What % of women don't know basics of female anatomy? - page 4

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I had a wonderful daughter of an elderly patient assist with doing a minicath. I missed the first try, making some comment about getting the correct hole, and the confusion at times. The 60 something... Read More

  1. by OCNRN63
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from Kitiger
    As a young child, I knew that I would never be able to have babies. You see, I knew that there were supposed to be three holes, the urethra, the vagina, and the anus. (My mom was a nurse; so we used medical terms like urinate and defecate. I remember my aunt asking me if I had to "go tinkles". I had no idea what she meant!)

    Anyway, when I explored myself, I could only find two holes. Since I knew that I could urinate and defecate, I figured that I wouldn't be able to have babies.

    Mom explained it all to me the night before THE MOVIE in 5th grade.

    LOL @ "THE MOVIE."
  2. by Spidey's mom
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from OCNRN63
    LOL @ "THE MOVIE."
    Oh yeah! I do remember that.
  3. by WKShadowRN
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from Jen-Elizabeth
    Threads like this make me even more glad I teach sex education in grades 7, 8, and 10 at my school (I am a school nurse, as my icon shows). I was reviewing anatomy with my 10th grade class this week and while they were fuzzy on remembering the full details of a few things from 8th grade, one thing they did remember was that women do not urinate using their vagina .

    (Though I did have a pair of seventh graders once ask a teacher how she closed her vagina when she peed. While I scratched my head at that - we had just started health class the day before and hadn't gotten to the anatomy yet - I was proud that students used the word vagina vs any slang I'd heard prior. I have a rule in my class that we use the proper medical terms.)
    .
    Reminds me of the episode of King of the Hill when Peggy substitute taught for sex ed. She's embarrassed at the terminology and she practices in her bathroom mirror saying the words, feeling empowered by each repetition. Cut to Hank cringing as she bellows, "Penis. Penis! PENIS! Vagina. Vagina! VAGINA!"
  4. by OCNRN63
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from Spidey's mom
    Oh yeah! I do remember that.
    So do I. The boys seemed to have mysteriously disappeared from class, and then we were shown this extremely out-of-date movie (though not as bad as the Walt Disney story of menstruation), followed by "goodie bags" for we girls.
  5. by Libby1987
    Dec 21, '16
    Re anatomy, I wonder how many were influenced by having a less visible urethral opening? We know we can have a hard time with a flash light and extra set of hands.

    And I wonder why every anatomical drawing shows the urethral opening very external and anterior to the vaginal opening?

    Though that doesn't explain why some women don't know there is a separate opening even if they can't visualize their own.

    FWIW, I grew up with a mom who prepare me for anything other than menstral cycles (and literally gave me a long pad with a belt even though self stick ones were available) but I was still curious enough to look for myself. I don't understand how someone wouldn't look in private.
  6. by klone
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from Libby1987
    And I wonder why every anatomical drawing shows the urethral opening very external and anterior to the vaginal opening?
    ?

    How else would they show it?
  7. by Libby1987
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from klone
    ?

    How else would they show it?
    Representation of normal variety? To show how not everyone is made like a textbook?

    Same goes for labia. Talk about something I didn't know about until labioplasties became more common and criticized in the media. Why don't posters better represent the normal range of anatomy?
  8. by klone
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from Libby1987
    Representation of normal variety? To show how not everyone is made like a textbook?

    Same goes for labia. Talk about something I didn't know about until labioplasties became more common and criticized in the media. Why don't posters better represent the normal range of anatomy?
    I guess because most textbooks and diagrams don't have the real estate to depict the entire spectrum of "normal" so they have to select a single representative.

    I remember looking at a reproductive anatomy textbook (TEXTBOOK!!) and it showed "normal male genitalia" and the penis was circumcised.
  9. by Libby1987
    Dec 21, '16
    Quote from klone
    I guess because most textbooks and diagrams don't have the real estate to depict the entire spectrum of "normal" so they have to select a single representative.

    I remember looking at a reproductive anatomy textbook (TEXTBOOK!!) and it showed "normal male genitalia" and the penis was circumcised.
    I think it is reasonable for a non clincical non curious women to not realize there is a separate urethral opening if it drains into the vagina instead of externally. A mirror isn't going to help and a textbook is going to make them feel abnormal until someone tells them otherwise.

    I remember the circumsized pics, that's crazy when you think about it.
  10. by Spidey's mom
    Dec 22, '16
    Quote from Libby1987
    FWIW, I grew up with a mom who prepare me for anything other than menstral cycles (and literally gave me a long pad with a belt even though self stick ones were available) but I was still curious enough to look for myself. I don't understand how someone wouldn't look in private.
    My mom did a very perfunctory explanation to me. And she was a free spirit kind of gal. Married a few times, many boyfriends, kids with different dads. Hot pants and go-go boots and a long red wig when I was about 15.

    One of the reason THIS conservative mom decided to be truthful, honest, and blunt with my own kids.

    BTW - I never looked.

    Last edit by Spidey's mom on Dec 22, '16
  11. by James W.
    Dec 22, '16
    Ye gods! & how is this really still happening, well into the 21st Century?

    When I was a kid in sex-ed class in a progressive ( post-Spock/Kinsey et-al)
    `70s coed high school, we boys were incredulous at the report that a significant
    number of sexually mature women could not even orgasm, inc' by masturbation...

    We had the 'hip' teacher on about the old research saw..
    "95% of people admit they masturbate to orgasm, & 5% lie about not doing it"...
  12. by Xlorgguss
    Dec 22, '16
    Men aren't any better. Had a patient tell me that he couldn't per earlier because he must have been sitting in his nuts. Don't even get me me started on where men think their "prostrate" is.
  13. by Cat365
    Dec 22, '16
    I hate to tell you this, but I had sex Ed in high school and human anatomy. The exact placement of the "two holes" was somehow glossed over. I was an adult with a mirror and Google before I figured it out. I realized the internal anatomy but not the visible if that makes sense.

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