# Circle Jerk!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853 "2002-03-30T01:45:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/21 "2014-07-17T19:05:16Z")
Welcome to the Dope, Budweiser Bob. Or something like that. Wow. Most bizarre first post ever? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/22 "2014-07-17T19:37:20Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I’ve always known this term as when you photograph someone photographing you… I’ve called that “camera wars.” ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/23 "2014-07-17T19:56:02Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > You’ve got to hand it to him. Oh, come on. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/24 "2014-07-17T20:09:06Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I can believe that you and a group of guys watched each other jack off but I’m finding it real hard to believe an entire football team jacked each other off before most games and that jacking each other off before most games is why they won state. I think the word you’re looking for is “bullshit”. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/25 "2014-07-17T20:13:50Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > You’ve got to hand it to him. > [@Smeghead](#): > > Oh, come on. he thought it worth a shot. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/26 "2014-07-17T20:54:51Z")
> [@BudweiserBob](#): > > Pielparade (South African military slang) > > Pielparade is an Afrikaans colloquial term used commonly by South African military personnel, including slang which is unique to or originates with the armed forces, especially servicemen of the former South African Defense Force (S.A.D.F.). The term means ‘penis parade’ and refers to a range of sexual games or practices which soldiers staying in a platoon bungalow on military bases or camps were ordered to perform by their platoon leader and/or his assistants supposedly to foster group cohesion. It was also known as ‘spanbou speletjies’ which translates as ‘team building games’. The games were meant to be humorous and to entertain the troops. > > Types of pielparade: > > Laërskommel > > The most common game is known as ‘laërskommel’ which literally translates as ‘laager milkshake’ but means ‘circle jerk’ which is when a group of men form a circle and masturbate themselves till they ejaculate. During the nineteenth century, the ancestors of the Afrikaners, called Boers, used to create encampments formed by a circle of wagons to protect them from attacks by hostile African tribes or wild animals. These circular encampments were called laagers in Dutch which the Boers spoke at the time but their Dutch eventually evolved into Afrikaans. The Afrikaans word for ‘laager’ is ‘laër’. The ‘skommel’ or ‘milkshake’ part of ‘laërskommel’ refers to male masturbation and semen which looks like certain milkshakes. > > The platoon would gather in the platoon bungalow or outside and create an area called the ‘saadskietbaan’. ‘Saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’ and ‘baan’ means ‘shooting range’ or ‘a range for target practice’. Participants would be ordered to form a circle or line up in a row behind a line in the ‘saadskietbaan’. Soldiers would then place bets on which participants would ejaculate first, last or furthest. Participants were then ordered to strip naked. The ‘laërskommel’ might be preceded by a ‘worswedstryd’ (see below) or participants were ordered to perform ‘jumping jacks’ or ‘star jumps’ which are a type of physical exercise in which the performer jumps from a standing position with the arms and legs pointing outwards. The purpose of ordering the participants to perform ‘jumping jacks’ was to humiliate them and to humour the onlookers because the participants’ penises would inevitably flail up and down or side to side. Participants would then proceed to masturbate themselves till they ejaculated. Occasionally, participants would be ordered to stimulate other participants’ penises or scrotums. After the last participant had finished ejaculating, the winnings were then distributed. > > Other Afrikaans slang words for ‘laërskommel’ include: > > Kraalskommel - a ‘kraal’ is a traditional African village of huts surrounded by a circular fence or it is a circular enclosure for livestock; ‘skommel’ means ‘milkshake’ of which the meaning in this context is explained above. > > Kringskommel - a ‘kring’ is a ‘ring’ or ‘circle’; ‘skommel’ means ‘milkshake’ of which the meaning in this context is explained above. > > Balskud - a ‘bal’ is a ‘ball’ but in this context it means ‘testicle’ and ‘skud’ means ‘to shake’. The term also occurs in the plural, viz. ballasskud > > Saadbomme - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, and ‘bomme’ means ‘bombs’. > > Saadkannone - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, and ‘kannone’ means ‘cannons’. > > Saadskiet - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, and ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’. > > Saadskietparade - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’. > > Skietpiel - ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’ and ‘piel’ means ‘penis’. > > Toltrekparade - ‘tol’ means ‘dick’ (i.e. slang for ‘penis’), ‘trek’ means ‘pull’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’ > > Draadtrekparade - ‘draad’ means ‘wire’ but in this context it means ‘penis’, ‘trek’ means ‘pull’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’ > > Tottietrekparade - ‘tottie’ means ‘willy’ (i.e. slang for ‘penis’), ‘trek’ means ‘pull’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’. > Other types of pielparade: > Worswedstryd > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘wors’ which means ‘sausage’ and ‘wedstryd’ which means ‘match’ or ‘game’. Participants would take bets to see whose penises were the longest or shortest or thickest, and the money or whatever was being bet would then be distributed to the winners. > > Handstoot > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘hand’ which means ‘hand’ and ‘stoot’ which means ‘push’. Participants would stand naked in a row and thrust their erect penises in their hands till they ejaculated, basically as if they were having sex with their own hands. Bets would be placed on who could ejaculate first, last or the furthest. > > Olifantloop > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘olifant’ which means ‘elephant’ and ‘loop’ which means ‘walk’. Participants would be ordered to stand naked in a column. Each soldier would take hold of the penis of the soldier in front of him by putting his hands between the soldier’s legs from behind, as well as the penis of the soldier behind him. The participants would then be ordered to walk, to the amusement of the onlookers. > > Kussingkannon > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘kussing’ which means ‘cushion’ or ‘pillow’ and ‘kannon’ which means ‘cannon’. Participants would be ordered to strip naked, make their penises erect and then rub them against a pillow or cushion till they ejaculate. As with other pielparade, bets would be placed on which participant would ejaculate first or last or the furthest. > > Poppekas > > This game derives from the Afrikaans word for ‘doll house’. A soldier would bring a woman, usually a prostitute, to the platoon bungalow and have sex with her while other troops watch. Sometimes the woman would be aware and sometimes the woman would be unaware that she was being watched. The troops watching would be ordered to masturbate and ejaculate while watching. > > Eensame kannon or Lekkende kraan or Kraanspuit > > "Eensaam’ means ‘lonely’ and ‘kannon’ means ‘cannon’; ‘lekkende’ means ‘leaky’ and ‘kraan’ means ‘tap’; ‘spuit’ means ‘spray’ or ‘shoot’. In this game, soldiers in a platoon bungalow would be ordererd to strip naked and stand together in a group. Then they would be ordered to masturbate. Whenever a participant was ready to ejaculate, he would have to raise his hand and stand in front of the group so that all of the soldiers could watch him ejaculate. This would continue till every soldier had finished ejaculating. > > Soggy Marie or Soggy biscuit or Soggy cookie > > Marie biscuits are a popular brand of biscuits in South Africa. In this game, contestants were ordered to ejaculate onto a digestive biscuit or cookie. Whoever ejaculated first was deemed the winner, and the last person to ejaculate was forced to eat the biscuit. > > Purpose of the Pielparade > > There are various reasons why pielparade was encouraged, but the overall purpose was supposedly to promote greater group cohesion. Platoon leaders ordered pielparade to foster ‘gehoorsaamheid’ (‘obedience’), ‘samesyn’ (‘togetherness’), ‘gelykheid’ (‘equality’), ‘eenheid’ (‘unity’) or ‘gees’ (‘spirit’) among their troops. The idea is that performing such a private, intimate act in front of other soldiers would decrease awareness of individual identity and promote greater awareness of group identity, and cultivate stronger bonds of trust, togetherness and mutual respect which are critical to the cohesion of the platoon. A more skeptical view is that it was a type of indoctrination to encourage soldiers to relent to unquestioning obedience so that soldiers would follow orders that could be interpreted as morally wrong or repugnant. Not all platoon leaders orderered their troops to perform pielparade but it was fairly common at different bases and camps throughout South Africa and the military’s operational area. While circle jerks feature a homoerotic element, some analysts interpret activities such as circle jerks as an effort to establish heterosexual, masculine dominance within a group. What actually motivates participation is to have fellow men witness and acknowledge one’s sexual prowess, helping to counter feelings of inadequacy related to sex and masculinity. It is also a means of gaining comparative knowledge of, or exploring, male anatomy and its functions in an accepted way since many soldiers might not have been exposed to other men’s bodies prior to basic army training. > > Dr Aubrey Levin and South Africa’s military psychiatry of the 1970’s and 1980’s > > Dr Aubrey Levin was the chief military psychiatrist at One Military Hospital in Pretoria during the 1970s. Known notoriously in the press as “Dr Shock”, he operated at Ward 22 of 1 Military Hospital at Voortrekkerhoogte. That’s where suspected gays in the army were sent to Dr Aubrey Levin for “treatment”. Levin was positively evangelical about curing homosexuality: in 1968 he wrote to Parliament asking to address its members on potential changes to the laws on homosexuality, noting that he had “treated many homosexuals and lesbians and enjoyed some measure of success in therapy.” > This “therapy” took the form of drugs, electro-shock therapy and hormone treatment. For those who didn’t show signs of responding, it is claimed that chemical castrations or sex-change operations were in store. Most of Levin’s patients were young, white and male, and they were referred to him by military officers, chaplains and doctors. > Some of their stories are recorded in a study titled “The Aversion Project: Human rights abuses of gays and lesbians in the South African Defence Force by health workers during the apartheid era”. Published in 1999, the study arose out of reports given in submissions to the health sector hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in June 1997. The same hearings led the TRC to accuse Aubrey Levin of “gross human rights abuses”, but by that stage he was safely ensconced in Canada. > “The Aversion Project” study recorded how doctors like Levin were allowed to proceed with their unethical experiments into curing homosexuality “in contempt of contemporary medical practices at the time”. Levin would claim in an interview with the Guardian in 2000 that his approach represented the standard treatment for gay people at that time. But by 1968, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) had revised homosexuality down to a “non-psychotic mental disorder”. By 1974, the DSM no longer listed homosexuality as a category of disorder. Yet Levin’s bizarre “therapies” continued throughout the 70s and 80s. > “Electrodes were strapped to the arms of the subject, and wires leading from these were in turn connected to a machine operated by a dial calibrated from one to 10,” explains The Aversion Project study. “The subject was then shown black and white pictures of a naked man and encouraged to fantasise. The increase in the current would cause the muscles of the forearm to contract—an intensely painful sensation. When the subject was either screaming with pain or verbally requested that the dial be turned off, the current would be stopped and a colour Playboy centrefold substituted for the previous pictures… [The doctor] would then verbally describe the woman portrayed in glowing and positive terms. This process would be repeated three times in a single session. Sessions were held twice daily for three to four days. People subjected to this therapy experienced long periods of disorientation afterwards.” > Trudie Grobler, an intern psychologist at 1 Military Hospital, witnessed an aversion therapy session where a woman suspected of being a lesbian was shocked so hard that her shoes flew off her feet. “I couldn’t believe that her body could survive it all,” Grobler later said. One man given hormone treatment at Levin’s hospital found that his “whole body and hormone system developed abnormally”. He told Aversion Project researchers: “I look like a woman because of the induced testosterone abnormality”. This man, named as “Neil”, committed suicide before the Aversion Project study was published. As a result of the research process he decided to explore litigation, only to discover that all medical records from his military stint had been expunged. > > Dr Levin also operated at Greefsveld, a military encampment in what was then Southwest Africa (now Namibia) where drug addicts were sent to receive corrective psychiatric treatment. Greefsveld was essentially a forced labour camp; alleged drug addicted soldiers were forced to perform hard manual labour which supposedly encouraged them to develop discipline and change their behaviour. > > Since such unethical medical practices were officially sanctioned, it is likely that sexual practices or games like pielparade were thus tacitly accepted by military officials as having a factual basis. There is no medical study which proves or disproves that pielparade are effective or uneffective as a means of fostering group cohesion. Nonetheless, the practice obtains. cite? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/27 "2014-07-17T22:02:20Z")
_To the left, to the left To the left, right, left_ ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/28 "2014-07-18T00:08:56Z")
> [@BudweiserBob](#): > > Pielparade (South African military slang) > > Pielparade is an Afrikaans colloquial term used commonly by South African military personnel, including slang which is unique to or originates with the armed forces, especially servicemen of the former South African Defense Force (S.A.D.F.). The term means ‘penis parade’ and refers to a range of sexual games or practices which soldiers staying in a platoon bungalow on military bases or camps were ordered to perform by their platoon leader and/or his assistants supposedly to foster group cohesion. It was also known as ‘spanbou speletjies’ which translates as ‘team building games’. The games were meant to be humorous and to entertain the troops. > > Types of pielparade: > > Laërskommel > > The most common game is known as ‘laërskommel’ which literally translates as ‘laager milkshake’ but means ‘circle jerk’ which is when a group of men form a circle and masturbate themselves till they ejaculate. During the nineteenth century, the ancestors of the Afrikaners, called Boers, used to create encampments formed by a circle of wagons to protect them from attacks by hostile African tribes or wild animals. These circular encampments were called laagers in Dutch which the Boers spoke at the time but their Dutch eventually evolved into Afrikaans. The Afrikaans word for ‘laager’ is ‘laër’. The ‘skommel’ or ‘milkshake’ part of ‘laërskommel’ refers to male masturbation and semen which looks like certain milkshakes. > > The platoon would gather in the platoon bungalow or outside and create an area called the ‘saadskietbaan’. ‘Saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’ and ‘baan’ means ‘shooting range’ or ‘a range for target practice’. Participants would be ordered to form a circle or line up in a row behind a line in the ‘saadskietbaan’. Soldiers would then place bets on which participants would ejaculate first, last or furthest. Participants were then ordered to strip naked. The ‘laërskommel’ might be preceded by a ‘worswedstryd’ (see below) or participants were ordered to perform ‘jumping jacks’ or ‘star jumps’ which are a type of physical exercise in which the performer jumps from a standing position with the arms and legs pointing outwards. The purpose of ordering the participants to perform ‘jumping jacks’ was to humiliate them and to humour the onlookers because the participants’ penises would inevitably flail up and down or side to side. Participants would then proceed to masturbate themselves till they ejaculated. Occasionally, participants would be ordered to stimulate other participants’ penises or scrotums. After the last participant had finished ejaculating, the winnings were then distributed. > > Other Afrikaans slang words for ‘laërskommel’ include: > > Kraalskommel - a ‘kraal’ is a traditional African village of huts surrounded by a circular fence or it is a circular enclosure for livestock; ‘skommel’ means ‘milkshake’ of which the meaning in this context is explained above. > > Kringskommel - a ‘kring’ is a ‘ring’ or ‘circle’; ‘skommel’ means ‘milkshake’ of which the meaning in this context is explained above. > > Balskud - a ‘bal’ is a ‘ball’ but in this context it means ‘testicle’ and ‘skud’ means ‘to shake’. The term also occurs in the plural, viz. ballasskud > > Saadbomme - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, and ‘bomme’ means ‘bombs’. > > Saadkannone - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, and ‘kannone’ means ‘cannons’. > > Saadskiet - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, and ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’. > > Saadskietparade - ‘saad’ means ‘seed’ or ‘seeds’ but in this context it means ‘semen’, ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’. > > Skietpiel - ‘skiet’ means ‘shoot’ and ‘piel’ means ‘penis’. > > Toltrekparade - ‘tol’ means ‘dick’ (i.e. slang for ‘penis’), ‘trek’ means ‘pull’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’ > > Draadtrekparade - ‘draad’ means ‘wire’ but in this context it means ‘penis’, ‘trek’ means ‘pull’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’ > > Tottietrekparade - ‘tottie’ means ‘willy’ (i.e. slang for ‘penis’), ‘trek’ means ‘pull’ and ‘parade’ means ‘parade’. > Other types of pielparade: > Worswedstryd > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘wors’ which means ‘sausage’ and ‘wedstryd’ which means ‘match’ or ‘game’. Participants would take bets to see whose penises were the longest or shortest or thickest, and the money or whatever was being bet would then be distributed to the winners. > > Handstoot > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘hand’ which means ‘hand’ and ‘stoot’ which means ‘push’. Participants would stand naked in a row and thrust their erect penises in their hands till they ejaculated, basically as if they were having sex with their own hands. Bets would be placed on who could ejaculate first, last or the furthest. > > Olifantloop > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘olifant’ which means ‘elephant’ and ‘loop’ which means ‘walk’. Participants would be ordered to stand naked in a column. Each soldier would take hold of the penis of the soldier in front of him by putting his hands between the soldier’s legs from behind, as well as the penis of the soldier behind him. The participants would then be ordered to walk, to the amusement of the onlookers. > > Kussingkannon > > This game derives from the Afrikaans words ‘kussing’ which means ‘cushion’ or ‘pillow’ and ‘kannon’ which means ‘cannon’. Participants would be ordered to strip naked, make their penises erect and then rub them against a pillow or cushion till they ejaculate. As with other pielparade, bets would be placed on which participant would ejaculate first or last or the furthest. > > Poppekas > > This game derives from the Afrikaans word for ‘doll house’. A soldier would bring a woman, usually a prostitute, to the platoon bungalow and have sex with her while other troops watch. Sometimes the woman would be aware and sometimes the woman would be unaware that she was being watched. The troops watching would be ordered to masturbate and ejaculate while watching. > > Eensame kannon or Lekkende kraan or Kraanspuit > > "Eensaam’ means ‘lonely’ and ‘kannon’ means ‘cannon’; ‘lekkende’ means ‘leaky’ and ‘kraan’ means ‘tap’; ‘spuit’ means ‘spray’ or ‘shoot’. In this game, soldiers in a platoon bungalow would be ordererd to strip naked and stand together in a group. Then they would be ordered to masturbate. Whenever a participant was ready to ejaculate, he would have to raise his hand and stand in front of the group so that all of the soldiers could watch him ejaculate. This would continue till every soldier had finished ejaculating. > > Soggy Marie or Soggy biscuit or Soggy cookie > > Marie biscuits are a popular brand of biscuits in South Africa. In this game, contestants were ordered to ejaculate onto a digestive biscuit or cookie. Whoever ejaculated first was deemed the winner, and the last person to ejaculate was forced to eat the biscuit. > > Purpose of the Pielparade > > There are various reasons why pielparade was encouraged, but the overall purpose was supposedly to promote greater group cohesion. Platoon leaders ordered pielparade to foster ‘gehoorsaamheid’ (‘obedience’), ‘samesyn’ (‘togetherness’), ‘gelykheid’ (‘equality’), ‘eenheid’ (‘unity’) or ‘gees’ (‘spirit’) among their troops. The idea is that performing such a private, intimate act in front of other soldiers would decrease awareness of individual identity and promote greater awareness of group identity, and cultivate stronger bonds of trust, togetherness and mutual respect which are critical to the cohesion of the platoon. A more skeptical view is that it was a type of indoctrination to encourage soldiers to relent to unquestioning obedience so that soldiers would follow orders that could be interpreted as morally wrong or repugnant. Not all platoon leaders orderered their troops to perform pielparade but it was fairly common at different bases and camps throughout South Africa and the military’s operational area. While circle jerks feature a homoerotic element, some analysts interpret activities such as circle jerks as an effort to establish heterosexual, masculine dominance within a group. What actually motivates participation is to have fellow men witness and acknowledge one’s sexual prowess, helping to counter feelings of inadequacy related to sex and masculinity. It is also a means of gaining comparative knowledge of, or exploring, male anatomy and its functions in an accepted way since many soldiers might not have been exposed to other men’s bodies prior to basic army training. > > Dr Aubrey Levin and South Africa’s military psychiatry of the 1970’s and 1980’s > > Dr Aubrey Levin was the chief military psychiatrist at One Military Hospital in Pretoria during the 1970s. Known notoriously in the press as “Dr Shock”, he operated at Ward 22 of 1 Military Hospital at Voortrekkerhoogte. That’s where suspected gays in the army were sent to Dr Aubrey Levin for “treatment”. Levin was positively evangelical about curing homosexuality: in 1968 he wrote to Parliament asking to address its members on potential changes to the laws on homosexuality, noting that he had “treated many homosexuals and lesbians and enjoyed some measure of success in therapy.” > This “therapy” took the form of drugs, electro-shock therapy and hormone treatment. For those who didn’t show signs of responding, it is claimed that chemical castrations or sex-change operations were in store. Most of Levin’s patients were young, white and male, and they were referred to him by military officers, chaplains and doctors. > Some of their stories are recorded in a study titled “The Aversion Project: Human rights abuses of gays and lesbians in the South African Defence Force by health workers during the apartheid era”. Published in 1999, the study arose out of reports given in submissions to the health sector hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in June 1997. The same hearings led the TRC to accuse Aubrey Levin of “gross human rights abuses”, but by that stage he was safely ensconced in Canada. > “The Aversion Project” study recorded how doctors like Levin were allowed to proceed with their unethical experiments into curing homosexuality “in contempt of contemporary medical practices at the time”. Levin would claim in an interview with the Guardian in 2000 that his approach represented the standard treatment for gay people at that time. But by 1968, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) had revised homosexuality down to a “non-psychotic mental disorder”. By 1974, the DSM no longer listed homosexuality as a category of disorder. Yet Levin’s bizarre “therapies” continued throughout the 70s and 80s. > “Electrodes were strapped to the arms of the subject, and wires leading from these were in turn connected to a machine operated by a dial calibrated from one to 10,” explains The Aversion Project study. “The subject was then shown black and white pictures of a naked man and encouraged to fantasise. The increase in the current would cause the muscles of the forearm to contract—an intensely painful sensation. When the subject was either screaming with pain or verbally requested that the dial be turned off, the current would be stopped and a colour Playboy centrefold substituted for the previous pictures… [The doctor] would then verbally describe the woman portrayed in glowing and positive terms. This process would be repeated three times in a single session. Sessions were held twice daily for three to four days. People subjected to this therapy experienced long periods of disorientation afterwards.” > Trudie Grobler, an intern psychologist at 1 Military Hospital, witnessed an aversion therapy session where a woman suspected of being a lesbian was shocked so hard that her shoes flew off her feet. “I couldn’t believe that her body could survive it all,” Grobler later said. One man given hormone treatment at Levin’s hospital found that his “whole body and hormone system developed abnormally”. He told Aversion Project researchers: “I look like a woman because of the induced testosterone abnormality”. This man, named as “Neil”, committed suicide before the Aversion Project study was published. As a result of the research process he decided to explore litigation, only to discover that all medical records from his military stint had been expunged. > > Dr Levin also operated at Greefsveld, a military encampment in what was then Southwest Africa (now Namibia) where drug addicts were sent to receive corrective psychiatric treatment. Greefsveld was essentially a forced labour camp; alleged drug addicted soldiers were forced to perform hard manual labour which supposedly encouraged them to develop discipline and change their behaviour. > > Since such unethical medical practices were officially sanctioned, it is likely that sexual practices or games like pielparade were thus tacitly accepted by military officials as having a factual basis. There is no medical study which proves or disproves that pielparade are effective or uneffective as a means of fostering group cohesion. Nonetheless, the practice obtains. Couldn’t have said it better myself! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/29 "2014-07-18T00:30:27Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes, I think it is. I participated in several although I was strongly in the stroke your own camp. Our high school football team had a true circle jerk ( you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours 😉 before most games. I saw displays of it a couple of times. Cum to think of it, maybe that is why they won the 1A state championship two years in a row. Outside a gay fantasy or porn, there is no way this ever happened. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/30 "2014-07-18T00:39:05Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Outside a gay fantasy or porn, there is no way this ever happened. Yes it did and I certainly don’t have any gay fantasies and never have. My high school was a weird place in a strange, rural area. People came up with contests and weird activities all the time and those types of things were among them. I stopped mentioning them years ago because I realized that it was far from the norm but everything I wrote years ago was as advertised and even that was only a subset of it. I have learned since then that some of the guys on the football team really were gay so maybe they started the whole ritual for their own benefit. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/31 "2014-07-18T00:45:48Z")
Yanno, I searched for Bob’s information on google by the first paragraph alone, and it appears the only other time this has been posted on the internet is on a body builder former, in 2010, by someone named “History Lover” who also had only one post. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/32 "2014-07-18T00:47:03Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes it did and I certainly don’t have any gay fantasies and never have. My high school was a weird place in a strange, rural area. People came up with contests and weird activities all the time and those types of things were among them. I stopped mentioning them years ago because I realized that it was far from the norm but everything I wrote years ago was as advertised and even that was only a subset of it. I have learned since then that some of the guys on the football team really were gay so maybe they started the whole ritual for their own benefit. Advertised? Like in the school directory? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/33 "2014-07-18T01:06:55Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Advertised? Like in the school directory? Not far from it. After the school burned down my senior year because of arson, things really went to hell because you had about 400 teenagers in temporary facilities like the gym but few books and very few institutional controls. Don’t ever try that as a real-world experiment because the results are less than ideal if not shocking much like a prison without any trained guards. It was nothing but anarchy and contest after contest many of which were sexual in nature (we also had sports gambling rings and more humble pursuits like street craps and even chess tournaments). We even had a real riot one day and I was the one that got slashed across the face. None of that stuff was ever a secret to anyone there and most of it was open to anyone that wanted to watch. We had biggest penis contests, smallest penis contests (surprisingly competitive), peeing for distance contests and everything else that anyone could think up to make the day pass in un-airconditioned holding buildings in the Louisiana heat. Some of that stuff happened before the school burned down but that event served as the catalyst to make everything go off the rails and almost all rules and even human decency go out the window. ---
**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 18, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/34 "2014-07-18T01:22:31Z")
**Shagnasty** must live in a parallel universe or something, because seriously? Most guys that age are embarrassed to even change in the locker room. Who the hell jerks off in a group environment? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/35 "2014-07-18T01:32:24Z")
I can’t say I would do it now but it was something we did then mostly because of circumstances. This was the 1980’s - early 1990’s in a very rural area. We didn’t have internet porn or much accessible porn at all. If someone scored a VHS porn tape somehow and invited you over to watch it, that was a rare treat. You didn’t want to see your friends jerk (at least I didn’t) off but 16 - 17 year olds plus a porn tape = a boner and then jerking off. You never wanted to be the one to start the show but you might as well join in if everyone else is doing it. That wasn’t unusual at all. My best friend and his girlfriend used to have sex right in front of me while I drove his pickup truck down the highway whenever the mood struck (yes, it was only one seat and they laid right on top of me; keep your head or legs clear of the steering wheel please). I never thought anything of it. I had sex with my girlfriends in college while my roommates were right there in our dorm room many, many times and they did the same. There was none of that sock on the door bullshit. If I want to read or sleep in my own bed while someone else is going at it six feet away, that is just the way it is because I wasn’t leaving just because someone else felt horny. It just never occurred to me to be especially modest about such things if circumstances don’t allow more privacy. There isn’t any special thrill to it. It was just a practical necessity. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/36 "2014-07-18T01:39:20Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes it did and I certainly don’t have any gay fantasies and never have. Who needs fantasies when you’ve got the real thing? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/37 "2014-07-18T02:01:07Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Who needs fantasies when you’ve got the real thing? Touché. However, the gay implications were lost on this audience member due to general homosexual tone deafness at that time. Others may have gotten a whole lot more out of it and, I have since learned, a few of them almost certainly did. All I wanted to do was see naked chicks on pornos when I was 16 or 17. I didn’t realize that might be bait for something else and I still don’t think it was (usually). ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/38 "2014-07-18T02:05:14Z")
Gotta say, having been in a rural area (east Texas) and graduating around the same time, there were never such shenanigans going on in my high school. If I go to my 30th year reunion, I’ll have to tell them they really missed out. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/39 "2014-07-18T02:13:48Z")
All we ever did in high school was a car rally… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853/40 "2014-07-18T02:21:13Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Gotta say, having been in a rural area (east Texas) and graduating around the same time, there were never such shenanigans going on in my high school. If I go to my 30th year reunion, I’ll have to tell them they really missed out. I grew up on the Louisiana side of the East Texas border. Just a couple of miles makes a world of difference. We always envied the nearest schools on the Texas side of the border because they had actual, well, everything. We didn’t. It was more like a 3rd world country but we loved it anyway and made our own fun. There is a reason why people write novels, plays, and movies about the decadence that is routinely accepted in Louisiana as opposed to other states. It really is true in both good ways and really horrific ones. It certainly isn’t your typical American experience at all but I am thankful for growing up in an unusual area. Believe it or not, I stopped talking about much of it years ago because everyone accuses me of lying like I am from some place they can’t even comprehend. In many ways that is true. Rest assured, none of it is a falsehood. In fact, a lot of it is censured for more delicate ears. I just had a very personal high school reunion with two of my high school classmates (females) in Dallas that I hadn’t seen or talked to since high school. We compared stories like these from our personal experiences. They all matched but they filled me in on details that I never knew because I moved away from the area 22 years ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/circle-jerk/100853.md?page=3)