What's in a name? Suggestions for what to call a girl's "front bottom".

[GetToFalkirk]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post but couldn't think where else to put it.

Anyway, DD 18 months old, still too early to potty train but developmentally she's obviously learning to speak. So when it comes to it what word are we going to use?

Boys are easy - "willy" is age appropriate and not too crude.

Girls bits don't seem to be that straightforward.

Vagina - too clinical and not actually correct when it comes to peeing.

Vulva - a bit too clinical and odd.

Front bottom - too French and Saunders.

Any suggestions?

Green do you say 'urine' and 'faeces'?

This thread has made me smile!!
Does it really matter?

Glad this has come up. In our house (Dh, me and ds 1 & 2)the boys all have winkies.

DS1 is now asking what my bits are called (obv he doesn't call them bits, just points when I come out of the shower)

fanny seems a good one to use

Another vote for foof but also foo foo. Although as a child known as 'mini'.

phew, I'm glad I'm not the only foof user (?), I knew it couldn't be that unusual because the doctor didn't blink an eye!

No angelene, I don't

Isn't that interesting?

I say 'fanny'.
I know I should say 'vulva' to be correct but I just find it too unfriendly and medical.

I called it a fanny when I was a little girl. I seem to remember that's what we called it at school. For me 'fanny' is the equivalent of 'willy'.

I cannot, CANNOT bear all these cutsey-wootsie euphemistic names. They'll soon learn no-one else calls it that. It's just a way of passing on hang ups about and discomfort about the female anatomy.

We must not disempower out girls with subtle messages of 'unmentionables' and bits-that-must-not-speak-their-names.

My Grandmother used to call her period 'The Curse'

Surely we can move forward.

It seems to me that there are people on here who use the correct terms as a bit of a badge of honour and look down on those of us who don't for whatever reason. Shouldn't you therefore use the correct terms for everything across the board?

Which board?

I don't say 'vulva' for the same reason I don't say, 'penis'. I prefer willy and fanny.

For me its similar to saying 'tummy' rather than 'intestines'.

However, I have told my children what vulvas and vagina's are. We must teach them a proper, common language and stop the rot.

It's bad enough the the worst ever, ever word possible in the English language, supposedly, means vagina. Why do we allow this self deprecation?

Everything? For consistency's sake?

Am very concerned about sorting this one out as DD is starting to talk.

Options for us are:

Vulva - anatomically correct (unlike vagina), but lots of women seem to dislike the word for reasons I don't really understand.

Quim - I wonder if this great old-fashioned word has too many sexualised associations?

Fanny - the most widely used, I suspect. But DD has lots of American family so that could get REALLY confusing.

I think you need to take a few deep breaths my dear

I was being a bit facetious with the vulva post. This damn thread goes the same way every time.

In all honesty I don't have girls so this hasn't come up for me (I've let the boys construct their own bizarre folklore around my hairy nethers, much more amusing than telling them what to call it)

but I wouldn't use "fanny" because it's the word my mother used and so for me it has connotations of sexual disgust.

I agree totally with spidermama about the general contempt for the female body inherent in our language and culture. Very sad. One of my Aunties said "pudenda"

Whatever you call it I would seriously doubt that any of our DDs will be traumatised by it.

Shall we settle on 'cunt' ?

We always thought of 'fanny' as a really rude word when we were younger, and it was always called front bottom (which i hate). So it would seem odd to me to use the word fanny.

I have heard far worse ones than foof, and don't see why it is any different to calling breasts boobs, stomach tummy or armpits fairy caves (ok I mad that last one up)

I've been banging that drum on here for years angeleme

It seems the world is not yet ready for "cunt".

Green I just don't like feeling that I'm less of a feminist than others!

In our house boys have a 'wink' and girls have a 'fluff'. This has been dictated by ds and therefore remains. He is confused that his baby sister doesn't actually have any fluff. I really don't know what to call it so we go with his suggestions.

you're in good company around here then [dodges lethal ninja-spinning underwire]

Indeed. Even with my front bottom!

Night

I'd've gone with cunt or quim myself, both etymologicaly related to 'coombe' which means valley, so wholly appropriate (also my mum's maiden name, so nice family link...).

I was prepared for the world not to be ready for 'cunt', but surprised at dh's Victorian fits of the vapours over fanny, even.

& vulva is just an ugly word. It makes me think of vulgar & voluminous.

So the dds have 'minnies'

quim is lovely actually, I might take that up

will it give his teachers hot flushes if he says it at school?

DD calls it her 'china' after mishearing what I said when I was explaining how babies are born. Took us a while to cotton on what she meant when she said her china hurt after sliding down a pole at a playground! The name stuck though, and that's what we call it now.

We call ours "tushies" in this house and teh boys have willies.