# Do men really think women pee out their vagina? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927 "2012-07-31T04:43:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/1 "2012-07-31T04:43:46Z")
I concede, this borders on true Scotsman territory, but I’m curious anyway. We were debating this at a party. One woman made the claim that a substantial portion of literal mankind has the erroneous notion that women pee out of their vagina. I found this extremely dubious. Even were this true, how would she know? Has this specific topic really come up often enough in her conversations with men that she feels it’s some sort of trend? And even then, I think the more likely scenario is a miscommunication. While pee doesn’t come from within the inner depths of the vaginal orifice, it does come from a hole that is inside the labia, and most men who aren’t being doctors or playing some other technical role tend to refer the whole area as the vagina in casual conversation. I strongly suspect she’s interpreting men saying women pee from their vagina as meaning the orifice specifically when what they really mean is the whole unit. But I leave it for the masses. If you don’t have a strong opinion or helpful anecdote, feel free to expand the discussion to other crazy anatomy misunderstanding stories. ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/2 "2012-07-31T05:02:23Z")
Hell, a lot of _women_ think they pee out of their vagina. Yes, you may weep for humanity. Go ahead. ---
**Author:** ![l0ti0n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@l0ti0n](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l0ti0n)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/3 "2012-07-31T05:12:48Z")
I am male and I know pee doesn’t come out the vajaay. Can’t speak for the others. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/4 "2012-07-31T05:13:16Z")
> [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](#): > > Yes, you may weep for humanity. Go ahead. [I think I will…](http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100405175513AA8OcRD)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/5 "2012-07-31T05:26:16Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > And even then, I think the more likely scenario is a miscommunication. While pee doesn’t come from within the inner depths of the vaginal orifice, it does come from a hole that is inside the labia, and most men who aren’t being doctors or playing some other technical role tend to refer the whole area as the vagina in casual conversation. > > I strongly suspect she’s interpreting men saying women pee from their vagina as meaning the orifice specifically when what they really mean is the whole unit. I agree; I see “vagina” used to mean “vulva” more often than I see the word “vulva” used at all. It’s not really that much more inaccurate than saying “a man pees out of his penis” instead of “a man pees out of his urethra”. I suppose the real question would be how many people don’t realize that women _have_ a urethra, and think that they really do literally pee out of their vagina. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/6 "2012-07-31T05:26:25Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > And even then, I think the more likely scenario is a miscommunication. While pee doesn’t come from within the inner depths of the vaginal orifice, it does come from a hole that is inside the labia, and most men who aren’t being doctors or playing some other technical role tend to refer the whole area as the vagina in casual conversation. This. In fact, I think that it’s something left over from earliest childhood. When we’ve very young, we learn that boys’ pee-pees are different from girls’ pee-pees; a bit later, we learn that the the boys’ pee-pee is called a “penis” while the girls’ pee-pee is called a “vagina”. By the time we learn that these regions of the body have other, secondary purposes, their names and roles are pretty much established. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/7 "2012-07-31T06:09:35Z")
I think I only learned that there was more than one hole in that area within the last few years. :o If you’d asked me to draw a diagram, I probably would have had the urethra bending around to end somewhere right behind the cervix. I really don’t think it ever came up in school, though, and I don’t really have any desire for practical experience in that field. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/8 "2012-07-31T06:30:35Z")
Way, way, way back in time, when I first learned that the clitoris is structurally parallel to the penis…I thought that women urinated from the clitoris. Well, it makes some sense… Just turns out not to be so. Of all the things, I learned the truth from reading a nursing manual, with diagrams on how to insert catheters. Comes the dawn! Q: Do you know the correct way to wash genitals? A: The same way you wash Jews. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/9 "2012-07-31T11:47:15Z")
Seeing as quite a few women don’t even know it, I don’t know why it’s so far fetched. I mean, I’ve seen books that tell adult women that they have three holes. As for me, my genitalia has only one hole, and there’s only one visible hole when you see a girl naked unless you actually peer up in there. It’s not something anyone I know generally talks about (until I got to the Dope, of course), so I don’t know how I was expected to know until I encountered it for myself. And when that happens, you tend to have something else on your mind other than hole inspection. The only way I’d expect people to learn it would be in health class. And while mine talked about the different systems, the idea that there were two holes never came up. Maybe it did when the women were taken by themselves, but I doubt it. Note: I’ve known about it for probably five years now. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/10 "2012-07-31T12:19:21Z")
Close enough for govenment work. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/11 "2012-07-31T12:34:25Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > refer the whole area as the vagina in casual conversation. Your casual conversations are more casual than my casual conversations. Or less. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/12 "2012-07-31T13:20:24Z")
I think more women should be encouraged to squat over a mirror. My coworkers - don’t ask how this came up, but in a surprisingly legitimate way - thought the very idea was horrifying. Really? It’s your own parts! Come on! ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/13 "2012-07-31T14:19:20Z")
See, this is why the death of the World Book Encyclopedia saddens me. Apparently, there’s a whole generation or two behind me who did not benefit from being bored and poring through the R-S sections, for “reproduction” and “sexuality.” My set of World Books had these nifty clear plastic pages all layered together showing anatomy so you could see musculature separate from the skeleton, separate from the organs, separate from all the veins and arteries… Wikipedia doesn’t really have anything like that, does it? Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/14 "2012-07-31T15:26:19Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > See, this is why the death of the World Book Encyclopedia saddens me. Apparently, there’s a whole generation or two behind me who did not benefit from being bored and poring through the R-S sections, for “reproduction” and “sexuality.” My set of World Books had these nifty clear plastic pages all layered together showing anatomy so you could see musculature separate from the skeleton, separate from the organs, separate from all the veins and arteries… Wikipedia doesn’t really have anything like that, does it? > > Sad. No, now we have Redtube. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/15 "2012-07-31T15:40:54Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I think more women should be encouraged to squat over a mirror. My coworkers - don’t ask how this came up, but in a surprisingly legitimate way - thought the very idea was horrifying. > > Really? It’s your own parts! Come on! Well, that may help with women’s lack of understanding, but if you’re trying to correct a man’s misunderstanding and suggest he watch a woman squatting over a mirror, it’s unlikely he’ll retain any actual information he might have gathered from the experience. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/16 "2012-07-31T16:33:23Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I think more women should be encouraged to squat over a mirror. My coworkers - don’t ask how this came up, but in a surprisingly legitimate way - thought the very idea was horrifying. > > Really? It’s your own parts! Come on! > [@kunilou](#): > > Well, that may help with women’s lack of understanding, but if you’re trying to correct a man’s misunderstanding and suggest he watch a woman squatting over a mirror, it’s unlikely he’ll retain any actual information he might have gathered from the experience. Well, you don’t even need the mirror for teaching the men. But it just sounds wrong to say, “I think more women should be encouraged to squat over men’s faces.” Even when you’re talking about teaching anatomy. Although, come to think of it, it would have been a lot more effective at keeping me awake in high school health class than whatever it was they actually did to try to keep me awake, if anything. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/17 "2012-07-31T16:39:57Z")
^ Channeling John Cleese as the sex-ed teacher in “The Meaning of Life.” ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/18 "2012-07-31T16:46:39Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I think more women should be encouraged to squat over a mirror. My coworkers - don’t ask how this came up, but in a surprisingly legitimate way - thought the very idea was horrifying. > > Really? It’s your own parts! Come on! How **did** it come up? I’m remembering a movie or TV show where a character encouraged women to do this. Was it _Fried Green Tomatoes_? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/19 "2012-07-31T16:50:34Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I strongly suspect she’s interpreting men saying women pee from their vagina as meaning the orifice specifically when what they really mean is the whole unit. > > But I leave it for the masses. If you don’t have a strong opinion or helpful anecdote, feel free to expand the discussion to other crazy anatomy misunderstanding stories. To guys there are two holes down there… the butt hole, and everything else is “the vagina.” So yes I suspect most men would say that women pee out of their vagina; even though they know there is different plumbing up there. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927/20 "2012-07-31T16:55:19Z")
i know that urine doesn’t come out the same opening as babies but i couldn’t draw you a picture showing you where said holes were. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-men-really-think-women-pee-out-their-vagina/629927.md?page=2)