I just say with a head teacher and argued with her that her fanny diagram was incorrectly labelled - and it's all the fault of you harpies..

[ProudVulvaOwner]

MyY2 child had their 'correct names for body parts' lesson today - all about labelling the external genitalia. We were forewarned they would be learning new words - penis, testicles, and vagina.

As a longstanding mumsnetter and part time feminist, I emailed in to ask how they would be labelling vaginas on pictures of external bodies - surely they would be labelling vulvas? (For avoidance of doubt, I was and am happy for my child to learn all the correct words and what they bits they refer to 'do', but today's lesson was specifically on the outside bits')

Anyhow, I was told this was the wording on approved DfE materials and they had to use it.

So like the true feminist mumsnetter I am, I queried this and asked to see the materials. Sure enough, some plonker at an organisation called 'Jigsaw' who supply DfE approved PSHE materials has labelled all external girl bits as a 'vagina'. Boys bits were correctly labelled.

So I made no progress at all in changing the vocab in the lesson, and have had shared several unforgettably minutes with a nice, but entirely bemused Headteacher looking at a fanny diagram and arguing that it was mislabelled and yes it DOES MATTER. It was not 5 minutes either of us will forget 😳. Thanks for that, Jigsaw 😡

This lack of resolution of female body parts is why I have taught so many years 9s who thought they wee out of their vagina.

I think she's probably covering for the fact that you've just shown the schools lack of subject knowledge up. Obviously nobody spotted the mistake.

But rather than admit you are right and apologising they're just coming up with a list of stupid excuses that are making them look worse.

I do like the term 'vans deference' though scary. We could probably add that one to the curriculum while we're renaming everything else.

That's one of the best ways I've heard it described pp, calling a face a nostril.

Jan Lever is the person to contact:

beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08568182

You should write to the chair of governors if you are not happy with the heads response to your complaint. It will at least liven up the next governors meeting 😊 (spoken as a governor!)

Well done OP! It's something that annoys me but I'm not sure I could summon up the confidence to go into the school!

I didn't know the word vulva until I was about 11, my mum was very prudish about anything 'down there' and I remember asking if boys bits were called a willy what were girls bits called, and she just said that they were just 'girl bits' however a more enlightened parent had given her dd, who was my friend a fairly scientific book with diagrams so my queries were cleared up before it got embarrassing.

A lot of girls at my secondary (who had gone to the attached prep school which didn't do sex Ed) thought you weed out of your clitoris or vagina, and many had no idea about sex or where babies came from I will be teaching dd the proper words when the time comes. I'm all for protecting their innocence, but they need to know that there are words for these things, and not just for boys.

At my kids' school they were taught that women have 'two holes'. One child insisted women have three holes, his mum had told him - well, says teacher, your mum is wrong

What is deranged is that this is even an issue - well done, OP!

handmademitlove I may well do that! If I have to come to terms with saying vagina vagina vagina vagina in meeting, why not everyone else!? They'll prob agree with me just to stop having to say vagina 😂

I've always wanted to say vagina and vulva on twitter done.
Proud you should be saying vulva, vulva, vulva...

My DD isn't at school but I almost wish she was just so I could check whether the labels are wrong. It's shocking she seems to think it doesn't matter.

Good for you

Hang on

Do they mean discretely or discreetly?
It is so bloody badly written.

Well done, OP! Don't let them get away with it.

Of course they could teach the correct terms if they wanted to. I agree that the head was just saving face.

YY to writing to the governing body.

This post has made me equally and

More misunderstanging of vulva / vagina. It's rampant (the mislabelling).

Isn't referring to a vulva as a vagina akin to referring to your face as a nostril?

😂😂

Well it's vulva up here in scotland according to P1 daughter. She was delighted to show off her new word!

Excellent news Alice do remember to thank the teacher for using the correct term at parents evening. The more the real terms are used in conversation the less taboo they become.

Hooray OP! (BTW, post upthread has just made me think of the O level biology howler: "one of the differences between the male and female reproductive systems is that in men the sperm travels to the outside of the body down a tube called the vast difference.")

Isn't referring to a vulva as a vagina akin to referring to your face as a nostril? Makes no sense!

Exactly.

And if only women had noses, and the only thing men wanted to do with noses was stick a finger into a nostril, then I bet noses would soon be called nostrils, and after that the woman's whole face.

Hang on

Do they mean discretely or discreetly?
It is so bloody badly written.

Good catch!

Ah, well, having re-read, it seems to me that I had the wrong end of the stick (to to my own confusion about which spelling was which), and they mean that they're going to deal with FGM, Domestic Violence, Forced Marriage etc as an amorphous blob, rather than separately. I'd first thought that they meant they'd be upfront about it all, but now I've re-read it, I think I was wrong.

You know for once I'd really like the daily wail to report this thread. Well done OP. Heres something i dont understand - surely a HT must have a gcse in biology? Or double science or something?