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The Organ‐That‐Must‐Not‐Be‐Named: Female Genitals and Generalized References
Author(s) -
Rodriguez Sarah B.,
Schonfeld Toby L.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1002/hast.35
Subject(s) - vagina , legitimacy , power (physics) , psychology , medicine , anatomy , political science , law , quantum mechanics , politics , physics
The reference to the vagina as “it” or “down there” is symptomatic of two larger cultural problems: not naming the vagina when speaking about the vagina, and conflating the vagina with the external female genitalia. The euphemisms and obfuscating language have implications both for lay understandings of female bodies and for the practice of health care. Granting and using a name gives both the named and the namer power and legitimacy .