Terminology of transgender anatomy

A word cloud of various terms used by transmasculine people for their vaginas, with the largest ("front-hole") in the center
A word cloud of how transmasculine people described their vaginas in the Ragosta et al. study (2021).

Transgender people use a variety of terms to refer to their genitals and other sexually dimorphic body parts and bodily functions. While some may use the standard clinical and colloquial terms (e.g. penis, dick; vagina, pussy), others follow neologistic approaches. These replacement words serve as alternatives to existing names that may conflict with a person's gender identity and trigger gender dysphoria. In medical contexts, providers may use traditional clinical terms, may mirror patients' preferred terms, or may use alternate terms such as internal genitals and external gonads.

Common approaches include using terms associated with analogous body parts (e.g. penis for a clitoris[a] or vice versa), modifying conventional terms to mark for gender (e.g. girldick or boy cunt), and novel terms that do not relate to existing terminology (e.g. front hole for a vagina). Some words are humorous, like hen for a transfeminine penis (contrast cock) or chesticles for a transmasculine breast.

The naming of body parts is an important component of transgender sexuality. Trans people may pick different words for different contexts. In both colloquial and medical contexts, experts emphasize deferring to individual preference.
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