What do you call "private" areas?

Question

My husband and I are in debate. One of us thinks you should call it what it is and the other thinks you should just call it private parts (mainly for fear our son will yell PENIS in public 😄). What are your opinions?

Answer

(I realize my wording is very strong but this really is just my opinion and I understand that that comes from valuing different things more than others and not from an absolute truth.)
I refuse to teach my children to be embarrassed of their own body, including the names of body parts. I'm planning the opposite, trying really hard to teach them to own their body and love it, and I don't see that happening if we shyly tiptoe around "private parts" and their clearly made up, cutesy names. Continuously associating shyness and embarrassment with their private parts just leads to feelings of shame and that's not the body positivity in aiming for.
Whenever they will be ready to explore their sexuality, I want them to be able to think about their body in proper terms, and communicate with their partners clearly and openly. I want them to also be able to tell me or their doctors if there is something wrong without having to force each and every word out.
Also, I think they need to be able to say no (we teach them autonomy over their own body: my daughter frequently tells us we are not allowed kiss her, usually just to exercise her right and immediately decide that she wants to kiss us instead) and in the very same way, they need to be able to formulate the full thought of what they are saying no to. I don't think that giving obviously shy names to body parts helps with that, I think that discourages any thinking and talking.
It's also damn difficult to teach proper hygiene without being able to talk about just what they're supposed to clean.
Most adults also do a little embarrassed hemming and humming around the cutesy body part names too and are obviously shy or even ashamed that they are saying them out loud. Children pick up on that. If you're already setting the kids up with "listen carefully because I'm about to use a special word here" you could just go ahead and use the proper term! Isn't it the same if they yell out in the middle of the supermarket that "I can see your wee wee!" if they use the word penis when they see a man with his fly down?
Plus, there are way worse words they will absolutely yell out in public. If anybody will have an opinion worse than "haha yeah, that's what a small child is like" they can stuff it. Children are incredibly talented at picking up any word and expression they really shouldn't and then using these in the most embarrassing situations. That's how children work, all children. If someone judges you for that, frankly they are being stupid.
I know kindergarten teachers and they have honestly the weirdest stories about the stuff children decide to talk about - anonymously, of course. None of the worst of these included using a bad word ever, but taking what's probably a normal happenstance from a skewed viewpoint and then adding a slight twist in retelling.
So I don't think that being shy or embarrassed about words is worth it.

Answer

We use anatomically correct terms. Although it might be embarrassing for a second if they say penis in the store, it's important to me that my child knows the terms. That way I can educate them on no one can touch it but them. They're not cute names that can make it seem less of an offense. People pay attention when kids say penis or vagina and that's a good thing. I also teach my child to say "stop" "don't touch" with him holding his hand out in front of him. This probably wouldn't stop an adult. But the adult would know my child knows what they are doing is wrong and then hopefully tell me what happened. We started this as soon as he found his penis. "That's your penis and no one but you can touch it". In my opinion, just calling them private parts, makes it seem shameful or a secret, which I don't want.
Even if it's a friend asking for a hug and he doesn't want to, we encourage him to speak up and say "no" or "stop" if they don't listen to his request. We as parents respect his response when we want hugs or kisses as well. If he says no, we don't push it or make him.

Answer

We use the anatomical terms too - vulva, penis, vagina, scrotum, etc, although we do use "butt" because like what's even the anatomical term for butt? It's a safety thing - if your child thinks their vulva or penis is their "wee wee" (this is what my mom used when I was a kid), and they try to tell an adult about something that's going on with them who doesn't know what the word refers to, it puts everyone in a difficult position. Everyone knows what "penis" "vulva" means. 
Of course you do get some awkward situations like my 3 year old daughter saying to my husband "I like your penis daddy" when he's using the bathroom, or comparing my husbands penis to my son's ("daddy's penis is big, baby bro's penis is small") but what else do you expect in a naked house with anatomically correct terms? 😂🤷🏻‍♀️ plus, we all like to get complimented (I've also gotten "I like your vulva mommy") and how often do you get a chance for someone to compliment your vulva? 😂😂😂

Answer

We call it her Pee Pee short for pussy ha ha.. but after reading the comments I’m wondering if I should be teaching her the correct  word?

Answer

I switch between front butt and crotch. She knows that both names are for the same part. They aren't cutesy enough that if she was trying to express something wrong or something happening in that area that an adult wouldn't know what she was talking about.

Answer

We’ve always stuck with the actual name of the body part ... however, even though we use the word ‘penis’ we also call it ‘pee pee’ haha 
I think it’s good to teach them the actual terms and make sure that it’s not a word they should be ashamed to use.

Answer

Yeah I say the anatomically correct but it actually makes my husband super upset that I do that. He thinks I should refer to the vagina/penis as their ‘potty’ and then their butt as their butt. He got extremely mad once when I was telling our 3 year old that her brother has a penis. And I said, well am I wrong??

Answer

My husband called it her butt when he was giving her bath. So now she just calls it her butt.

Answer

For the safety of my children, we teach them the correct anatomical terms, and we aren’t embarrassed by that. My 3yo knows bottom, butt, anus, vulva, nipples, breast, boobs, penis... working in vagina and labia (distinguishing the two) and urethra. 
People need to get over their personal hang ups about anatomical terms. It is vitally important that kids know and use them.

What do you call "private" areas?

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