What do you call the girl's private part?

[Anonymous]

I'm one of those "older moms" referred to above, with kids ranging from 18 to 25. We used the words "vulva" and "penis."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a girl, I was convinced that my genitals were unique. I had no sisters, and grown women mostly had au naturel, concealing pubic hair then. My mom wasn't very helpful. I remember studying a diagram of the "female reproductive organs," all internal, and being totally mystified. It was confusing and even frightening, and led to a lot of feelings of shame.

This is why I think it's important to use the correct words. The vagina is an internal organ; you won't easily find it by staring at your 6 year old crotch. More confusion. Different girls have different names for the parts; is their anatomy different? Further confusion.

Give things their proper names. Make it clear that everyone's the same. We do it for boys; let's give that to girls also.

We don’t do it for boys. Penis is used for the entire genital area.

I don’t disagree with you post but vagina was also introduced as a point of pride just a few decades ago. By eight, I knew the right terms for everything without shame.

And most of us still have au naturelle pubic hair, don’t we?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vagina people get a clue. You don’t pee out of it. The urethra would be the proper term, or vulva for the entire area.

Everyone knows this, PP, but vagina has been used for so long to mean vulva. In my life since The Vagina Monologues hit Broadway in the 1980s. Most of use older moms were taught to call the entire female genitalia area the vagina. My now 28 year old daughter proudly talked about her vagina when she was three. Give people a break. I doubt that anyone is going to get confused by what a child means.

Yep, vagina is the general term. Even guys use penis to refer to everything even if they mean urethra.

[Anonymous]

We used front bum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You call it what it is. Her vagina. And your son has a penis, not a wee wee. It’s important kids know the correct terminology so they can communicate to you what’s going on if something ever happens.

+1

[Anonymous]

I knew nothing about my anatomy and when I started my period, I was surprised it wasn’t come out of my urethra. I had no idea I had another part of my body. Teach your kids proper names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew nothing about my anatomy and when I started my period, I was surprised it wasn’t come out of my urethra. I had no idea I had another part of my body. Teach your kids proper names.

How would names have helped you? And aren’t you making the case for vagina since that’s where menstrual blood comes out?

[Anonymous]

OP you sound ridiculous. THIS is why Americans have issues with conversations regarding intimate anatomy. The first female in your sons life isn’t even saying the word penis, like it’s scandalous. There is nothing indecent about anatomy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used front bum

This is a really disturbing thread.

-a dad of daughters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vagina people get a clue. You don’t pee out of it. The urethra would be the proper term, or vulva for the entire area.

Everyone knows this, PP, but vagina has been used for so long to mean vulva. In my life since The Vagina Monologues hit Broadway in the 1980s. Most of use older moms were taught to call the entire female genitalia area the vagina. My now 28 year old daughter proudly talked about her vagina when she was three. Give people a break. I doubt that anyone is going to get confused by what a child means.

Where are you from? I was never taught to use the term vagina for my genitals. I grew up in the Midwest, they taught us the proper terminology in health class in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We used front bum

This is a really disturbing thread.

-a dad of daughters

Right? If people used proper terminology, then it would be mainstreamed, and no one would be ashamed of it, and no one would be lecturing grown women about the proper name for their body parts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vagina people get a clue. You don’t pee out of it. The urethra would be the proper term, or vulva for the entire area.

Everyone knows this, PP, but vagina has been used for so long to mean vulva. In my life since The Vagina Monologues hit Broadway in the 1980s. Most of use older moms were taught to call the entire female genitalia area the vagina. My now 28 year old daughter proudly talked about her vagina when she was three. Give people a break. I doubt that anyone is going to get confused by what a child means.

Where are you from? I was never taught to use the term vagina for my genitals. I grew up in the Midwest, they taught us the proper terminology in health class in elementary school.

Philadelphia in the 1970s. And “taught” never came into play! Like a previous poster, The Vagina Monologues was groundbreaking and referred to the female genitalia as vagina.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vagina people get a clue. You don’t pee out of it. The urethra would be the proper term, or vulva for the entire area.

Everyone knows this, PP, but vagina has been used for so long to mean vulva. In my life since The Vagina Monologues hit Broadway in the 1980s. Most of use older moms were taught to call the entire female genitalia area the vagina. My now 28 year old daughter proudly talked about her vagina when she was three. Give people a break. I doubt that anyone is going to get confused by what a child means.

Yep, vagina is the general term. Even guys use penis to refer to everything even if they mean urethra.

That's because the whole thing is called a penis and the urethra is contained within it. Last I looked, my vulva is not inside my vagina, it's kind of the other way around.

WARNING: This link has a graphical depiction of female sexual anatomy. DO NOT CLICK if you are sensitive to these things. It's not a picture, it's a sketch. With words you may find uncomfortable. You've been warned. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/health-and-wellness/sexual-and-reproductive-anatomy/what-are-parts-female-sexual-anatomy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vagina people get a clue. You don’t pee out of it. The urethra would be the proper term, or vulva for the entire area.

Everyone knows this, PP, but vagina has been used for so long to mean vulva. In my life since The Vagina Monologues hit Broadway in the 1980s. Most of use older moms were taught to call the entire female genitalia area the vagina. My now 28 year old daughter proudly talked about her vagina when she was three. Give people a break. I doubt that anyone is going to get confused by what a child means.

Where are you from? I was never taught to use the term vagina for my genitals. I grew up in the Midwest, they taught us the proper terminology in health class in elementary school.

Philadelphia in the 1970s. And “taught” never came into play! Like a previous poster, The Vagina Monologues was groundbreaking and referred to the female genitalia as vagina.

Yeah, well, your toddler/preschooler isn't watching the Vagina Monologues, is she?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you sound ridiculous. THIS is why Americans have issues with conversations regarding intimate anatomy. The first female in your sons life isn’t even saying the word penis, like it’s scandalous. There is nothing indecent about anatomy.

I actually don’t think OP is originally from America based on the way her post is written. English seems to be a second language. I am a second generation American myself, and my parents used euphemisms for genitals were used. There was a lot of shame around those body parts. I did end up being molested in middle school by a family friend. Hindsight is always 20/20 - I believe I was targeted because the man knew my parents were not the type to teach correct terms for genitalia (coming from the same culture himself), and also just based on the relationship he saw between my parents and I. He was right. I never told until years and years later, and then they blamed me for it. Anyway, these days I feel like it is much more an American cultural thing to teach correct names of body parts and what “safe” people/touching is (e.g. at the doctor when mom or dad is there is safe vs creepy uncle in the basement at a family get together), whereas in other parts of the world genitalia is still given “cutesy” names and these things aren’t really talked about.

OP - Talk to your kids, let them know they can come to you with anything at any time, and for pete’s sake teach them the correct names for their body parts.