Name for girly bits!!

[Honey2]

So here’s a bit of a random question…… (hope this is ok to post!)
After previously having 3 boys I’m now preg with a girl (due any day!) and we have been thinking about the more casual name you use for a girls bits! I know the ‘official’ line is to call it the proper name (vagina) but of course for the boys we normally refer to their ‘Willy’ as it’s pretty much universal…. For girls however seems to be more regionally decided. We no longer live where I grew up so I’m not sure the word I used as I child is appropriate (and I hate it). What does everyone call it with their little girls?!!!

thanks

100% agree with this. I don’t get why people get embarrassed and use silly names. You wouldn’t do it with your feet or arms so why any other area?? Teach your children the correct terms ffs

Do you apply that logic to all body parts? Do you always refer to “your buttocks” your “cranium” etc?

Your point makes no sense.

Using 'bottom' instead of 'buttocks' is just another term. It's not a made up word. (In fact, 'buttocks' are your actual cheeks, so the two words don't quite work interchangeably.

Re 'cranium', if for some reason I wanted to be very specific about the part of the skull containing the brain, then yes, I'd use 'cranium'. Obviously. But I don't often need to!

Do you mean would I say 'head' or 'skull' - yes I would, these being proper anatomical terms & all.

And so, indeed is bottom - which would be used in medical texts and so on.

@Twizbe

And bum and bottom are just as incorrect for buttocks (or the more precise muscles) as any cute names for “vulva”. So why is Vilva such a big deal to some mumsnetters? (If no one else)

@Luciemaie Bum, bottom, arse, head, knee, stomach, belly, gut - all incorrect names. People do it with other areas all the time.

@EarringsandLipstick

Actually your point makes no sense. Bottom is slang for buttocks, it’s not any more correct than any cutesy name for vulva. But if you have a problem with “made up” names but not recognised ones then I guess you’d be alright with “pussy” no?

I use vulva and penis most of the time but at shower time will always shout 'bits, bums and pits' as a universal unisex option to achieve hygiene in the hope they'll eventually remember without getting distracted.

bottom, arse, head, knee, stomach, belly, gut

You're wrong, except I guess for 'arse'

All of these words are correct terms to use for the relevant part of one's anatomy.

If you go to A&E with a 'head injury', of course, they'll talk about your head!

Knee is ... a knee & will be used in a medical exam / appointment

Are there other terms that can also be used eg patella for kneecap? Yes - but often they are specific like my example here, and the more generally used term is correct.

I hate cutesy names for genitals. Not even from a 'safeguarding' perspective, just as things like flower, cookie, foofoo sound horribly twee and cringey and I really don't like them. I don't really mind non-cutesy alternatives like front bum and stuff though, just the saccharine ones. There's something unpalatable to me about the fact boys don't generally get assigned cutesy names for their penis but girls get landed with things like 'flower'.

DD3 knows boys have a penis and girls have a vagina/vulva, but we generally just use 'bits' to refer to the general area down there in a 'wash your bits' context. Bum, bits and pits!

We know the correct vulva, vagina terms etc here. But we do call them lady bits. House of girls here! DH has boy or lord bits

Bottom is slang for buttocks, it’s not any more correct than any cutesy name for vulva.

You're completely wrong about this 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you go to a doctor, say with piles (haemorrhoids!), they'll ask if they can take a look at your bottom.

Medical texts & prescription leaflets will use the term.

It's not a scientific term. It is however a known & used term and not an invented twee word.

Show me the doctor that asks to examine a woman's 'Mary'

That's the difference.

minnie, noonie, foo, dilly are all names I’ve heard over the years.

we didn’t introduce vulva / vagina until they were around 5/6yo.

apparently for safeguarding reasons we should be using the correct term in case a child discloses something to you and you don’t understand the significance if they say something obscure like ‘uncle Jim likes to look at my flower’ - oh yes very nice Alice, I like flowers too.

But if you have a problem with “made up” names but not recognised ones then I guess you’d be alright with “pussy” no?

I don't have a problem. I don't like it. Personal preference as I said at the outset 🙄

What do you mean, 'alright with 'pussy''? It depends on context. Given how it's used in a sexual context, for children, no; women - if you want.

Again, I don't expect a women will present in a medical situation talking about her 'pussy'.

DH has boy or lord bits

Love this!

We use vulva and other anatomical terms.

we more generally refer to the private area of the body which applies equally to boys and girls.

@EarringsandLipstick

You know full well that stomach, gut, belly are often used interchangeably for any areas of that region - point being that many words are used for other body parts which aren’t “correct”, something which you feel the need to deny for some reason.

bum is also used for the bottom commonly. Doctors will know what it is. Likewise if someone were talking about “their vagina” - they would often be and be understood to be talking about the whole area.

Those are known words. Those are understood. They are not scientific. You are wrong - their are many words used about various body parts which are not medically correct, “vulva” is not some exception. Vulva itself has many words which will be known by people if that’s what’s troubling you about “cute” names - ie “vagina” “pussy” etc. all used by people and understood to be the “vulva”.

I completely agree with this. I don't really like cutesy words, but I don't especially like the stiff and formal sounding penis/vulva/vagina/testicles etc.

My DC know the correct words. I have absolutely zero shame in using them. I don't get embarrassed by stuff like that. But I definitely prefer to use slang or colloquialisms, as I do for other things. I'm not treating genitals any differently.

For my breasts, I'd say boobs. For my abdominal area I'd say tummy or belly. I'd use arse or bum (depending on company), or potentially butt. And I apply the same logic to the genital area. In our house we'd generally use slang terms such as willy and balls, sometimes nuts if we're joking around, plus boy bits and girl bits. I don't use any other words for vulva/vagina than "girl bits" - there's never been any need so far to be more specific so it covers it nicely. I think it's very clear and self explanatory. I believe it treads an ideal line between sounding quite clinical and formal, and being unbearably twee and/or misunderstood.

I understand the need for slang to be readily understood, especially for something as important as genitals, but equally I don't understand this insistence on using very formal, clinical terms only. Doesn't make sense at all to me.

Vulva here. Though DD(3) tends to use bum for all (no idea why).

There's no universal alternative to willy, so I use the correct word. If there were a universal word like willy for penis or bum for gluteus etc then I'd use that. I'd honestly not heard of fairy, flower, tuppence, Mary or Minnie before coming on Mumsnet and would have genuinely no idea what a child meant unless the context was clear.

"tuppence"

Bit of an odd thing to be thinking of? What do you call your bits OP?
We used girly bits but all my kids knew the proper words. We had a body book with everything labelled.

We used bum, willy, poo etc prior to having girls and finding out that not using proper terms was disapproved of by so many people (only on Mumsnet)
In normal life you almost never refer to your genitals. I'd remind the kids to make sure they have washed their bits properly and that would be about it.
The main thing is to make sure your kids aren't overly shy or 'prudish' ( if a kid can be such a thing) or too forward.

C'mon no teacher is that stupid. There are all sorts of reasons that a kid might not use the correct term. Teachers are trained to be aware about these things.

Mini here 🤷🏻‍♀️. DD is an adult now but that was the name she bestowed upon herself. It's stuck. She was fully aware of the biological names though. DS uses willy but he's 11 so that's fine. He also knows what a penis is.

Bum, tummy, boobs, willy etc are all words that have just one meaning, even if they are slang. As a result, I have no issue using them. I can't think of any slang term for a vulva that doesn't have a second meaning to get confused with and is appropriate for DCs to use.

We're a 'vulva' household. Vagina is fine OP. It may not be accurate, but no adult is going to fall foul of misunderstanding what your DD is trying to communicate (ditto 'private parts'). At worst it would require just a quick clarification: "You're vagina hurts? Which bit? The inside bit or the outside bit?" etc.

Colloquial terms in Wales round by me are "minge, fooff, fanny"

Fanny is used a lot round this neck of the woods. Nan says "tuppance"

"You mind your tuppance dear" 😂

I noticed that my youngish female GP used the term 'down below'. I've also noticed that most urologists, gynaecologists etc have anatomic posters or plastic models in their offices. I guess that helps with making sure no ones confused.

The patriarchy is alive and well in your house then!