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Beyond Sugar And Spice: Labeling Female Genitalia, Ethel E. Hellman

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Previous studies have indicated that, in our culture, female genitalia are unlabeled, mis-labeled, and/or negatively labeled, while male genitalia are not.

Twenty-five mothers of young children were interviewed to determine what labels they were teaching their children for sexual body parts. The women later met in small groups to discuss the i r reactions to a soft-sculpture of female genitalia.

The study found that twice as many male children were taught common designations for their own genitalia than were female children. In addition, a greater proportion of female children were given a label for male genitalia, than male children were …