# Men!  Cover your nutsack, for god's sake!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [March 28, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676 "2003-03-28T01:32:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 9

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**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/161 "2003-03-31T17:17:53Z")

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This thread is proof that you can change your name but you can’t change your fuckdardism.

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**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/162 "2003-03-31T17:26:06Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by lieu \*  
> \*\*Remember when in _Invasion Of The Scroatum Snatchers_ that roving nutsack caught the drunk asleep with his dog and morphed the two of them together so that when they awoke the dog had the drunk’s face for a ballsack? Then the dog ran off with the drunk’s face bouncing back and forth between canine buttcheeks. That was my favorite part. \*\*

Aaaaaauuuuggghhhh!!

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rubystreak \*  
> **When was the last time YOU saw an elbow writhe?**

_AAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!_ The escalating mental images in this thread are making my brain melt down and run out my ears. Stop! Please! I’ll never look at another scrotum again! I promise! (That’s gonna make for some awfully funny looking drawings.)

**Zabali** , thanks for the commas. 🙂 And, yes, you’re right. Peeing in the street is illegal _because_ it’s unsanitary (like spitting, which isn’t sexual either), thus my point about non-sexual use not being the criterion. Nursing a baby is neither offensive nor unsanitary. Sorry to be so vague. (Oh dear, I’m being polite in the Pit.) Sorry to be so fucking vague, dammit.

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**Author:** ![jkusters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jkusters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkusters)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/163 "2003-03-31T18:41:48Z")

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I’d have to say that if one can be called misogynistic because frank and graphic talk about the menstrual cycle in a casual social setting in one’s home makes one want to change the topic, then I personally call being “horrified” by the accidental glimpse of a man’s privates is misandronistic (sp?). While I would not use the language chosen by Mockingbird, I do agree with the thought that Ruby is making very much ado about nothing. It wasn’t an intentional flash, and in a polite society, one simply looks away and forgets about it, not shares the experience with everyone and their uncle on a public message board.

Of course, I’m going to get flamed to hell and back for stating that opinion, but hey, that’s what the board is here for, isn’t it?

:rolleyes:

JOhn.

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**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/164 "2003-03-31T18:49:08Z")

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It is certainly NOT misogynistic to feel uncomfortable when people talk about their periods. Who the hell said it was?

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**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/165 "2003-03-31T19:30:30Z")

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I’m sure I’ve said this about other Pit threads, but here goes again … starting one isn’t an overreaction. Screaming “Aaagh! Rogue gonads!” and blasting the offending anatomy with a flamethrower, _that_ would be an overreaction. Starting a humorous thread on a message board, that isn’t an overreaction. Just MHootervilleO again.

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**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/166 "2003-03-31T19:35:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \*  
> \*\*“Aaagh! Rogue gonads!” \*\*

You know, when I get my new band going…

I’m just not sure whether to leave the “Aaagh!” with it or not.

😃

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**Author:** ![jkusters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jkusters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkusters)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/167 "2003-03-31T20:13:55Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \*  
> \*\*It is certainly NOT misogynistic to feel uncomfortable when people talk about their periods. Who the hell said it was? \*\*

To the best of my knowledge, the person does not post to the SDMB. It was an incident IRL (in real life, for those unfamiliar with the acronym) that particularly offended me. However, talking to other feminists seems to back up the woman’s position, so it would stand to reason that it is not an isolated opinion.

(That being said, perhaps it is against commonly accepted practices to bring IRL experiences into a discussion on the Dope. Hopefully not as it would seem horribly ironic. :))

JOhn.

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**Author:** ![NutWrench](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nutwrench/32/20193_2.png) [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/168 "2003-03-31T20:43:30Z")

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_\>Men! Cover your nutsack, for god’s sake!_

Ok. Now what? 🙂

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**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/169 "2003-03-31T21:59:20Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \*  
> \*\*Yeah, but you’d never hear a man say, “Ya know, I _love_ playing with tits, squeezin’ ‘em, chewin’ on 'em, but I just don’t like how they look.” Never happen. \*\*

No, truuuue, but the southern bits on a girl aren’t all that aesthetically pleasing either, (IMHO).

And also IMHO, (maybe it’s because I’m overendowed) I don’t get the fascination guys have regarding boobs, I hate the darn things, and I DO happen to think they’re ugly. Not quite as much so as scrotums, as they aren’t hairy and wrinkly (we hope!!), but I personally can’t figure out why men think they are all that.

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**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/170 "2003-03-31T22:47:34Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> nutsack packing heat

Band Name!

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**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/171 "2003-04-01T00:20:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jkusters \*  
> I’d have to say that if one can be called misogynistic because frank and graphic talk about the menstrual cycle in a casual social setting in one’s home makes one want to change the topic,

I wouldn’t consider it misogynistic if a man didn’t want to talk about menstruation. It’s a very gory topic and not everyone wants to hear about it. Though I know some women will bring up this very topic just to make the boys squirm. 😃

> [@](#):
>
> then I personally call being “horrified” by the accidental glimpse of a man’s privates is misandronistic (sp?).

Ever heard the phrase “mock horror”? Ever feel sympathetic horror for someone in a very embarrassing situation? Ever just not want to see someone else’s genitals? Fer fuck’s sake, I don’t hate men. I like men a hell of a lot, even their naughty bits. That doesn’t mean I want to see just anybody’s nards. I’m picky that way. Wwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaay to blow it all outta proportion.

This was supposed to be a funny thread, and it was for a while, but you know, the party does seem to be over now.

> [@](#):
>
> While I would not use the language chosen by Mockingbird, I do agree with the thought that Ruby is making very much ado about nothing.

Well, obviously. And it was funny, wasn’t it? Ya laughed, didn’t ya? Would you have preferred if I didn’t share my absurd horror and not had that laugh?

> [@](#):
>
> It wasn’t an intentional flash, and in a polite society, one simply looks away and forgets about it, not shares the experience with everyone and their uncle on a public message board.

I did look away, but the memory of certain things can stay burned into a person’s brain for a long time afterwards.

> [@](#):
>
> Of course, I’m going to get flamed to hell and back for stating that opinion, but hey, that’s what the board is here for, isn’t it?

Yep.

> [@](#):
>
> :rolleyes:

Back atcha.

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**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/172 "2003-04-01T01:52:43Z")

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Q:What author is a man more likely to read when viewing his scrotom?

A: Balzak.

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**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/173 "2003-04-01T02:08:26Z")

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Q: What actor is the favorite of crotch-gazers everywhere?

A: Peter O’Toole

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**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/174 "2003-04-01T02:17:53Z")

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Not that you need to be defended Ruby, but judging by the responses in this thread, most people “got” what you were intending to convey.

That of you putting a funny slant on a slightly embarrassing experience.

Ignore those who are too uptight and wrapped up in their own supposed superiority to see it.

It’s still a darn funny thread, even with those attempting to spoil it with their, well… their “spoiledness”.

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**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/175 "2003-04-01T02:40:29Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> This was supposed to be a funny thread, and it was for a while, but you know, the party does seem to be over now

I thought it was funny as hell! There are always a few uptight assholes who don’t own a humorous bone in their body. Just ignore them and their snooty whining and hopefully sooner or later they will dig the sticks out of their asses.

FWIIW, I am no fan of seeing the schweddy, sagging, floppin’ old man scrote either. Ewwwwwwwww.

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**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/176 "2003-04-01T02:49:46Z")

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This thread is the motherlode of band names:

[ul]scrotal exposure  
penile revelation  
johnson viewage  
scrotumy goodness  
scrotal tissue  
nutsack packing heat  
scrotifery  
men in Speedos  
the Titzlinger Two  
creeping scrotum  
pants oysters  
flesh pocket  
Obsessive Compulsive Scrotum  
yogurt-slinger  
strange scroti  
unfurling labia  
bearded clam  
Rogue gonads  
[/ul]

Please don’t kill me!

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**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/177 "2003-04-01T02:57:45Z")

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What? You didn’t like my “floppin’ old man scrote”?

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**Author:** ![jkusters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jkusters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkusters)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/178 "2003-04-01T05:50:36Z")

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I just re-read the OP and I still can’t see the cues I should have caught that it was meant to be humor. It’s in the Pit, it was clearly marked as a “vent”, and the word “Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrggghhhhh!” was used. No, I didn’t laugh when I read the OP. It was more of a shake my head experience.

Any help for us poor “uptight assholes” to recognize what is supposed to be a humorous post in the future?

JOhn.

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**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/179 "2003-04-01T11:08:25Z")

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\*\* jkusters \*\* If you’re not sure how it was meant, “look” around you at the other SDMB’ers and see how the majority of them react. Take your cues from them. Or, after seeing how the others react, go back and re-examine the post, and try to pick up on what it is the others have seen. Once you can see their perspective you may find that you agree with it. Even if you don’t, you can at the very least be able to interact more easily. Basically do what you’ve just done, and keep asking questions.

Haven’t you ever had an experience that was similar? Haven’t you seen someone, with toilet paper on their shoe? Or maybe when they take off their jacket, their underwear is visible over their shirt? Didn’t you feel somewhat embarrassed on their behalf?

Sometimes you can tell the person,and save them further embarrassment. Sometimes you can’t. I’ve always stepped on the toilet paper, and quietly thrown it away, or tried to let the person know quietly that their fly was down, without anyone else overhearing.

It’s not that we are laughing at the poor old guy. Well, in a way we are, but we know that he is us, if that makes sense. We know we’ve been the old guy, and we’ve been Rubystreak too.

A skit that Rowan Atkinson did springs to mind. (I think I spelled his name correctly, he’s a British comedian, he plays Mr. Bean.) He and his companions are going to be presented to the Queen. He’s fussing around, making sure he has good breath, and that his pocketchif is correct, when to his horror he finds his fly open. He tries to get it closed, but it sticks. The skit is funny because you are horrified on his behalf. For whatever reason, laughter is a good way to ease the emotional tension from such things. Once the laughing is done, things are better.

Think of times when someone has obviously had an embarrassing accident, and instead of blushing, or crying and running away, they laugh, and everyone laughs with them. The laughter lets the person know, that the people around them have been in similar situations, and sympathize. (We are laughing at ourselves too.)

The laughter is a release. We know the embarrasment of being the person in the situation, and the sympathetic horror of witnessing a person in one. We hope the person finds out their situation on their own, because telling them would make it worse. Ask a psychologist to explain this phenomena better.

I remember finding myself in an embarassing situation, that had been going on for a while, and nobody told me. My friend and I later cried with laughter over it. She just didn’t know how to tell me that my panties were showing under my dress. (It was fine linen, and I thought it was thick enough not to need a slip, it was a bright summer day and I did not want to wear an extra layer.) I wondered why the guys seemed so much more clumsy. 😃

I hope that my long winded post helps you understand why we are all laughing at the incident. 😉

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**Author:** ![ratty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@ratty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratty)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-cover-your-nutsack-for-gods-sake/164676/180 "2003-04-01T13:55:06Z")

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This thread is one of the many reasons why I love this board.😃

I guess from a strictly scientific viewpoint, seeing a stranger’s scrotum is no big deal. It’s just a body part like any other, 50% of the world’s population has one, etc., etc. But like many before me have pointed out, social rules dictate that persons of either gender shield their danglies from public view. Unintentionally violating this social rule causes spasms of sympathy embarassment and horror in all so treated to such a sight. We mentally put ourselves in the place of the hapless flasher: “Oh my God, that guy/girl’s bits are hanging out! I would die of embarassment if that happened to me! I’ll just pretend I saw nothing, while secretly feeling deeply horrified by the situation, because _there but for the grace of God go I._”

We use laughter and mock shock/horror to defuse social tension. It makes it easier on everyone involved- we sort of parody what a “standard” response would be to show it’s not a big deal.

All this said, I have to agree that the southerly parts of adult humans are not exactly paragons of anatomical beauty. It all depends on the situation- if you’re a doctor/nurse/health care provider, it doesn’t phase you in the least; if you’re a lover, the sight is arousing and intimate. But in casual social relations with strangers or acquaintances, genitalia have been deemed inappropriate viewing material. Why this should be so and whether or not it should be so is beside the point. Most people just aren’t particularly interested in seeing the reproductive organs of those they’re not sleeping with/medically examining. Sorry. And it has nothing to do with gender or sexual orientation, either. Case in point: my fiance tells me my coochie snorcher is a thing of unparalleled beauty; to me, it’s just a body part, albeit one reserved for “special occasions”, and to some random stranger to whom I would unwittingly flash said cooch, it’d probably be the most hideous thing in all creation.

Strangely enough, it’s nothing personal. It’s just that genitals are not generally deemed suitable for public display.

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