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Original poster

Vulvas

275 replies

MeMyselfand · 05/09/2018 07:00

What's all this vulva chat about, lately when I've seen any front bottom chat on here it's all vulva this and vulva that. Surely people don't call it their vulva in real life when talking to someone about it.

What do you call yours?

OP posts:
Rebecca36 · 05/09/2018 08:15

Vulva seems a normal, collective word for all that goes on between our legs. What else do you call it - vagina, urethra and surrounding folds? Bit of a mouthful (no pun intended).

Speaking informally you'd probably say something like, "Minge", or whatever is the current colloquilism but you wouldn't if you were being precise or going to the doctor.

Vulva is a good word, says it all in one. I haven't noticed it being used more than usual in recent times.

JaneJeffer · 05/09/2018 08:17

Fanny, it's a fanny.

I have never heard anyone IRL say vulva, not even a medical person.

seeingdots · 05/09/2018 08:19

Call it what you want, but calling your vulva vagina is not the same as saying testicles instead of scrotum. It's more like saying penis when you mean scrotum. There's nothing intellectually superior about calling a spade a fucking spade.

Jenasaurus · 05/09/2018 08:20

no ones mentioned pussy, now what bit is that for

Westworldmaeve · 05/09/2018 08:21

I use the word vulva when speaking to a doctor etc (unless I mean vagina of course). With my DH I use pussy. No idea what he calls it, must have a conversation to see what he calls my stuff. We've been together for quite a while and have been doing ivf for the past 5-6 years so I'm now wondering why I don't know what he calls it Confused.

RJnomore1 · 05/09/2018 08:23

Just to point out to op your vagina is NOT a hole - it's a quite complex tubular organ. Don't diminish yourself!

BertrandRussell · 05/09/2018 08:25

What we really need to be talking about is why this conversation is necessary......

redexpat · 05/09/2018 08:25

But why is it so important @FurryDice? I can pretty much guarantee a HCP would still be able to work out where / what you were talking about. There was a similar thread a while back where a mner told of a criminal trial that collapsed because an adult woman didnt know the correct terminology.

Also - children who know the correct terminology are more likely to report sexual assault.

Language makes a huge difference.

JaneJeffer · 05/09/2018 08:26

no ones mentioned pussy, now what bit is that for that a word for idiotic people to use

Causeimunderyourspell · 05/09/2018 08:27

@BertrandRussell if you think that's depressing, I wouldn't switch on the news if I were you Hmm

Mn gets very upset at this, it's bizarre!!

missusZee · 05/09/2018 08:30

@Russel

Are you equally depressed that boys / men don't know correct terms for their willy and balls or is this "a feminist issue"?

Hadalifeonce · 05/09/2018 08:33

I got very concerned a few weeks ago when DD (15) started talking about shaving her vagina. When I questioned what the hell she meant by shaving her vagina, she said she was talking about shaving her pubes (don't get me started on that aspect of the conversation!!!) I asked her if she actually knew she couldn't shave her vagina as pubes don't grow in there. She said everybody calls it their vagina. When I tried to correct her she just kept saying we all call it vagina, and we all know what we're talking about, she just kept shutting me down when I tried to explain that they are all wrong.

Original poster
MeMyselfand · 05/09/2018 08:33

RJnomore1 I have in no way diminished myself by simplifying the meaning. I'm very comfortable with my sexual organs and confident in their use.

I just don't feel the need in my every day life to use the correct term.

OP posts:
minisoksmakehardwork · 05/09/2018 08:33

@BertrandRussell. Sadly I agree with you.

And I fear it's only going to get worse.

BananaToffo · 05/09/2018 08:33

Actually, BertrandRussell, there are dozens of words used for female genitals - probably as many, if not more than there are for male.

There's absolutely no requirement for anyone to be anatomically correct when discussing their OWN BODIES. Vagina is the word most use to mean almost every part of their genitals. And guess what...no one gets confused. Because you see, that's what language does...it communicates meaning, that's all.

To try and make an issue of this is pathetic when it really, really doesn't matter one iota. It's not "empowering" to prance about the place ostentatiously referring to your "vulva" - it's meaningless & it's invariablly the annoying shouty types who have hijacked feminism to such a degree that a shocking 93% of women won't use that label for themselves.

Put down the text books, stop instructing others on what feminism means (it doesn't belong to you) and start living in the real fucking world.

I'll call my genitals whatever I damn well please, thanks very much.

BloodyDisgrace · 05/09/2018 08:33

What the hell if a foof? (rather a silly word, no?) I understand vagina and vulva. And "fanny" for those who don't want to sound medical

Original poster
MeMyselfand · 05/09/2018 08:35

Hadalifeonce I agree with your daughter, most of us have been brough up to think the correct word is vagina

OP posts:
SpiritedLondon · 05/09/2018 08:36

Also - children who know the correct terminology are more likely to report sexual assault

Interesting, although I’m not sure how anyone would know that. I think growing up in a household that discusses body’s and bodily functions in an open, unembarrassed way probably gives a child confidence to speak about it, even if the terminology isn’t correct.

I’ve never heard anyone use vulva in real life and I grew up in a pretty open household with parents in the medical profession. I think of the term vagina as a replacement for “ female genitals” - rarely have I had a conversation where I’ve needed to be more specific than that.

Ca55andraMortmain · 05/09/2018 08:37

Out of interest - is there a clinical/correct word for the whole shebang? When I refer to my fanny I usually mean all of it - vulva and vagina. Is there a word that means that? Genitals? Or something else?

BarkTwain · 05/09/2018 08:40

@MeMyselfand a vagina is where your partner wants to put it and a vulva is as far as he gets when you don't want it. Inside/outside. 👀

ashtrayheart · 05/09/2018 08:40

Why does this obsession with correct terminology not extend to other body parts?

MissusGeneHunt · 05/09/2018 08:42

I don't think I'll ever forget a friend of mine saying 'there's nothing quite so ghastly as a foofoo rash after waxing...' (and believe me she had experience...!).

Mine is a muff, fair and square (that's metaphorical, not actual!). I do know the difference between a vagina and a vulva but except in medical exams I wouldn't use those terms, purely because they are literally that - clinical. Each to their own... literally!

IamaBluebird · 05/09/2018 08:43

I think I need glasses. I thought this was about star trek. Read the title as vulcan.

ZaZathecat · 05/09/2018 08:44

If I'd gone around talking about my vagina as a girl my dm would have given me a smack on the rectum!

MrsStrowman · 05/09/2018 08:45

If it's my body why can't I call it what I want? If I was a man no one would correct whatever term I used for my genitals.....

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