As an extra special treat for Cate in her absence, I've decided to write about something that'll make her really happy: vaginas! And to give my personal slant on the age old question of what to call them. Because despite years of debate on the matter, the answer remains elusive, for the younger members of society at least.
When I was growing up, my parents could not have been more liberal. I was taught where babies came from at four (having just produced one, my parents felt it only polite to tell me) and was under no illusions about the anatomy of either sex. But I still to this day don't recall being taught a word for my 'little girl parts'. Sure, I knew the word 'vagina' from the sex ed books aimed at children I'd read; a vagina was something a Mummy had, and had to do with having babies. But it certainly didn't apply to me!
At primary school, I soon learnt that refering to it as a "fanny" was de rigeur if you didn't want to be laughed at. I was delighted to have a word at last, but didn't see it as something a parent would approve of. It was naughty, playground speak. But at least we now had an equivalent to "willy"; a word happily used in relation to my baby brother's bits from day one. I asked my mother what she taught my sister and I to call our equivalent parts, and she drew a total blank, eventually claiming she'd just used the word "vagina". But if this word ever did leave her lips in my presence I think I must have repressed the memory!
Meanwhile, my twenty-something auntie, the only adult female I knew who ever discussed her anatomy in my presence, simply bypassed the craziness and pilfered the boys' term for herself, occasionally baffling family members with references to her own "willy". Now, I know what you're all wondering, but I'm afraid the answer is no, I still to this day don't recall why my aunt was talking vaginas with her nine-year-old niece, but I'm certain the context was entirely innocent.
And Since then, I have to admit that no entirely satisfying alternatives have presented themselves. A number of other terms are there for the taking, all with connotations ranging from the overtly feminist to the downright degrading. So it seems that unless you're comfy with using anatomical terms, you're kind of stuck between these extremes. So help me out here ladies: what do you call yours, and what was it when you were a child?
