A number of people have emailed me off line about my previous posting regarding the importance of teaching words such as vulva, labia, clitoris, testicles, etc. in a health literacy classroom. They thanked me for posting these words so publicly, and told me that they found it difficult to read those words. Some add that it was too uncomfortable for them to even think about writing about them in a public arena such as an electronic list. I wrote back stating that I understood. Even though the above words are parts of our body, like our pupils, our nostrils, our toe nails, we are taught to feel uncomfortable labeling certain parts of our body. 

What is the solution? Do we ignore teaching our learners these words? Aren't they entitled to learn these words, just like the other parts of the body?

However, what do we do about the lack of comfort that many feel-both teachers and learners?

I think that one way to do it is not to call attention to it, but to infuse the words into other lists of words. So for example, instead of planning to devote a unit to female sex organs, instead have a list of a few words that are taught on different days. So for example, on Monday teach "v" words: vagina, vulva, vein, vagus nerve, valve in the heart, etc. Have pencil drawings of each, and run through them as you would teach any word. At first this will be difficult, but if it becomes a routine, people will start noticing it less intensely.

Many years ago, when I worked with the developmentally disabled, I insisted that a group of adults with mental retardation could learn how to use a condom to prevent AIDS when they were having sex. People didn't believe that they could learn this. So after I taught them (using a model penis), we decided to show the staff what they had learned. I was concerned that once the skit began, and the clients pulled out the model penis from the shelf to put on the condom, people would be shocked by the model and not focus on what the clients wanted to show them. So I decided to have it in the middle of the table so that it was the first thing that everyone noticed when they first walked into the room. Yes, there were many loud reactions of shock when people walked in. But, most importantly, by the time it was appropriate for the clients to show the staff how to put the condom on the model, everyone was used to it. I think that this type of approach could be helpful for our adult learners who deserve to know how read, spell, pronounce, and understand the names of the male and female sex organs.
Daphne