“The Correct Word is Vagina” [April.

30, 2021 version]

Comments are welcome—via tweet, direct message, or e-mail.

Preface
I wrote much of what you see below in response to requests for comments by two British
newspapers (the Sun and the Mirror) and National Public Radio (United States). I also
communicated with the Daily Mail about the many errors in their article (including, less
importantly, my age, location, and name spelling). What I present here is my best current
articulation—given time constraints—of what I have been trying to say all along. It is meant
to be the basis for dialogue. It is not a dogmatic statement of unchangeable belief.

The words being discussed are not ones I would have chosen to get into a controversy over.
They involve subjects I would not normally discuss in polite company. But, alas, fate has
made it so. I often get into arguments about words, but the last time I had such a word
controversy, it was about whether epistēmai and technai were interchangeable in Plato and
Aristotle.1 Many years ago I commented that “I always find myself being accused of moral
crimes when people mistake my small analytic points for larger substantive ones.”

In this case, I made a quick tweet in response to a word used in a Guardian headline. I did
not expect any response, but when one came I tried to explain what I had in mind and give
my reasons. As I say, this is not a topic I would have chosen to get into an argument about.
The subsequent response was a complete surprise to me. My original tweet and follow up
generated thousands of tweets by others and many newspaper and blog articles, most of
which were based on a complete misunderstanding. There are links to the newspaper and
blog articles that covered the controversy at the end of the full essay.

For those who would like a correct understanding of my position, please read my essay on
the subject. An abstract can be seen below. The full essay (with the abstract and this
preface) can be accessed via the links below. Constructive comments are welcomed.

To read the full essay (beyond the abstract), go to:

Jan. 8, 2021 "The Correct Word is Vagina"

ABSTRACT
English has many words that speakers sometimes use in a broad, genus way and
sometimes in a narrow, species way. The context allows listeners to know which
sense is intended. Sometimes one of the meanings derives from a technical word.
The existence of a technical or quasi-technical use does not make the non-technical
use incorrect. The word animal, for example, is commonly used to refer to beasts,
but in biological circles the word includes humans. Another example relates to the
female genitals.

1
That debate arose again in August 2019.

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The female genitals could be said to have a center and periphery. The center is
where penises go in and babies come out. The periphery is the vulva, perineum, and
the mound of venus. Vagina is sometimes used to refer to the center (species sense)
and sometimes to both the center plus the periphery (genus sense).

Generic vagina is not synonymous with vulva. It includes among its referents the
vulva, but also the vagina in the specific sense and the rest of the periphery. The
genus sense of vagina has a unique function. If the generic meaning of vagina is lost,
there is no non-slang word to refer to the genitals generally. The need for such a
word is presumably what gave rise to the generic use in the first place.

The use of vulva where one would normally expect vagina is to one extent or
another jarring to most people, in part because vulva is a less commonly used, more
technical, word. Also, people rarely want to single out just what it refers to (although
in what I was responding to the author may well have, which I have never denied).
So using vulva in those situations is not correct, if by correct we mean consistent
with prevailing expectations. The correct word, in that sense, is vagina. The claim
should be seen as trivially true, assuming its asserted factual basis is accurate. In
addition to being correct in that sense, the word would be all-things-considered apt
if standard usage is something that should be kept. It is only the question of this
aptness that should be controversial—for some people.

There may be a time when you need to refer to exactly what vulva covers, not to a
part of the vulva (inner labia, outer labia, clitoris), and not to anything beyond it
(e.g., vagina in the strict sense). In that case, vulva is available, although it might
need introducing, depending upon the audience. Whether there is any need to
increase the use of the word vulva, I don’t know. But even if there is, it would not
remove the need for the generic use of vagina.

For those who want to maintain that people should stop using the word vagina in
the broad way, it would be helpful to understand why the language keeps producing
words that have both genus and species meanings. I’m assuming there’s a good
reason. One should consider the awkwardness introduced by the refusal to accept
the generic meanings of “man,” “he,” and “his.” If we eliminate the genus meaning of
vagina, women will have one less word to use, and no non-slang alternative to it.
This can be seen in a recent Planned Parenthood video in which they had to resort to
using a meowing cat to indicate what could be indicated by vagina. So the most
plausible change position would be to increase the use of vulva without banning the
generic use of vagina. Another might be to use genitals instead of generic vagina,
although that is even more formal sounding than vagina. My position is that since
there is nothing wrong with existing usage, there is no need to seek alternatives. If it
ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

People should not feel intimidated by specialists, activists, academics, and people
with vested interests (such as the promotion of books) into thinking they should not

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use the word generically. You should not feel pressured into speaking about the fetus
in your uterus when you feel like saying baby in your tummy, and you should not feel
you have to speak of your vulva itching when it feels natural to speak of your vagina
itching. If you are speaking to a doctor, then you may want to remove ambiguity.

Of course, if proponents of change can come up with good reasons for a change, then
people should be open to weighing those reasons. In the essay, I consider some of
the reasons that have been given. I explain why I don’t consider them to be good
reasons. Languages change regardless of our reasoning. But it does not follow that
language should change in some particular way just because as a general factual
matter languages often change.

To see the complete essay “The Correct Word is Vagina” and go beyond the
abstract, click here:

"The Correct Word is Vagina"

Nov. 14: I have added this point to the main article: recent evidence (in the form of a video ‘educating’
elementary school students about ‘gender fluidity’) of the attempt to have a new generic meaning of
‘vulva’ replace the traditional generic meaning of ‘vagina’—suggesting that the concern is not really
over why only the technical meaning should be used.
Feb. 2020: I had a lengthy DM discussion with a nurse in Scotland. She says in her circles (and in sex
education there), ‘vulva’ is common. I plan to add what she says as an appendix.
Dec. 8, 2020: Another genus species word: in England and elsewhere, “tea” is both a drink and a meal
which includes drinking tea (like gohan, which means in Japan both rice and a meal in which you
typically eat rice).
Dec. 23, 2020: Another word with both species and genus meanings: Europe sometimes means the
Continent, and sometimes the Continent plus the British Isles.
Jan. 8, 2021: The word people can mean everybody or just the common people. Populism promotes
the interests of the common people as against the wealthy elite.