Doctor proposes more gender-neutral terminology for body parts

Article content

Outies, front holes and d*cklets, oh, my.

Article content

A prominent doctor in California is calling for the renaming of body parts, so they are more gender-neutral.

Article content

Dr. Ilana Sherer, a pediatrician in Dublin, Calif., was giving a presentation at a conference for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) over the weekend, when she made the proposal, the Daily Mail reported.

During a workshop titled “Discussing Gender and Sexuality in the Primary Care Office,” she suggested the vagina should be referred to as an “innie,” “front hole” or “T-penis.”

She also recommended that the clitoris be referred to as a “d*ck” or “d*cklet” and breasts as “chest” or “chesticles.”

For the male anatomy, Sherer proposed that the penis be called an “outie,” “junk,” “strapless” or “bits.”

Article content

Article content

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

Sherer is board-certified by the AAP, an organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children, and serves on their executive committee for LGBTQ health and wellness.

However, some doctors warned that politicizing medical language could confuse public health messaging.

“Health providers don’t need to be ‘cool,’” Dr. Leonora Regenstreif, a family physician in Hamilton, told the Mail.

“We can just politely and respectfully use clinical, anatomical language.”

She continued: “Kids might giggle or snicker but they will likely be even more put off if we try to ‘match’ their word choices, which may be based on pornographic or inappropriate online resources.”

Regenstreif said that depending on the age of a patient, there should be some exceptions when referring to young people being sexually active.

Article content

However, she added, “Any more detail than this – like suggesting novel words like ‘front hole’ or ‘d*cklet’ – are unnecessary and prurient.”

It should be noted that Sherer’s recommendations have not been implemented by the AAP, nor did she make them on the organization’s behalf.

The AAP previously advised doctors treating patients identifying as transgender to ask them what words they would like used when referring to various body parts, the Mail reported.

The AAP also instructed parents to use “correct names for body parts” when talking to young children and discussing body development and sexuality.

For more health news and content around diseases, conditions, wellness, healthy living, drugs, treatments and more, head to Healthing.ca – a member of the Postmedia Network.

Article content