# The genitals really are the ugliest parts of the human body, aren't they? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955 "2013-07-30T22:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/1 "2013-07-30T22:20:09Z")
“The things that make babies are so ugly that, were it not for pretty faces, the human race would die out.” – Leonardo da Vinci (either gay or asexual) I am not gay or asexual or in any way sex-negative, I just think it’s an interesting fact. Applies to both sexes’ goodies. You’ve got more-or-less smooth skin everywhere else, and then you’ve got these weird crinkly-wrinkly things. Even the anus is more esthetically pleasing, neater. Many people do like looking at them, often for spells of 5 minutes to half an hour, and poets write poems to their beauty sometimes, but that’s because they associate them with a wonderful thing like sex; no asexual esthete would call them beautiful on their own account. I guess it’s just an inevitable design feature, they wouldn’t perform their function if they were pretty. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/2 "2013-07-30T22:24:54Z")
_Shrug_ Speak for yourself… I do wonder if part of the reason for finding it beautiful has to do with curiousity for what one lacks. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/3 "2013-07-30T22:28:18Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > _Shrug_ Speak for yourself… > > I do wonder if part of the reason for finding it beautiful has to do with curiousity for what one lacks. Well, actually, there is no such thing as penis envy. There is such thing as penis **shame.** That’s why we’re always looking for places to hide them. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/4 "2013-07-30T22:29:43Z")
What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? some say you nose. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/5 "2013-07-30T22:41:19Z")
[Stewie thinks so.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWHJk5g9DOE) ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/6 "2013-07-30T22:46:39Z")
The D is not ugly. Not all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/7 "2013-07-30T22:46:54Z")
I don’t think this is in any way universal, but I agree. Penises are, at the very best, funny looking. The whole vulvas/vaginal opening/labia region look like a Lovecraftian monstrosity. I don’t find it particularly pleasant to look at either, even when I’m, er… “in the mood”. I’m not asexual, it’s just that when it comes to sexual endeavors the genitals are about the last thing I want to look at. The best I can say about them is that they kind of look interesting from an artistic and scientific perspective, but that’s damning with faint praise. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/8 "2013-07-30T22:51:22Z")
They’re no uglier than elephants, and plenty of people find those cute. I personally don’t find (clean healthy) genitals to be ugly. And if your lady’s vulva reminds you of a “Lovecraftian nightmare” she’s either sick or you… aren’t all that straight, let’s say. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/9 "2013-07-30T23:02:35Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > They’re no uglier than elephants, and plenty of people find those cute. I personally don’t find (clean healthy) genitals to be ugly. > > And if your lady’s vulva reminds you of a “Lovecraftian nightmare” she’s either sick or you… aren’t all that straight, let’s say. No, I’m sexually attracted to women, but genitals – male or female – kind of squick me. I actually fast forward through the closeups of genitals in porn because it’s kind of a turnoff. Call it an anti-fetish I guess. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/10 "2013-07-30T23:06:22Z")
Frank Zappa gave [the definitive answer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KJrfHxOL-A). ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/11 "2013-07-31T00:01:48Z")
Yeah, if you think about it just from an aesthetic point of view, genitals are not attractive, but for many of us the pleasant associations can make them seem so. The same way a bowl of spaghetti in marinara actually looks pretty horrific stripped of its delicious context. Sort of a worms-in-blood or bowl-of-viscera look. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/12 "2013-07-31T00:06:39Z")
I have to agree. I hang out with nudists. Human genitals are weird and slightly off putting. Plants definitely hit the lottery in the beautiful genitals division. Well, many of them. This one’s nearly as weird as a penis: [Amorphophallus titanum - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/13 "2013-07-31T00:12:59Z")
Fucking feet. Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/14 "2013-07-31T00:16:04Z")
Most appendix aren’t very cute. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/15 "2013-07-31T00:20:11Z")
I agree. A guy I knew used to ask me to take pics of myself and send them. It was the most hideous thing I had ever snapped a photo of and it killed me to send it. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/16 "2013-07-31T00:25:29Z")
They are not created equal. While I try to pretend scrotums aren’t there and I prefer neatly groomed pubes, plenty of penises are quite aesthetically pleasing. Same with vulvas. I find mine to be more photogenic than the rest of me. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/17 "2013-07-31T00:27:50Z")
They don’t call it “bumpin’ uglies” for nothing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/18 "2013-07-31T00:32:43Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > The whole vulvas/vaginal opening/labia region look like a Lovecraftian monstrosity. [**Earthman,** give me your **SEED!**](http://www.undergroundcollectibles.com/index.cfm/fa/items.main/parentcat/10288/subcatid/0/id/238215) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/19 "2013-07-31T00:34:48Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Most appendix aren’t very cute. Well, of course, I meant the parts visible without breaking the skin. Nothing **under** it is much to look at. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955/20 "2013-07-31T01:17:02Z")
The back of my elbows are kind of unsightly. Not that I’ve seen them lately. If you want to see cute penises, try googling phalloi red wombat studio. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genitals-really-are-the-ugliest-parts-of-the-human-body-arent-they/664955.md?page=2)