Word for vagina?

[ncnewbaby]

Parents of girls, what word do you use for vagina? I have a baby girl and can't remember what we used growing up!

But why would I need to use the word vulva to explain where a baby comes from? The vagina is used, as is the uterus. The vulva doesn’t come into it!!!

[quote TheGirlCat]@Branleuse Neither penis or vulva are latin terms, so why are you talking about latin?[/quote]
Both vagina and vulva are Latin in origin. Vagina means 'sheath' and vulva means 'wrapper' or 'to roll'. Lots of medical terms are Latin in origin.

There are posters here telling the entire world (and the Daily Mail, etc) that they find the word vagina disgusting, something they can't bring themselves to say. On the other hand we have you, insisting that the vulva can be ignored and all a girl has to know is the word vagina. Can we safely ignore the clitoris too? Is that what all this refusal to name parts is about?

What is wrong with naming all the parts so a little girl knows what she is touching or looking at? Just as you would name a boy's parts for him? Do you think there are grown men out there who don't know what their scrotum is? Testicles, penis, shaft, head, foreskin, etc?

Why the insistence on keeping others ignorant?
Do you blush and call your kidneys some cutesy name?

Sorry- genitals don't need a cutesy word. Use vagina. I'm not a huge fan of vulva although technically correct, as vagina is more straightforward for young children. Normalising anatomy should be a basic. Needing a cutesy made up term makes it seem you're not normalising anatomy and that leads to all its own problems. It's not a flower, a coochie, or any other ridiculous word.

@mathanxiety

No need to be so rude thanks. My understanding is that “penis” and “vagina” are the usual terms. It’s what literally everyone else seems to use. I’m expressed surprise at the word “vulva” being used. I never see it anywhere, hear it anyway and I can’t see the point of it. You being rude to me doesn’t change that. Sure there’s the clitoris snd the labia etc and fine to label those as with the testes and the head of a penis but I have never fucking heard of vulva and that’s my point I’ve been perfectly fine without using it. Going to ask every female friend of mine today if they use it and I am pretty confident they don’t.

I’m all for giving children biological and straight answers re having children etc but I still maintain there’s an appropriate age to start labelling body parts btw and I’m not sure a small child needs to know what a clitoris is but no doubt I’ll get insulted for that too.

@Helpstopthepain

My awful ex used to refer to our dd’s ‘bits’ he was an absolute twat though. He hated that I said vagina.

My dds called them their 'bits and bobs' for years, shortened to bits. No twats in sight. They are fully aware of the correct terminology and use it when appropriate.

We have family words for all sorts of things. I really can't get overexcited about what my kids call their genitals.

Ironic than MN is flooded (!) with alternatives for menstruation. We're all adults - why call it Aunt Flo ffs?!

@Justheretoaskaquestion91

It’s total nonsense that a girl needs to know at 3/4 what the different is between the vulva and the vagina. Are you also teaching little boys to distinguish between the head and the shaft of the penis? Ffs. The vulva specificity seems like some sort MN woke thing people say. I agree with the PP who said we don’t tell children to wipe their anus.

I maybe learnt specifically about the vulva at school but I have 0 recollection of it and can remember watching an old re run of spaced where there’s an episode about it and having to Google it as an adult. Otherwise it’s only MN where people seem to have this obsession. I’ve managed to live a perfectly rich and full life this far referring to my privates as a whole as my vagina. I’ve never heard a friend use another word, never been corrected by or heard a doctor or Gyny use another word.

Doctors don’t tend to correct adults on names for body parts.

I do think it’s sad that women don’t know the difference. But society as a whole doesn’t use the correct names so people don’t realise.. Correct names for body parts aren’t woke though. Education isn’t woke.

I hate it in American films when the mother says ‘I can see your vagina in that skirt’.

It is part of this whole women’s bodies are icky and secret mindset. Men are no where near as squeamish wine it comes to their bodies.

I don’t understand why there has to be ‘an appropriate age’ for labelling body parts. Start labelling them correctly as soon as they are little, it’s the parents hang up that about the terminology , not the child’s. The kid couldn’t care less at 2/3 what they are called. Doing a straw pole of your friends @Justheretoaskaquestion91 isn’t going to prove anything except to highlight that this ridiculous concept of naming body parts twee names because they are ‘shameful’ has been going on forever and needs to stop. It’s ridiculous that grown women have never heard the term vulva and that’s because our parents were too ashamed to call it what it is. Let’s not pass that on.

You personally haven't been affected, lucky you. But maybe there are girls out there who have been molested or assaulted, and using the right term to describe what has been touched, what part hurts, or feels itchy, etc, would make the difference between being understood or being dismissed. Maybe there are girls out there who care a bit more than you do about coming across as properly educated about their own bodies

I'm confident no one would be dismissed by using the word 'vagina' instead of 'vulva.' I'm not sure why you're acting as

Posted too early.

I'm confident no one would be dismissed by using the word 'vagina' instead of 'vulva.' I'm not sure why you're acting as if girls are being taught to use the word 'cookie' or something silly along those lines which gives opportunity for them to be dismissed.
I agree that only on MN is this weird obsession of calling the vagina, vulva. I've never once heard anyone call a vagina a vulva in my life

Exactly what the @TheGirlCat said

'Spring recounts a heartbreaking story told at a workshop by a woman who had been sexually abused as a child. Back then, the only word she knew for vulva was "cookie." "When she tried to tell a teacher about how someone wanted her cookie, the teacher told her she had to share. It's obvious that the consequence of that was that the abuse continued. She didn't have the tools she needed to disclose."

Using the correct names helps with safeguarding. It's clear and can't be misinterpreted.

@Justheretoaskaquestion91

It’s total nonsense that a girl needs to know at 3/4 what the different is between the vulva and the vagina. Are you also teaching little boys to distinguish between the head and the shaft of the penis? Ffs. The vulva specificity seems like some sort MN woke thing people say. I agree with the PP who said we don’t tell children to wipe their anus.

I maybe learnt specifically about the vulva at school but I have 0 recollection of it and can remember watching an old re run of spaced where there’s an episode about it and having to Google it as an adult. Otherwise it’s only MN where people seem to have this obsession. I’ve managed to live a perfectly rich and full life this far referring to my privates as a whole as my vagina. I’ve never heard a friend use another word, never been corrected by or heard a doctor or Gyny use another word.

I have a 4 year old and the subject of her vagina has literally never come up yet?? I'm not sure if she's even noticed she has one yet

Her older siblings know the what a vagina is as we have explained sex/where babies come from but the 4 year old hasn't asked yet so we haven't told her.

I do understand though that some women/parents literally don't know what the actual name for their external genitals is, or vagina is the only word they've heard of - but I did know what a vulva was so it would have been very weird to start referring to my baby or toddler's internal genitals when that wasn't what we were talking about

Vagina or Vulva. DD randomly named it Sissy however 🤣

@sheiselectric

I call the vagina the vagina and the vulva the vulva. Correct terminology, even at a young age, is really important.

Why? Give me one good reason why it’s SO important from such a young age?

I don’t call it a vagina now unless I’m in the doctors surgery. I certainly wouldn’t want my young child to call it that.
I wouldn’t want to say sit on your anus either when asking them to sit on their bum but maybe it’s just me.

I married into a London family and they use:

Floo
Fanny
Vagina

Willy
Penis
Cock

Vulgarity is common parlance in my in-law's vernacular.

DD says vagina or fanny. I say fanny.

Anus means the opening, buttocks is what you mean silverswhirl.

Read the stuff on the NSPCC website and you’ll see why young children should know the correct terms.

only on MN is this weird obsession of calling the vagina, vulva. I've never once heard anyone call a vagina a vulva in my life

@videovixen most likely you’ve never heard anyone call a vagina a vulva, because a vagina is not a vulva. HTH.

Same reason you’ve probably never heard anyone call a table a cushion.

@Silverswirl I don’t think it’s possible to sit on your anus, so that’s a silly example really, isn’t it?

@Derbee

only on MN is this weird obsession of calling the vagina, vulva. I've never once heard anyone call a vagina a vulva in my life

@videovixen most likely you’ve never heard anyone call a vagina a vulva, because a vagina is not a vulva. HTH.

Same reason you’ve probably never heard anyone call a table a cushion.

Wrong wording but I meant I've never heard anyone differentiate the two even when needed. Although it may not be the correct terminology, loads of people just say vagina when referring to down below instead of going into specifics. Not exactly the end of the world

It's a bit weird not to differentiate though isn't it @videovixen? Some people just don't know there's a difference as education was mayba less available in the past, but if you do know the difference why would you choose to confuse things?
Doesn't it get a bit complicated when you actually have to explain where babies come from and then you need to correct what you've told your child when they were younger?

Well that’s the difference isn’t it - boys never have to learn a new secret word or be told that now you get to know a new name for your genitals because the accurate one was too shameful or embarrassing to tell you earlier.

Boys always get the straightforward, put it right out there approach. But girls internalise those messages that their body has secret shameful bits that must be called pretty nicknames because they are ridiculous or naughty or too adult or too Latin or whatever, and only revealed gradually, even to them, for fear of contamination by inappropriate, “adult” or sexual knowledge.

And people then wonder why teenage girls have terrible hang ups about their bodies and about how they look and are.

Well one thing this thread has highlighted for sure, is that lots of women really need educating about their genitalia.