# Kicked in the groin is to men as \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is to women **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913 "2001-03-29T02:14:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/21 "2001-03-29T08:17:35Z")
The couple of times I’ve actually been hit hard enough to whack the ovaries, the pain has knocked the wind out of me. I suspect that if you _could_ directly hit the ovaries, it would be as painful as a kick in the scrotum. But the ovaries are of course buried much deeper than the testicles, so the shock is already partially deflected when it gets there. As far as the breasts - under the right circumstances it hurts pretty bad. At a certain point in the menstrual cycle many women have very tender breasts, for example - also during early pregnancy, and if the breasts are engorged during lactation (i.e. over-filled with milk). But again, it doesn’t match the descriptions I hear about men getting hit in the testicles. Sorry, fellas. Seems like nature played a nasty trick on you all this time. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/22 "2001-03-29T11:00:16Z")
I did, once, during sex get nailed in an ovary. It was amazing pain. My limbs went limp, I wanted to yell but produced only a squeak, and dinner threatened to evacuate the stomach. Is that what you’re talking about? Of course, this is not something that is going to happen very often. For one thing, you need a pretty well endowed guy to do this. Plus, the target isn’t at all obvious. I’m told the sensitivity of ovaries vs. testicles is similar, but the nuts are far more exposed to injury. As far as getting whacked in the breasts - well, sensitivity of breasts varies from woman to woman, and from one time of the month to another in the same woman. Even though a blow to the breasts hurts, it’s not the same sort of incapacitating thing that appears to happen to a guy when hit in the groin. I’ve never heard of anyone passing out from getting hit in the tits, unless it was by a truck or something, in which case it wasn’t the location of injury but the force of impact that caused unconciousness. Getting it in the groin is painful for a woman, too, but we usually don’t collapse into a dishrag or otherwise exhibit signs of incapacitating pain. I suppose if you nailed the clit it could approach that level (a woman’s clit has as many nerves as a man’s entire penis), but it’s a very small target and less exposed than the male equipment. I don’t think menstrual cramps rank anywhere near kick-in-the-groin pain, at least in this gal. It’s possible some women _do_ suffer incapcitating pain from their cycles but that’s not normal. I think guys just got the worse deal on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/23 "2001-03-29T13:17:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Major Feelgud_ > **The testicles are the best example of the worse design** absolutely… There is no worse feeling than what this post is about, and I wish there was a female equvilant that didn’t require having intercourse with them (who wants to hurt her then???)… sigh… maybe if this world were a better place… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/24 "2001-03-29T13:24:05Z")
…“Honey…those pants make you look kind of large in the rear.” ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/25 "2001-03-29T14:20:59Z")
From my professional experience, the closest equivalent to testicular pain I have seen in a female is that which is due to an ovarian cyst. I appreciate that an ovbarian cyst does not result from an instantaneous blow to the region, but the resulting pain is just as debilitating and intractable (sp). ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/26 "2001-03-29T16:10:09Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Major Feelgud \* > \*\*The testicles are the best example of the wors_t\* design.\*\* (grammar corrected 'cos I haven’t had a good nitpick in a while) Actually I think it’s a fairly good design. Sperm need a constant temperature to survive, and the testicular muscles can flex and relax to allow for that. If you had them inside somewhere, you could probably permanently ruin your chances at reproducing with a good fever. And why in the heck _shouldn’t_ they be sensitive? The gonads are probably the closest thing to a reason for any creature’s physical existence. Ya don’t wanna damage 'em under any circumstances. Sure, it might be nice to strut around in “ballbuster” contests where you could see who can take the greatest number of cannon shots to the groin without flinching, but sooner or later you end up with a pair of useless babymakers. Finally - I have to agree with **sethdallob**. The whole kick to the groin concept is not a universal one - it’s merely the province of the tool-making hairless bipeds. If it were some sort of instinctual fighting maneuver, the animal kingdom probably would have evolved some sort of internal gonad system for males. I can hear dogs thinking now: “They bust each other in the _nuts_ - and they call _us_ animals?!” ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/27 "2001-03-29T16:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > I did, once, during sex get nailed in an ovary Maybe my grasp of human anatomy ain’t what it should be, but is it possible to get hit in the ovaries during sex? I wouldn’t have thought so. Cervix, yes, and it hurts like bloody hell, but not ovaries. And speaking as a girl who rides a bike with a crossbar (boy bike), I would bet that it hurts to get nailed in the girl bits about as much as it hurts boy bits. I stopped too fast one time and whumped down onto the crossbar, and the pain literally took my breath away, to the point where my vision tunnelled in. I didn’t want to walk or sit or stand or do anything else that involved having legs for about an hour after that. Lastly, if I remember correctly from my Human Sexuality class in college, men and women have the same number of nerve endings in their genitals, with the clit being the rough equivalent to the head of the penis. Plenty of opportunity in both places for blinding pain. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/28 "2001-03-29T16:55:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beadalin \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > I did, once, during sex get nailed in an ovary > > Maybe my grasp of human anatomy ain’t what it should be, but is it possible to get hit in the ovaries during sex? I wouldn’t have thought so. Cervix, yes, and it hurts like bloody hell, but not ovaries. > \*\* Sure it’s possible to bump an ovary. Slide to the right or left of the cervix and up, and there’s just a few centimeters of soft tissue between the thrusting object and the ovary. They’re easily felt on a bi-manual exam. see my above post Qadgop ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/29 "2001-03-29T17:26:37Z")
Right you are, of course. Don’t know why I was imagining it otherwise. Maybe 'cause it’s too painful to think about? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mysphyt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Mysphyt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mysphyt)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/30 "2001-03-29T17:59:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beadalin \* > \*\*Lastly, if I remember correctly from my Human Sexuality class in college, men and women have the same number of nerve endings in their genitals, with the clit being the rough equivalent to the head of the penis. Plenty of opportunity in both places for blinding pain. \*\* My understanding of it, limited though may be, is that the clitoris and the penis do have roughly the same amount of nerve endings, but most of the clitoris is inside, with only a small percentage poking out. Also, as for the head of the penis connection, I’ve taken a soccer ball to the groin at a fairly high speed. It was a fairly equal-opportunity crotch shot (that is to say, its impact was equally divided between all parts of my . . . erm, business), and afterwards, everything was protesting, but the frank was simply writing a letter to the editor while the beans were actually staging a small-scale revolution. What I mean to say is simply that while a shot to the head of the penis will be unpleasant, and to a great degree, it’s rather nothing compared to a good swift kick to the balls. ---
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/31 "2001-03-29T19:11:08Z")
I’ve heard the comparison to menstrual cramps before. If that’s true, than all the women of the world deserve a standing ovation just for being alive. I was on the losing end of an argument with a softball line drive once. If nature scheduled that for me every month, sometimes days on end, I would have shot myself a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![heembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@heembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heembo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/32 "2001-03-29T20:10:17Z")
Wow - lots of good answer thus far. Some comments: Although I am 100% certain that menstrual cramps are painful, they are not inflicted on women by another person (unless you consider God responsible for this, in which case the commentary should move to the GD section). * * * Finally - I have to agree with sethdallob. The whole kick to the groin concept is not a universal one - it’s merely the province of the tool-making hairless bipeds. If it were some sort of instinctual fighting maneuver, the animal kingdom probably would have evolved some sort of internal gonad system for males. * * * Actually, I think that Hyenas use this tactic when trying to get a Lion to back off a kill - they surround the male and snip at his package until he runs off. Also, it’s good advertising to show how much, err, seed you have to sow. I would agree, getting hit in the penis is far less painful than getting hit in the testes. I speak from experience here - getting hit in the penis is shocking and you THINK you are going to be in lots of pain, but what follows is nothing compared to that of the “sack whack” Looks like we have a unique weakness here, boys. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/33 "2001-03-29T20:20:02Z")
I know the OP stated that childbirth is out of bounds, but my sex ed teacher in high school, who had had three kids herself, told us that getting hit in the balls is more painful than giving birth. Luckily for us guys, the pain lasts only several minutes, unlike the excrutiating marathon of labor. So I guess if someone hit you in the balls every 10 or 15 minutes for about 24 hours, while you’re trying to pass the most gargantuan poo ever, it might compare. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/34 "2001-03-29T20:30:13Z")
I can’t see how this all isn’t heading into IMHO–though the info. coming out here is fascinating. Anyway, in my experience of getting kicked in the groin, the pain was not immediate. First came the shock, the knowledge that pain was GOING to come. Then, my overwhleming memory of the experience was more along the lines of incredibly intense nausea than “pain”, per se. I’ve had many experiences that registered higher on the pain-o-meter (getting punched in the nose–MUCH more incapacitating–, having my teeth drilled, and having an anaesthetic block administered by long needle to the nerve cluster in my armpit so they could set my broken forearm), but none of them have induced that particular feeling of wanting to puke my guts up. ---
**Author:** ![heembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@heembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heembo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/35 "2001-03-29T21:29:20Z")
* * * I wonder if they could find out using MRI scans (or something similar). Maybe one could see what parts of the brain “light up” when a guy is kicked in the balls (good luck finding volunteers), and then see what produces a similar “light up” pattern in women’s brains. Just a thought… * * * Does anyone know if there is a valid way to quantify/compare pain between individuals? Also, could you compare pain experienced by the same individual? If there isn’t a way to do this, even in theory, then toadspittle is correct - this thread belongs in the IMHO category. ---
**Author:** ![heembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@heembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heembo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2001, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/36 "2001-03-30T23:04:03Z")
Come on - are there any physiologists or doctors out there who know if this type of thing can be quantified/measured? ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Noctum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/37 "2001-03-30T23:27:53Z")
getting hit in the nuts is SOO painful, like, when you sit down weird on a humid, hot summer day and scoot to the side, your testes can get squooshed under your leg, and make your face turn purple, and your eyes red. I’ve seen girls get punched in the breast (by another girl) and she stood there and yelped, and walked away. not exactly excruciating. I’ve been kicked in the nuts (on accident) and it was painfull enough to send me to the ground in a heap and was too painful to walk, talk, cough, breath, and TRY to stand up. once I was up, I had to fall back over and just lay there, diaphragm and abs absolutely tense, and in a little fetal position. it sucks ass. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/38 "2001-03-30T23:45:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by justwannano \* > **He also likened childbirth to passing a very large turd.** I’m not so sure about that. There have been times where I was very constipated, but I’ve never had an experience where I was sitting on the can, panting, sweating, and screaming, “I HATE YOU!! YOU DID THIS TO ME!!” ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Noctum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/39 "2001-03-31T00:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not so sure about that. There have been times where I was very constipated, but I’ve never had an experience where I was sitting on the can, panting, sweating, and screaming, “I HATE YOU!! YOU DID THIS TO ME!!” you HAVEN’T?! obviously you haven’t ben prescribed Accutane… ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Noctum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913/40 "2001-03-31T00:23:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not so sure about that. There have been times where I was very constipated, but I’ve never had an experience where I was sitting on the can, panting, sweating, and screaming, “I HATE YOU!! YOU DID THIS TO ME!!” you HAVEN’T?! obviously you haven’t been prescribed Accutane… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicked-in-the-groin-is-to-men-as-________-is-to-women/59913.md?page=3)