Freaking out about doll penises, and raising kids with correct anatomical terms.

Fun Fact: Baby boys have penises, and they often discover them while they are very young. My own son found his approximately six and a half seconds after he was born, leading me to believe that he knew it was there prior to his birth (and really, would that surprise anyone).

As a straight woman who has obviously engaged in intercourse, penises are awesome. But while they're great for sex, they also serve an equally practical purpose: Urination.

So when a doll that has SUPER PEEING ACTION (cue Billy Mays, gods rest his soul) appears on the market, you would imagine that the doll would, you know, need something to actually pee out of. After all, by removing anatomical associations, you would just be peeing out a hole in your hips. And that's no fun for anyone. Nor is it super practical.

Therefore, it would make sense that a doll with said SUPER PEEING ACTION actually had something to pee out of, so when You & Me released their Change My Diaper Doll, they came available as a baby boy -- full package and everything -- and an equally-anatomically-correct baby girl.

But with great baby dolls come great responsibility. Upon discovering that the baby boy had (*gasp!*), a penis, one mom had something to say about it:

If I may argue her point: Little girls (and little boys) really do need to know the anatomy.

Babies are inherently neither dirty nor sexual. Not when they breastfeed, not when they're cuddled, and certainly not while they're being changed or bathed. Yes, our culture today associates breasts and vulvas and penises with sex, as that's part of what they do, but strictly as body parts? That's really all they are, body parts. And there's nothing to be ashamed of, and I promise your child won't be a pervert as a result of knowing the proper words for those parts.

An anatomically-correct baby doll could (and should!) actually be used as a point of discussion for learning about our body parts and what makes them different. When we teach our children the names of each of our body parts, we call them by name: Nose, ears, cheeks, legs, fingers. Having a baby doll with an actual penis or vulva would present the opportunity to learn what these parts are and how they are different between boys and girls.

"This baby has a penis, that makes him a boy! You have a vulva, that makes you a girl!"

Might I add, so long as we're learning about our anatomy: I understand that many parents are uncomfortable with the proper names for their child's body parts, and therefore tend to use pet names to refer to them (i.e., "pee pee", "vajayjay", "down there"). They have particular names, and those names should be used. After all, to a toddler, their penis or vulva is just another body part. It's our job as parents to teach them the proper terms for their body parts, private or not, and to not be embarrassed about them, especially if we want to avoid body shame.

This is vital for our children's safety, too -- if someone were to touch them inappropriately, it's important that they know the proper words for their genitalia. It's also worth mentioning that child predators tend to use pet names for genitalia as a way to make them "cutesy" or to turn their private parts into a game, so arming your child with the knowledge of his or her own body will protect them even further.

So this kerfuffle about a boy baby doll having (another *gasp!*) a penis is just another silly thing our culture gets up in arms about, when it's really not that big a deal. It's just a penis, it's just a doll. And it can be used not only for play, but as a learning opportunity, too.

I won't lie, all this outrage makes me want to buy a baby boy doll of our very own. As far as I can tell, it even comes with cloth diapers. ;) I just don't need another crying baby in the household... though this one, at least, can have its batteries removed.