Tonight I watched "Brat Camp" on ABC TV. It is about a bunch of wayward children from Britain being sent to "Turn About Ranch" in Utah in USA. "Turn About" ranch is a working cattle ranch. It is also a rehabilitation centre for teens who have had problems socialising, are on drugs or alcohol, are defiant or in trouble with crime. The teens do a lot of physical work and are given responsibilities as part of their rehabilitation. If they misbehave they are punished. If they do good work and get along with staff and peers, they are rewarded.

During tonight's episode, the cows needed to be checked for pregnancy. The girls needed to don a glove and push their arm up the vagina of a cow! They had mixed reactions but they did it anyway. The commentator however, did not mention the word "vagina". Instead the commentator spoke about the girls putting their arms up "the backside" of the cow!

Now a fully working ranch would need accurate information on the state of pregnancy of the cows. Placing an arm up the cow's backside will not give an accurate reading of pregnancy! There is an enormous difference between a backside and a vagina. One is used for expelling waste, the other is used for brining new life into the world.

I found it most surprising that the commentator seemed coy on this point. At other times during the program various expletives were used without any problem. Yet the commentator could not say "vagina", a plain, unemotional, biologically accurate term. Instead he said the biologically wrong "backside". Why is that? Was he embarrassed by a cow's vagina? Is it more acceptable to swear than to mention female genitals?

VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA

Did anything bad happen to you when you read the word vagina?

You may prefer the Sanskrit word "YONI" which means "divine passage" or "place of birth". It implies a respect and sacredness to the special female place. Vagina is a much more clinical word, meaning "sheath". I think vagina is fine for cows, I prefer yoni for women though.