Not long after I started photographing vaginas for vagina vérité, it was pointed out that I've got the wrong name for the project. That it is not the vagina I am shooting, but the vulva.

Granted, by dictionary definition that is true, but for me, vagina is what I call it. Vulva hasn't made into my day-to-day vocabulary when I think of down there. Often, I am asked: what exactly is the vulva? – so it looks like many other women also go by vagina.

Language is not a static thing. It evolves along with us. Meanings that, well, lose their meaning, are demoted to 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-level definition, logged in our dictionaries, but rarely used. Whatever the definition, words evoke different feelings, images, meanings for each of us. We use different ones in different situations, moods, when alone to ourselves, or out loud. We're here to share our personal experiences, so let's hear what works for you...






my favorite word for vagina is...


kitty, pussy, coochie, the Goddess, Mother Earth

I like 'punanny' though it sounds silly. 'Panocha' is sexy, too. and I love the sanskrit word 'yoni' -- sounds so soft and magical and romantic. Why don't I use 'yoni' more often???

'Cunt' still hits me like a slap in the face. And I challenge men all the time when they call each other 'pussies.' Excuse me -- but if you CAME from a pussy and you're always looking to FIND some pussy, why do you hurl that word around like an insult, like pussy is a bad thing?



when talking with my friends, I call a vagina a...

kitty [meow....]
my stuff/my thang
clit [that's where the REAL pleasure is!]


when having sex, I call a vagina a...

pussy. my boyfriend calls me 'squirty' because I have MASSIVE orgasms with ejaculation!


when I was little, my mother called a vagina a...

mostly 'down there' and sometime 'vagina'

she wouldn't talk to me about sex unless I initiated the conversation. she was taught that kissing made you pregnant, so she was too embarrassed to talk openly. now that I am almost 30 and worked in adult entertainment, I talk VERY openly with her, and she appreciates it. As conservative as she is [church lady], and even when it makes her uncomfortable, she is GLAD that things are different and us women are claiming our bodies and our sexualities.


when I (or if I were to) talk to my daughter about her vagina, I (would) call it a...

'vagina' and 'special place.' I want her to know it is both.


this conversation makes me think...

it is so great to have this global conversation and document our social-sexual evolution as a species. It also makes me think about asking my boyfriend what his favorite words are for both the female AND male repro organs... Also makes me think about how there are so many euphemisms for the vagina/vulva, but the major source of pleasure, the clitoris, has almost none at all ['clit' is just an abbreviaton].

Imagine calling the penis a 'pen' or the testicles the 'tests' and the vagina a 'vag'!

is the pussy van from the burning man festival ?

i make Sacred Yoni soaps but am feared to post a pic of um cuz ya know .. we're not supposed to post "sex" type pics

Mach said:

yes that's the burning man festival! b and yes i spent 1/2 hour looking for the proper pussy pic

zannaleee said:

did you GO to the buring man festival ??

my husband and i wanna go sometime soon !

i dont think my Yoni soaps are like nasty sex images

after all the womans Yoni is SACRED and honored by MANY traditions

kinda sad that images get grouped into a basic "porn" thought pattern ...

you didn't say beaver.

Mach said:

you could post a link.

it's not a matter of language evolving it's just a biological fact

the vulva is the biological term for the visible sexual organ of a woman, although it isn't used very often in every day vocab....

i think all the other names you used will bring up a picture of a vulva, using the word vagina is like using the word tongue when you actually mean someones lips

sorry biology lesson over


anyway i don't think it matters all that much unless your a doctor or someother medical person who needs to know a vulva from a vagina

Did you people know that in Indonesian pookie means pussy !

Mach said:

I agree...there is nothing "dirty" about the human body.

Pussy has 4 pleasure areas:- the clit, u spot, g spot and a spot!

U can find the most important one, the g spot just 2-3 inches in roughly and is located around the front wall I think! Feamle must be sexually aroused first though I think?

Apparantly some sado's get "g spot enhancement" surgery which involves injesting collagen into the g spot to enlarge it!

thesexofit said:

I think some (myself included) might disagree with the g spot being "most important".

Well i personally have more fun touching the g spot then I do the clit....my girlfriend would proberly agree with u though!

CarrieMpls said:

I think it's up to the woman to decide what's more important there

fantasyislander said:

DONE ! here is the thread

http://www.prince.org/msg/100/121535

thesexofit said:

Ok what the hell is the u spot?

I hate Vulva drivers, they drive too slow!

bkw said:

Yeah, and I find them hard to get into.

doctormcmeekle said:

and they're very close to being arseholes.

bkw said:

And they lack headroom in the back seats!

I thinkz i is going 2 die laughin herez

Sweeny79 said:

I think it is the urethra but I have no idea how you stimulate that--I just read about it once!

Cunt I the word cunt and like most people I am not afraid to say it or repulsed by it. CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

Would you die for your cunt tree?

PEJ said:

Cunt

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

I am what I eat!

PEJ said:

pussy?

Personally this subject just doesn't do it for me....



I would make one sorry Lesbian.....

I would be all wait , wait, wait...

You want me to stick my face in that?

Are you fuckin serious?



Hasta pasta..

zannaleee said:

Now why can't i get jobs like that?

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[Edited 11/7/04 18:40pm]

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

althom said:

Juat point the camera around the other way. Job done!