# 6-year-old traumatized by Barney the dinosaur's penis **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 27, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467 "2006-08-27T23:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/1 "2006-08-27T23:31:56Z")
[http://www.thevillagenews.com/story.asp?story\_ID=16833](http://www.thevillagenews.com/story.asp?story_ID=16833) “Since then, she has not stopped mentioning Barney’s p\*\*\*s. This has shaken the bedrock of our family.” ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/2 "2006-08-27T23:36:08Z")
I’d really like to believe that this is a joke. I’d \*really \*like to believe that. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/3 "2006-08-27T23:37:26Z")
If viewing the non-existent genitalia of a fictional character is enough to traumatize that girl, I don’t want to be her husband on her wedding night. The sight of an actual penis would really pop her cork. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/4 "2006-08-27T23:41:06Z")
We have a Barney talking plush toy - the batteries go in a vulvar recess accessed via the “nether regions” of Barney. It’s a two-inch “slit” with slightly darker purple lining the “inner labia” with satin lining of a dark pink color further inside where the batteries are. I call it the _Vaginasaur_. :: shudder :: ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/5 "2006-08-27T23:42:16Z")
> [@Crazy Father](#): > > I made an emergency call to our church’s pastor about this bombshell in my daughter’s life and he is unsure how it will affect her future. I am hoping that the pastor was as baffled at this guy’s panic over his daught being exposed to the word _penis_ as I am. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/6 "2006-08-27T23:46:03Z")
[QUOTE=Alistair McCello] I am hoping that the pastor was as baffled at this guy’s panic over his daught being exposed to the word _penis_ as I am. [/QUOTE] That’s really weird. Until I read this post and went back to check the link (the man’s name is Bryan) I just assumed the piece was written by her mother. I wonder what that says about my thought processes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/7 "2006-08-28T00:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=MsRobyn] If viewing the non-existent genitalia of a fictional character is enough to traumatize that girl, I don’t want to be her husband on her wedding night. The sight of an actual penis would really pop her cork. [/QUOTE] As near as I can tell, it wasn’t even an image of a penis. It was just the words, “Barney’s Penis,” apparently rearranged on the marquee of a local theater by “hoodlums.” And is anyone else as tickled as I am to find someone who uses the word “hoodlums” in an apparent non-sarcastic manner? I didn’t think such people existed, anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/8 "2006-08-28T00:16:27Z")
And he wants the market to apologize for the work of a few pranksters? Why? Knowing a bit about kids, I’d say the reason the kid keeps yelling PENIS is because of her dad’s reaction. “Look! When I say Penis it makes dad turn all red! I’m gonna keep saying it! Free entertainment!” ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/9 "2006-08-28T00:21:56Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] As near as I can tell, it wasn’t even an image of a penis. It was just the words, “Barney’s Penis,” apparently rearranged on the marquee of a local theater by “hoodlums.” And is anyone else as tickled as I am to find someone who uses the word “hoodlums” in an apparent non-sarcastic manner? I didn’t think such people existed, anymore. [/QUOTE] I thought it was the classic “cock and balls” drawing on a poster. Even if I’m wrong, the rest of my post still stands. She’s going to be fun on her wedding night. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/10 "2006-08-28T00:25:04Z")
> [@Whackjob Father](#): > > I would like the pranksters to know just how vile their criminal act was. _Vile?_ How is the word “penis” vile in comparison to say, 9/11? FEMA’s response to Katrina? So-called “honor” killings in the Mid-East (you know, where to protect the family’s “honor” they take some poor rape victim out and kill her)? Or hell, just about anything else you can name? The _reason_ his 6 year old daughter is saying “penis” over and over again, is that she no doubt finds it funny to see daddy’s face get all purple just like Barney’s when she says it. If daddy stopped freaking out whenever she said “penis” the word would soon lose her interest and she’d go on to other things. Heh, I bet that’s going to be a _real_ interesting household when she enters puberty. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/11 "2006-08-28T00:27:50Z")
> [@](#): > > This has shaken the bedrock of our family. I made an \*\*emergency call to our church’s pastor \*\* about this bombshell in my daughter’s life and he is unsure how it will affect her future. This made me laugh out loud, not just LOL, but actually laugh…out loud. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/12 "2006-08-28T00:35:21Z")
I’ve been taking this far too literally, once I understood that the offending Barny’s Penis was created from words rearranged on a marquee. I went to an anagram generator to try to figure out what movie name could be so rearranged, not thinking, duh, that one might create that phrase from letters borrowed from a number of movie titles. But the results of my anagram search were quite entertaining! Here are a few that perhaps COULD be movie titles: EARN BY SNIPS PASSERBY INN BRA PENNY SIS PANSY BRINES ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/13 "2006-08-28T00:47:58Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] I’ve been taking this far too literally, once I understood that the offending Barny’s Penis was created from words rearranged on a marquee. I went to an anagram generator to try to figure out what movie name could be so rearranged, not thinking, duh, that one might create that phrase from letters borrowed from a number of movie titles. [/QUOTE] It’s not necessarily a movie title. Evidently the “unlawful teenagers” simply rearranged letters on the sign outside Daniel’s Market (I assume a supermarket or convenience store), so it could have just been an advertisement for beer. The girl just thought it was an ad for a Barney movie. Obviously she had already learned the word “penis” somewhere else. One wonders where exactly she came across this “vile obscenity.” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/14 "2006-08-28T00:50:48Z")
Who taught the kid to read the word ‘p\*\*\*s’, and what it means? IIRC, Dick and Jane from ‘Friendly Village’ never said “See Spot’s Penis.” What are Kindergartners/1st graders using as readers these days that they know such ‘horrid’ words? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/15 "2006-08-28T00:55:35Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] But the results of my anagram search were quite entertaining! [/QUOTE] There is an “E” in “Barney.” I would have went with “PENIS BARN, YES!” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/16 "2006-08-28T00:58:43Z")
> [@](#): > > This has shaken the bedrock of our family. I made an emergency call to our church’s pastor about this bombshell in my daughter’s life and he is unsure how it will affect her future. I didn’t know Ned Flanders had a daughter. I thought it was just Rod & Tod. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/17 "2006-08-28T00:59:31Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Who taught the kid to read the word ‘p\*\*\*s’, and what it means? IIRC, Dick and Jane from ‘Friendly Village’ never said “See Spot’s Penis.” What are Kindergartners/1st graders using as readers these days that they know such ‘horrid’ words? [/QUOTE] It’s not like “penis” is a difficult word to figure out how to pronounce, if you already know how all the letters are supposed to sound. And there’s no indication at all that she knows what it means, just that saying it makes daddy’s face turn funny colors. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/18 "2006-08-28T00:59:58Z")
Any Beer Spins? Pansy Beer Sin? Sans Beery Nip? Beery Spa Inns? Pa’s Beery Inns? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/19 "2006-08-28T04:13:13Z")
I think we need to call Protective Services. Any parent who’d take their child out in public without a blindfold, knowing that they might be exposed to the sight of the word penis written as graffitti on the side of a building, is obviously unfit. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467/20 "2006-08-28T04:17:45Z")
Of course, if he’d asked me for advice, I’d have tried reason, “Jeez, man, if you’re this upset because your six year old daughter saw a penis, how are you going to react in ten years when she’s putting them in her mouth?” This is the kind of response that keeps me from being a clergyman. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-year-old-traumatized-by-barney-the-dinosaurs-penis/370467.md?page=2)