# The illitration on the front page about pheremones is disgusting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 21, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170 "2002-12-21T03:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alietta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecb155/32.png) [@Alietta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alietta)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/1 "2002-12-21T03:49:50Z")
Cecil, please tell your artist not to draw pictures that ruin my morning breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/2 "2002-12-21T04:02:59Z")
Why? The “illitration” accurately, if idiosyncratically, illustrates the following point from [Cecil’s column on menstrual synchrony](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021220.html): > [@](#): > > In 1998, McClintock coauthored another Nature article reporting on experiments in which cotton pads soaked in donors’ armpit sweat were wiped on the upper lips of recipients. She alleged that this process changed the length of the recipients’ cycles, calling the effect “definitive evidence of human pheromones.” Isn’t it Slug’s duty to try to summarise the salient points of Cecil’s wisdom in his drawings? (Although personally, I lament the absence of the Cecil-turkey from this particular “illitration.”) ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/3 "2002-12-21T04:07:43Z")
You cannot dictate terms to an artist. They must follow their inspiration, even if it leads to illitration. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/4 "2002-12-22T22:39:37Z")
Slug does toned-down versions of his most outrageous illustrations. They’re supplied to all papers as alternates in case some papers want one. In the past, they’ve been online with an “a” added before the “.gif”. However, there doesn’t seem to be an alternate for this one. IMHO, it’s not that bad. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/5 "2002-12-22T23:24:27Z")
Slug is Slug. He illustrates what he feels. Cecil sometimes rejects Slug’s illustration as too much and asks for a re-do. But otherwise, I guess it’s just one of those reasons that Cecil’s columns run in the alternative press rather than in the family newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/6 "2002-12-23T23:18:15Z")
Has there ever been a Slug illustration that isn’t disgusting? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/7 "2002-12-24T01:33:17Z")
He drew a portrait of me once that some would say is disgusting, but it’s the real me that’s screaming to come out. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-illitration-on-the-front-page-about-pheremones-is-disgusting/144170/8 "2002-12-24T08:59:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JillGat \* > He drew a portrait of me once that some would say is disgusting, but it’s the real me that’s screaming to come out. Is it on-line anywhere? I’d like to see it.