What's in a Name?
aka
Me, You and a Vulva Named 'Susie'


***This post is dedicated to all of the Susie's/Suzy's out there.***

What I'm about to talk about usually is not the topic of dinner conversations. Some may consider it to be an after dinner conversation. No, I take that back. Make that a way-way after dinner conversation like when you are working on your third glass of wine conversation. However, it's a great topic for a playgroup and usually there are no alcoholic beverages involved. ;)

It's a personal subject/thing/both. It's private. - That is, after all, why it is sometimes referred to as your 'private area'. Everyone has a name for theirs that their parents have taught them at some time or another.

While some parents may have taught their children the actual name of 'penis' and/or 'vulva' -- which is sometimes confused with 'vagina'. There are children whose parents decided to have their children call their 'stuff' by other names like 'pee-pee' or 'dingy' or maybe even 'wiener', etc... I have no gripes with those names at all. I do, due to personal experience, have some issues with calling a penis/vulva by people names.

Here is my story...

Growing up my mother taught me to call my vulva 'susie' . She would say, 'Why are you holding your susie -- Do you have to go pee-pee?' Or something of that sort. For many years I had no problems with what I called my 'susie'. That is until I was about seven years old and a new girl moved into my neighborhood. Her name? -- Suzannah McFeeny* otherwise known by everyone as "Suzy".

When Suzy first told me her name I was a bit taken back. She was the first Suzy-person I have ever met. I couldn't help but to wonder why her parents named her after something that you use to go to the bathroom. Which then led me to wonder...Do I want to play with someone that is named after something I use to go to the bathroom? Because of her name it took me a while (okay, like a day) to warm up to her. It turned out that Suzy McFeeny was a really sweet girl. She was nice and she liked to play a lot of things that I did. It took some time, but eventually, I stopped associating Suzy 'the girl' with susie 'the vulva'. Sadly, Suzy moved away a couple of years later. I sometimes wonder how Suzy is doing. Wouldn't it be funny if she was a gynecologist and married to a guy named Dick? ;)

Is there a lesson in this story? - Not really-- but heed my warning. You can teach your children to name their privates whatever you want, but please know that there may be some consequence to your name selection. I know it is silly, but even to this very day the first thing I think of when I hear the name Susie/Suzy is....ya know.

So...Has anyone heard that song that goes "Susie has a cow on her head"? *shiver*

*Last name has been changed to protect the innocent. Alright, in actuality, I can't remember her last name...maybe because I was always fascinated (?) with her first name.