# Giving a beating. What is the petroleum jelly for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-beating-what-is-the-petroleum-jelly-for/545474 "2010-07-04T01:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-beating-what-is-the-petroleum-jelly-for/545474/1 "2010-07-04T01:41:11Z")
I was watching a rerun of Martin. At one point in the show Martin’s girlfriend is preparing to beat up another woman. Gina (Martin’s girlfriend), takes off her earrings, gets out a pair of gym shoes then pulls out a jar of petroleum jelly. Taking off earrings is a sensible precaution. Gym shoes help give a firm base to throw a punch. But, petroleum jelly? Why would you need petroleum jelly to beat somebody up? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-beating-what-is-the-petroleum-jelly-for/545474/2 "2010-07-04T01:57:49Z")
Boxers use it to prevent cuts on their face. > **[Cutman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutman)** > > A cutman is a person responsible for preventing and treating physical damage to a fighter during the breaks between rounds of a full contact match such as a boxing, kickboxing or a mixed martial arts bout. Cutmen typically handle swelling, nosebleeds and lacerations. In addition to degrading a fighter's performance, the rules of combat sports stipulate that these injuries can be a cause for premature match stoppage, counting as a loss to the injured fighter. The cutman is therefore essential to t... > [@](#): > > Before the fight, cutmen will usually put petroleum jelly on the most likely areas of impact, especially the fighter’s face, making the skin more elastic and slippery, and hence less likely to tear. It is not considered good practice to use large amounts of petroleum jelly, since during the fight it is likely to end up on the gloves of the opponent, and later in the eyes of the fighter if the opponent lands a punch close to their eyes. Cutmen might also wrap fighters’ hands, which helps protect the bones and tendons. Although, I’m not sure it helps much in a street fight. Scratching, gouging, kicking is more than a little oil can handle. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-beating-what-is-the-petroleum-jelly-for/545474/3 "2010-07-04T02:15:31Z")
Put it in your hair and it is very hard for your opponent to get a good grip. Um, so I figure, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-beating-what-is-the-petroleum-jelly-for/545474/4 "2010-07-05T00:52:08Z")
Girls used to put it on their faces to minimize the scratches they would receive. They hardly used a closed fist to hit their opponent, and would look to scratch them to leave a mark to show what damage they’ve done. Nowadays, anything goes, even boxcutter, sadly. ☹