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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's absolutely NOT the vagina. It's really important that little girls understand that the vagina is what is INSIDE so that if, god forbid, something happens to them, they are able to express exactly what happened. It's molestation/abuse no matter what, but you want your children to be clear that someone touched their vulva, labia on the outside and their vagina if they were penetrated.

OP - my kids are aware of the proper names for their genitalia, but still sometimes call it their 'Peepee"

It’s actually not important because a forensic psychologist will guide them through the explanation.

By the time you get to the "forensic psychologist" things are pretty far gone.

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.

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.

The swimsuit area

Vagina. What are these wrinkles bayou are referring to? I have two girls (and myself) and don’t know what wrinkles are supposed to mean?

We use vulva but vagina would have been fine. I just didn’t want to give her genitalia a cutesy name as five I was ashamed to call it what it is.

Anonymous wrote:(So many hangups about words that you had the other thread about this deleted.)

I think the OP had the other thread deleted. She sounded rabid. She wasn’t incorrect but just creepy and militant.

(So many hangups about words that you had the other thread about this deleted.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's absolutely NOT the vagina. It's really important that little girls understand that the vagina is what is INSIDE so that if, god forbid, something happens to them, they are able to express exactly what happened. It's molestation/abuse no matter what, but you want your children to be clear that someone touched their vulva, labia on the outside and their vagina if they were penetrated.

OP - my kids are aware of the proper names for their genitalia, but still sometimes call it their 'Peepee"

It’s actually not important because a forensic psychologist will guide them through the explanation.

But why replace one wrong name with another wrong one? Just teach them the correct words. I don't know why you all have hang ups about certain words, it's very weird.

My son calls it his weiner and my daughter her wee-wee. They know the proper terms and do not care. Enough with the hand-wringing over this subject.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It's absolutely NOT the vagina. It's really important that little girls understand that the vagina is what is INSIDE so that if, god forbid, something happens to them, they are able to express exactly what happened. It's molestation/abuse no matter what, but you want your children to be clear that someone touched their vulva, labia on the outside and their vagina if they were penetrated.

OP - my kids are aware of the proper names for their genitalia, but still sometimes call it their 'Peepee"

It’s actually not important because a forensic psychologist will guide them through the explanation.

Anonymous wrote:My son (4) asked me what girls pee out of bc they don't have a penis. He asked if they pee out of their butt, and obviously I said no, but then I really struggled with what word to use! At first I said "vagina," but that's not really correct, and neither is vulva. Urethra is the right answer, but boys have that too, so it seems odd to say boys pee out of a penis and girls pee out of a urethra (since technically everyone pees out of a urethra). I ended up just sticking with vagina.

Sigh.

Why not use this as an opportunity to teach your boy what a urethra is?

fine china

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.

It's absolutely NOT the vagina. It's really important that little girls understand that the vagina is what is INSIDE so that if, god forbid, something happens to them, they are able to express exactly what happened. It's molestation/abuse no matter what, but you want your children to be clear that someone touched their vulva, labia on the outside and their vagina if they were penetrated.

OP - my kids are aware of the proper names for their genitalia, but still sometimes call it their 'Peepee"