# a female equivalent for phallic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091 "2012-03-17T23:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/1 "2012-03-17T23:54:42Z")
Researching terminology for use in an upcoming postgrad essay, I discovered (to my amazement) that the term ‘cuntic’ does not appear in any (non-pornographic) context as an alternative to ‘phallic’. Why? The only thread I picked up was originated by Lancer45 in May 2000, on this website; so here I am, asking why ‘cuntic’ is not an acceptable woman-oriented equivalent for the term ‘phallic’ - and hoping for some serious discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/2 "2012-03-17T23:58:55Z")
Going to google and typing “female eq” it autofilled it with “female equivalent of phallic”. Turns out the word you’re looking for is yonic. If you do a Google Image search for ‘yonic art’ you’ll find what you’re looking for. ETA, I’m a bit surprised the word doesn’t show up on Georgia O’Keefe’s Wiki page. ETA2. If your question about why cuntic isn’t an acceptable word is a serious question, I think the best answer is going to be because cunt isn’t really an acceptable word. That’s like asking why you can’t call women ‘bitches’ in your psychology dissertation. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/3 "2012-03-18T00:03:20Z")
Reported for forum change. Also, “phallus” is not considered dirty/foul/swearing/insulting language, “cunt” is. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/4 "2012-03-18T00:07:14Z")
Also, from what I’ve (just now) read, phallus can be used for both males and females since it (technically) can be defined as the clitoris as well, but I think that would just confuse people. Use ‘yonic’ and let them look it up. ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/5 "2012-03-18T00:22:38Z")
And why is ‘cunt’ an ‘offensive’ term? Please see my amended post - there’s no other word that adequately describes the entire female sexual organ - external and internal combined. ‘Yonic’? Refers to a principle, rather than a bodily organ, which ‘phallic’, in referring to the male sexual principle, avoids, because the term has common currency in reference to the physical dimensions of said principle. I’m a female postgrad, and the term ‘cunt’ doesn’t offend me. Please provide a less emotive response. I appreciate that using the word ‘cunt’ as a pejorative is offensive, but why equate it with other pejorative terms (e.g. ‘bitch’) when it’s actually a descriptive word? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/6 "2012-03-18T00:27:49Z")
“Vulvic?” ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/7 "2012-03-18T00:27:49Z")
The male equivalent to ‘yonic’ is ‘lingic’. How often do you see that used in academic discourse? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/8 "2012-03-18T00:29:43Z")
> [@wayland](#): > > I’m a female postgrad, and the term ‘cunt’ doesn’t offend me. Please provide a less emotive response. I appreciate that using the word ‘cunt’ as a pejorative is offensive, but why equate it with other pejorative terms (e.g. ‘bitch’) when it’s actually a descriptive word? Unfortunately that’s like saying “I don’t find the phrase ‘bite me, jerk’ to be offensive therefore I shouldn’t have received a detention for saying it to the teacher.” Just because something doesn’t offend you doesn’t mean no one else is allowed to be offended by it…cunt is one of those words. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/9 "2012-03-18T00:31:53Z")
> [@wayland](#): > > The male equivalent to ‘yonic’ is ‘lingic’. How often do you see that used in academic discourse? Can I get a cite on lingic? ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/10 "2012-03-18T00:33:49Z")
Hey, Ferret Herder, ‘vulvic’ is a good word - just rather physiologically specific. It doesn’t include the womb or the clitoris. I’m writing on sexual imagery used by nineteenth-century authors - they’re alluding to the entirety of the female sexual organ. ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/11 "2012-03-18T00:35:34Z")
Joey P: ‘Lingic’ as pertaining to ‘lingum’, as ‘yonic’ pertains to ‘yoni’. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/12 "2012-03-18T00:38:11Z")
Cunti- and phalli- are not equivalent prefixes, so I wouldn’t expect you could substitute one for the other. The best I can offer is the female equivalent of hard-on would be wide-on. ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/13 "2012-03-18T00:48:23Z")
Musicat: you’re absolutely right! Just shows the inadequacy of our language to describe female bodily existence and experience. ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/14 "2012-03-18T00:49:59Z")
With regard prefixes - I would welcome any reasonable ‘equivalent prefix’ for ‘phallic’. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/15 "2012-03-18T00:50:32Z")
Giving you the benefit of the doubt and moving to General Questions … where I’ll be asking the moderators to keep a close eye on this. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/16 "2012-03-18T00:56:15Z")
> [@wayland](#): > > Hey, Ferret Herder, ‘vulvic’ is a good word - just rather physiologically specific. It doesn’t include the womb or the clitoris. I’m writing on sexual imagery used by nineteenth-century authors - they’re alluding to the entirety of the female sexual organ. The clitoris is most certainly located in the vulva. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/17 "2012-03-18T01:00:47Z")
The word you’re looking for is [vaginal](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vaginal) (though [yonic](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yonic) is a less common synonym). Notice the parallel definition to [phallic](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/phallic). Cuntic isn’t a word. I guess the answer to the OP’s question “why ‘cuntic’ is not an acceptable woman-oriented equivalent for the term ‘phallic’” would be there’s no need to make up a new word derived from a word widely considered offensive when two perfectly, non-offensive ones exist. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/18 "2012-03-18T01:21:24Z")
To expand on what **kenetic** said, _lingam_ & _yoni_ are Sanskrit (India), _vulva_ & _phallus_ are Greek (I think). _Cunt_ &\* Cock\* are slang. ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/19 "2012-03-18T01:28:58Z")
Well, thanks for your interesting feedback, all. I appear to have offended some, which wasn’t my intention, and I apologise if that’s the case. I think discussion about terminology is still one that merits attention, but I will look elsewhere for discourse of a less reactionary character. ---
**Author:** ![wayland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee59a6/32.png) [@wayland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayland)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091/20 "2012-03-18T01:30:55Z")
Apart from Musicat, who seems quite rational. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-female-equivalent-for-phallic/616091.md?page=2)