Comments on: A Rose By Any Other Name…

By: A Word about Words… - The Pursuit of Harpyness

A Word about Words… - The Pursuit of Harpyness — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:01:38 +0000

[...] are utterly convinced that language matters. We’ve gone on record with our feelings on the multitude of names for ladyparts, for example. And we’re always up in someone’s grill about the way language contributes [...]

By: Isa

Isa — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:18:13 +0000

Well, my mum is a nurse-practitioner and works in public health, and my dad’s a retired science teacher. We were always very frank about such things. I don’t think I ever even heard any other terms than ‘penis’ and ‘vagina’ as a child. I wasn’t even aware of any euphemisms until I got a little older and started hearing them from others.

By: » Festive Friday Search Terms The Pursuit of Harpyness

» Festive Friday Search Terms The Pursuit of Harpyness — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:01:37 +0000

[...] masochism” — Nooo, “panty hamster.” Get it [...]

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:27:43 +0000

My mom is a “down there” type of a woman–she’s just bashful about any and all private parts–and my sis and I grew up calling our bits “private parts”. Didn’t start using “vagina” or “vulva” until college–I like the word “vulva”–it’s correct, and it doesn’t sound so jarring to my ears as vagina.

I think “pussy” is great when used affectionately, as in, “I love your pussy”, but I never use it as an insult.

I could be persuaded, a la Bekka, to use “cunt” in a nice manner…but there is a lot of history behind that word, very little of which is positive.

By: Bekka

Bekka — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:35:43 +0000

Referring to my own vulva as a cunt tends to work. Any time you would “bitch” in a positive way, you can use cunt…almost. Cunt Please! simply doesn’t work. It’s simply about owning the word and embracing it so it can no longer offend you.

“My cunt itches.”
“My cunt has an odd odor.”
“My partner loves my cunt.”
“I love my cunt.”

By: kithkin

kithkin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:22:04 +0000

So how do you use cunt, if you don’t mind me asking? What kind of a sentence would this word of absolute power show up in?

By: Bekka

Bekka — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:10:09 +0000

My mother INSISTED my brothers and I never “peed”, we urinated. My brothers had penises, I had a vagina, and we defecated (not pooped) from our anuses, never our “bottoms” or “fannies”. Cute little terms were never tolerated and quickly corrected. My aunt was always horrified when we would use proper terms. I told her once (at kindergarten age) that my vagina itched and I needed to excuse myself. (Hey, she asked why I was leaving). I always found it silly when my friends had odd little names for their anatomy, I even got in trouble at school for correcting them.

About “cunt” though, for me, Cunt is a word of absolute power. It used to hurt and degrade women. By taking that word back, by using it with frequency, by OWNING it, we take the power to hurt us away. When you own it, and someone uses Cunt to find it doesn’t work, they are stumped. They have no clue what else to throw at you and you have won that small victory. Pussy though…I do not like. I really don’t. It bothers me. Comparing my vulva to a cat? And then juxtaposing my vulva with a weak and powerless man? Are we saying that he weak like a woman? Or are we saying that vaginas are weak because they are so easily penetrated? Are we saying both? It…bothers me.

Weird, I suppose. I relish in the word Cunt, Pussy bothers me, and you had better NEVER call me a Whore.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:05:49 +0000

@PhDork: PANTY HAMSTER! I love it!

@peenerbambina: The Beverly sounds like a luxury hotel with a really good spa and restaurant. Which makes it even more appropriate, now that I think about it.

@kithkin: Agreed on all counts. All those “sex-positive”, quasi-feminist “overshockers”–and gosh, I can’t think of ANYONE who fits that description–who use the word cunt are basically doing it in a juvenile “tee-hee, I’m so liberated by being so naughty!!” kind of way. Which is neither funny nor feminist, IMHO.

By: Kivrin

Kivrin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:04:34 +0000

Also, I occasionally use the word “cunt,” but I only use it about people like Anne Coulter. And really, what else are you supposed to call someone like her? [Written with tongue partly in cheek...]

By: Kivrin

Kivrin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:02:02 +0000

My mother did a LOT of things wrong, but at least she managed to teach me about my lady bits without scarring me for life. She wasn’t overly cutesy, but neither was she offputtingly clinical: She just matter-of-factly told me the names of the three different holes that comprise my private parts. So it seems like I’ve always known that “my vagina is the one in the middle,” and therefore it always bugs me when people refer to the entire area as the vagina.