WORDS FOR THEIR GENITALS SO THAT IF ANYTHING’s WRONG THE ADULTS WHO DEAL WITH IT (TEACHERS/CHILDMINDERS/HCP’s/THE POLICE) CAN DO SO WITH AS LITTLE TRAUMA AND FUSS AS POSSIBLE!!

@CantankerousCamel please, please don't teach your DD to use 'fanny'! It's probably THE worst name and will get 😳😲 from teachers when she goes to school. It's really, truly awful!

If you don't wish to use correct terminology (and despite what MANY on here will tell you to the contrary, in 27 years of teaching I've not met one single child who uses these in everyday language !!) chose something that is at least palatable in school...'fanny' is not!

What a silly thread title. If trained child protection officers can’t investigste s suspected case of abuse because the child used children’s language
they are incompetent and frankly stupid.

Ours were Winkie and fofo! Perfectly normal.

Northern locally it’s ‘really’ not that bad.

I cannot think of one ‘nick name’ for a ladies genitals that isn’t considered horribly rude by someone or is twee and childish

I’d rather insult people than suggest genitals are childish

For people who are so startled by the idea of teaching girls the difference between vaginas and vulvae, do you think boys should be taught the difference between penises and testes? Or should we just use widler, tiddlypop or some other ridiculous word to refer to the entire area for boys, in the same way that we use foofoo, mary or apparently "moneybox" for girls?
I too was a teacher, and did recent safeguarding training. I too heard the story of the poor child who was misunderstood. And that children may be safer if using the proper names. I however have heard children use the proper words, normally after they have been taught them and think it's really interesting.
The thing is, why not just use the real words? Does it hurt you, or your kids to do so? No. So why not. Okay, most kids don't right now, but that's alright. They more children we teach the real words to the more children will.

Ours were Winkie and fofo! Perfectly normal

Why though?

What did you call your chin? Your ear? Your knee?

or apparently "moneybox" for girls?

The connotations of that are utterly revolting

Who tells their little girl to call it their 'moneybox'? That's grim!

Urgh, I know. It was further up the thread earlier. I find it truly fucking awful

Giving stupid names for genitalia is there to protect the adult from embarrassment and no other reason.

So do people use the words rectum, anus and buttocks with their toddlers, rather than bum and bottom?

If I needed to speak to a child about their rectum then yes, of course that's what I'd call it. Why? What do you call the rectum?

So do people use the words rectum, anus and buttocks with their toddlers, rather than bum and bottom?

You have to use anus, if only so that Uranus is hilarious...

What do you call the rectum?

Bum. I don't think I have ever actually used the word 'rectum' in every day language.

Bum covers a lot of stuff, depending on how you use it.

Sitting on your bum = buttocks
Comes out your bum like a bullet from a gun = anus
It's up your bum = rectum.

Surely?

I am a bit 😱 - I genuinely thought everyone used “willy” and “fanny” until a certain age. Never heard of any of the other female children’s labels. Actually had to google what a vulva is too 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

sugarplum but you’re being disingenuous. My children will probably always wipe their bum, unless they’re colorectal surgeons, not their anal sphincter.

I have never argued that correct anatomical language needs to be used, but words that actually convey meaning to people. I have mentioned “tummy” and tootsies for toes as specific examples.

How does gina or vulva give LESS context about a hurting vagina or vulva than using a made up word? How is ‘gina harder to say than tuppance or tilly?

I think your comment about the need to use “nicer” words is telling - genitals aren’t not nice. What a weird thing to say.

I don’t think genitals are less nice than a mouth - spit, vomit, sputum, viral mouth infections, bad breath. Fewer bugs as week. And I don’t use “passed away” for dead either with my kids. Maybe if you did talk about sex with your DH it would be nicer more often than sometimes

To some extent this may get to the crux of the matter in that some people seem to think genitals are gross, or dirty or unable to be separated from adult sexual function and they’re also shy about adult sexual function. Hence cutesy nick names to sanitise them.

How does this promote a culture where little girls feel comfortable talking about their bodies?

What age do you take them aside to tell them the shocking news that their tootsiefoofoo actually has another name? Ideally before puberty so they don’t freak that their fairy is getting hairy.

I use correct terminology for genitals because I don't want to imply that there should be any shame or embarrassment associated with our vagina or penis. They are normal parts of our body. They are our private parts of our body. I think if we imply that there is some kind of shame or embarrassment associated with our vagina or penis than that can make it hard for children to tell us if there is something wrong. It's not just a case of not having the right words it's a case of feeling too embarrassed to talk about it. I have heard some children say that vagina or penis are naughty words or bad words. That's not a good message for them. The correct terminology for their genitals is not naughty or bad. I think some people's discomfort with the use of the words vagina and penis comes down to it being taboo to use those words so we have to have nicknames.

sugarplum this is unequivocally a feminist issue.

It’s important that girls and women can talk about their bodies and how they work and discuss if stuff happens to them that they’re uncomfortable with. They need to have people in their lives who can ensure that they comfortable talking about their genitals and can do so without shame. I get that schools need to step up where parents can’t or won’t but I think they’re letting their daughters down. By year 4 some girls will have already started puberty.

It would be a shame if they reached adulthood and could barely even discuss their sex life with their partners, wouldn’t it?

I’m not policing language but I think language should have meaning. And there are so many nouns and random words for genitals that those words have no meaning. It’s all very well to say that the meaning will be obvious by the context but it’s adding a barrier to effective communication due to prudishness.

I doubt the hard-core feminists tell their daughters that their genitals are a ‘flower’.

If Germaine Greer had a daughter I seriously doubt her daughter’s genitals would be referred to as a ‘minniemoomoo’.

I'll tell you why adults on mn use nicknames for their genitals (which auto corrected to gerbils  ) because god flrbid if they use vagina when they meant vulva they'd be slated and hung, drawn and quartered by the MN jury!

This!!

I was always taught the whole area was my vagina but knew the correct words for individual parts too. I've taught my son it is a vulva and babies come from your vagina....because of MN!!

You have no logical argument and a flawed grasp of language and communication. You’re a slightly strange poster on the Internet who thinks women who need to reclaim anatomical words to end our oppression

Oh dear sugarplum