Girls are culturally denied knowledge about their bodies, particularly their genitals. [Gerda] Lerner suggests that this knowledge is denied to girls from early childhood. Whereas parents often name boysâ genitals â for example, wee-wee â they are much less likely to give girls specific names for their genitals. Girlsâ genitals become generalized to âdown thereâ or âprivate partsâ. Rarely do girls have specific names that distinguish between vagina, clitoris, vulva. [...]
Physiology combined with missing cognitive and/or subjective knowledge about oneâs body causes girls to feel like they have little control over their bodies. When discussing puberty, some girls [in Martinâs study] expressed a sense that their body was out of control, or betraying them. Feeling out of control contributes to girlsâ general anxiety at puberty.
Karin A Martin, from Puberty, Sexuality and The Self (New York: Routledge, 1996) p.23