(no subject)

[serene]

I swear, if one more woman on vaginapagina calls her vulva/vagina "down there", I'm gonna scream.

Okay, maybe I need to take a break from jobhunting for a while.

La la la la la life is good, it really is. La la la la.

Comments

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

"possible". First you wash as far down as possible. And then you wash as far up as possible. And then you wash possible. (Approximately quoted from The Vagina Monologues.)

possible

[7patches.livejournal.com]

My mother used that term, and explanation. She was a nurse, and she didn't like to bathe male patients. She told them she would wash down [...] and up [...] then she would give them the washcloth and they could wans possible.

[kshandra]

I first saw that explanation in one of Maya Angelou's books (I'm pretty sure it was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, but it might have been one of the next two.)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I've been known to ask, on that community, "What do you mean by 'down there'?" or "By 'down there,' are you referring to your vulva? vagina? knees?"

Also, there are worse alternatives (http://catamorphism.livejournal.com/986550.html?thread=5487286#t5487286).

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Ugh. The same thing happens on the pregnancy communities which just boggles me. If you can't say it, how are you going to push a baby through it?

[ailbhe]

What drove me nuts was MIDWIVES and DOCTORS and NURSES who wouldn't say "vagina" or "vulva" or "urethra" or "perineum". That makes life really hard, as a patient, because how the hell do I know what you're asking me if you use terms so generic that all I can tell is you're talking about bits of me usually not on public view?

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I once had a doctor point to a cold sore on my upper lip and say, "You know, herpes up here isn't the same as herpes [dramatic whisper, with pointing in the general direction] DOWN THERE."

[loracs.livejournal.com]

I'd just assume they mean Australia.

[kneidlach.livejournal.com]

hahaha!

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

Well if it was "over there" it'd be someone else's vagina.

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

Rather than Europe during WW1 ?

[calebbullen.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. George M. Cohan was all about vagina.

[hq447.livejournal.com]

goody box? hash brown?? blueberry muffin?

[artemii.livejournal.com]

i once read a metaish article (maybe it was in bitch?) about how one of the sex and the city actresses had been interviewed and was talking about how liberating/trailblazing/etc. the show was for women and then referred to her vagina as "down there" complete with a girlish giggle.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

There's a funny story about a three-year old little girl going in for her regular physical checkup. At one point the doctor said to her, "Now I need you to take off your underwear so I can examine your pee-pee" to which the kid laughed and said "Mommy, why is the doctor calling my vagina a pee-pee?" Then she said "You silly doctor" before allowing him to proceed with the examination.

[ailbhe]

Three-year-olds get vulva exams now?!

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

I don't see why they shouldn't. Girls of any age can get yeast infections, I know someone with a new baby girl less than a year old who was recently diagnosed with one.

[ailbhe]

I can see why if the child is presenting with symptoms, but as part of a standard checkup?

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Why not? It's a part of the body that can be healthy or un-, why wouldn't the doc take a look?

[ailbhe]

I don't see why they *should* though. I mean, they don't do a rectal exam at a normal checkup either. None of them men I know had their foreskins examined by a doctor unless there was a specific reason to do so (ok, none of the men I know with whom I've had this conversation, which is fewer than six). All the little girls I know who had UTIs or thrush were diagnosed as a result of having symptoms which were brought to a doctor; there's not much that can go wrong asymptomatically with a baby's genitals, really.

I suppose it bothers me because teaching children that adults aren't allowed to get inside their knickers is a basic safety measure that has to happen very young. Changing the rules seems unnecessarily confusing, when I can see no reason at all.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

With my kids, they knew that the doctor is allowed to look, and parents are allowed to look, but it was always done respectfully, so I don't think they ended up confused by it at all.

Vaginas are just part of the body. Doctors look the body over during a check-up.

[ailbhe]

I wonder is this the same cultural difference that had me weirded out when a male doctor told me to remove my bra and didn't offer me a chaperone and I was weirded out, and the Americans on my friendslist all went "Huh?"

[ailbhe]

Um, and yes, I was weirded out twice over, in case that wasn't clear :)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I would be angry if that happened. A female chaperone is a given in that situation, as far as I can tell. And I would be angry if a doctor wanted to examine my child's genitals without me in the room, of course.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is (a cultural difference), or if it is, I share it. That was weird, to my ears.

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

I've always been offered a chaperone by UK male doctors, although I've never bothered getting one.
On the other hand, I find Americans' tales of pap smears bizarre with the being expected to remove all your clothes and wear a gown and then wait for the doc and then be trapped in stirrups (whatever those are).

[nmc.livejournal.com]

None of them men I know had their foreskins examined by a doctor unless there was a specific reason to do so (ok, none of the men I know with whom I've had this conversation, which is fewer than six).

Perhaps, but it is important for doctors to make sure that a boy's testicles dropped appropriately, although this can basically be a one-time check.

Which obviously requires an examination of, you know, the less pointy bits of down there.

[ailbhe]

That seems to me like a specific reason, though.

[nmc.livejournal.com]

Well, true in the "specific thing to look for" sense, but not in the "specific symptom would lead me to believe I should look" sense.

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

the less pointy bits of down there

I just wanted to see that again.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

"down there"

They're mistaking their genitalia for their toes?

[kneidlach.livejournal.com]

i have to be honest and say that i do call my parts "down there" and have absolutely no desire to use language any more specific than that.

how's the jobhunting going? breaks are good, very good.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

It strikes me as especially weird to call it that on a community *called* VaginaPagina, but thanks for the datapoint.

And the jobhunting is on a rest-of-the-day break -- I'll send out some resumes tonight, but I can't bear to look at it right now. Bleah.

[kneidlach.livejournal.com]

okay, yeah, it is wierd considering the name of the community.

i'm so overwhelmed by all the jobs in my inbox. i know i should apply for more jobs, but i've had so many interviews in the past few weeks that i'm wiped. i should hear back from some permanent jobs next week, or maybe even this week. in the meantime, i am enjoying being paid for doing basically nothing.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

They're not kidding when they say jobhunting is a job in itself, are they? *sigh*

Yeah, there are days at this job when I'm essentially being paid to post to livejournal. I have to say those days are good for my emotional wellbeing.

Hope you get something really good.

Hey, they need warehouse/educator people at Babeland. Is this something you think I might like?

[kneidlach.livejournal.com]

I think that place is (or can be) drama with a capital D. But they have great benefits, even for part-time folks. So go for it. They don't pay very well but it's nice to get a 40% employee discount. If you don't mind spending a lot of time on your feet on concrete.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Part of the issue with my last two shit jobs was how hard they were on my feet and the rest of my body. Maybe I'll pass.

I hate euphemisms

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

I really don't like mealy-mouthed language of any kind. I've asked all my friends to promise me to say that I'm DEAD when I expire. I don't want any of them to say that I've "passed on" or "away" or any other fluffiness. Grrrrrrr..

[sapphicprincess.livejournal.com]

One of my pet peeves is when pregnant women refer to their uterus as their stomach. True-life example: "I'm having a problem with the child in my stomach." Yes, you certainly do have a problem if you eat babies.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

For the record: Having a partner decide to use the term, "Hoo-haw," can also really spoil the mood.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

*snrch*