Is the word penis really that inappropriate?

sammiekc · October 2009

My boyfriend and I have an ongoing argument about whether the word penis is appropriate or not. I think saying the word penis is fine and that it would be okay if my son called his penis a penis since it's a penis. My boyfriend thinks that's embarrassing and we should call it private area or private part. I think that not being able to say the word penis is immature.

What are your thoughts on the word penis? Is it embarrassing and inappropriate?

Obviously, if my son is embarrassed to say the word penis and would rather say private area, I won't make him say the word penis.

(my son is only a month old, so I can't discuss it with him yet)

femmegem · October 2009

We say penis and that's what DS calls it. That's what it's called, after all.

Yodajo · October 2009

femmegem:
We say penis and that's what DS calls it. That's what it's called, after all.

ditto

MelandJeff · October 2009

Um, it IS a penis. How can that be inappropriate?

belle204 · October 2009

That's the anatomically correct name so there's nothing wrong w/teaching a child to say it. Yes, I think it can reflect a maturity issue or perhaps it's his upbringing. Either way you've got time to mull it over. Just do what you feel comfortable with.

Sahara6971 · October 2009

femmegem:
We say penis and that's what DS calls it. That's what it's called, after all.

This.

MIL tells him to call it his critter. Can you say creepy??? She also calls passing gas burping your bottom. Does that make you cringe as much as it does me?

triplea1819 · October 2009

we tell DS when you go pee pee on the potty you need to push your penis down.

There is nothing wrong with the word.

Temp374386125003286 · October 2009

No, it isn't inappropriate.

femmegem · October 2009

Sahara6971:

femmegem:
We say penis and that's what DS calls it. That's what it's called, after all.

This.

MIL tells him to call it his critter. Can you say creepy??? She also calls passing gas burping your bottom. Does that make you cringe as much as it does me?

OMG. I am DYING over "burping your bottom." That is the most hilarious thing I've heard in a long time.

#6 · October 2009

My head is my head, my arm is my arm and my vagina is my vagina. Therefore my son has a penis, not a wee wee, pee pee, thingy, or a private.

My grandmother can not stand (gets embarrassed) when we use the correct words. To me "private" makes it more of a big deal than just teaching children to call it what it is and not worry about it. I dont know why but "private" always sounds dirty to me. I would much rather say vagina/penis.

Plus if you teach your child to never say penis/vagina they start thinking its a "bad". Then they hear other kids saying penis/vagina and they either are shocked to hear a bad word or think its funny and say it a million times.

I had a friend who always called hers a "teacup" Anytime she heard vagina she got red in the face. She was always told to never say vagina. This was in high school too.

Lets all say it together. Penis penis penis, vagina vagina vagina.

Mominator · October 2009

We say penis, since that is what it is. We don't have cutesy words for his arms or for his toes, why would we for his penis?

ccm1203 · October 2009

No it is not inappropriate, in fact it is very appropriate.

Critter??? Really??

goodheartedmommy · October 2009

We say penis. I think it's weird when people think penis (or vagina) is inappropriate.

BubblyToes · October 2009

femmegem:
Sahara6971:

femmegem:
We say penis and that's what DS calls it. That's what it's called, after all.

This.

MIL tells him to call it his critter. Can you say creepy??? She also calls passing gas burping your bottom. Does that make you cringe as much as it does me?

OMG. I am DYING over "burping your bottom." That is the most hilarious thing I've heard in a long time.

That is awesome.

And yes, it's a penis. Nothing inappropriate about that.

lsufan · October 2009

You're right. He's wrong, and slightly immature.

r9stedt · October 2009

goodheartedmommy:
We say penis. I think it's weird when people think penis (or vagina) is inappropriate.

this. I used to be a sex ed teacher, so we obviously use correct terminology around here.

TUGOsQueen · October 2009

Definitely Penis.

having had worked in a preschool and also teach parenting classes.... it is aggravating for parents to make up a nickname. If something was wrong with a kid's private part or god forbid touched inappropriately and they started talking about it with their "family's secret code word" then it would be hard to evaluate the situation. We had a student once that called her girl anatomy "Judy" and she had a bad rash once and kept talking about how her "Judy" hurt. We had a teacher in the class named "judy" so we thought she was talking about her.

hero · October 2009

We are using penis.

For one of the games at my babyshower the guests were asked to make a list of all the "baby" language they knew. When it was her turn, one of my parent's friends stood up and told all 20 of us that her grandmother always reminded her to wash her vagina, or her mouse as she was told to call it, when she bathed. Funniest thing ever.

lizard76 · October 2009

My son has called his a penis from the beginning. Every now and again, he refers to it as his "junk" thanks to his daddy joking around with him. It's a penis, call it a penis.

summerbrideDC · October 2009

It's a penis. ?We call it penis and so does DS.

Dimplz · October 2009

??? What? We call it penis here too. Feeling uncomfortable calling it that is a little immature, IMO.

sammiekc · October 2009

Thank God, there are other people who agree with me and don't mind the word penis. Everyone has made some really good points about the word penis and why we should say the word penis instead of making up a word for it. I will have to show John this post.

stillhoping · October 2009

We have always called it a penis. My kids are now five and they all the sudden call it private parts..I think this is a result of safety camp and good touch bad touch class they took.

kelly&paul · October 2009

Yodajo:
femmegem:
We say penis and that's what DS calls it. That's what it's called, after all.

ditto

ditto again. how is calling a body part by it's appropriate name inappropriate?

sammiekc · October 2009

I have no idea. I guess John was thinking that if we told Christian that his penis is a penis that he would run around screaming penis at people or something. He's just weird.

#6 · October 2009

That is why you start calling it a penis from day 1. You dont make a cutesy name for his arms or legs so why his penis? Its not funny if you have called it a penis from the start. Kids that call it a pee pee, wee wee, etc find it funny to say penis later on mostly because they probably had been told to not say penis. Then they find its ok and say it over and over and over.

We have always called it a penis and my 4yr old never laughs, or repeats it over and over. My grandmother on the other hand was raised to never say it and calls it a Tallywacker. Yup. NO CLUE. But Landon does laugh at that when she says it and says, no its a penis grandma.

gracendantho26 · October 2009

I personally have no problem saying it and neither does my son or husband. With that said though my daughter knows the word vagina and what it means she always refers to that area as her "private area." Either way is fine with me...I really don't care.

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