OK, this is really disgusting, so I put it in a spoiler box in case you don’t want to see it, but…
[SPOILER]From reading Hogg by Samuel Delany, which is a bizarre and highly pornographic story about an eleven year old “cocksucker” who falls in with a crew of “rapists for hire” and is involved in a non-stop orgy of male-on-male sex which is described in the most excruciating detail, much reference is made to the “cheese” which accumulates around a man’s cock head if he is not circumcised. The book’s setting is one of extreme filth and all of the characters are incredibly dirty, never washing or grooming themselves in any way, and it is implied that this “cheese” builds up in the dick of a man who is filthy and doesn’t wash himself.
In the book, the narrator at one point encounters two garbagemen and engages in sex with both of them; he describes one man, Red, as having “two inches” of foreskin hanging off an already nine-inch penis. He talks about how it’s the “cheesiest” dick he’s ever seen, and then describes a technique he learned from another guy to increase the amount of cheese in your dick. Basically, you have to have a really long foreskin to do it. According to the narrator, you jerk off, then tie the foreskin in a little knot, “with the scum inside, and a little piss” and leave it that way for half the day, at which time the cum will curdle and create “cheese.”
My question is, does anyone actually have a foreskin that is long enough to do that with? Or is this completely the invention of the author’s sick fantasy?
I’m circumcised so I have never had any experience with “cheese.” Is it true that uncircumcised men develop this cheese?[/SPOILER]
I’m genuinely seeking a factual answer, but since you asked…it’s just so disgusting that I’m unable to look away from it, like a bad car accident or something. The sheer filth of the book, and the fact that the author (a highly respected and very intelligent writer) manages to keep it consistently filthy throughout the whole book without ever losing momentum, is absolutely fascinating to me. Things that are extremely transgressive to society - extremely taboo - are fascinating to me. It’s fascinating that there is this seedy, filthy underbelly to our society of strange perversions and sordid activities, that nobody ever wants to acknowledge, and I always admire an author who can express that.
When was the last time you saw a commercial for a cream, pad, tube, ring, or spray intended to go in, on, or near the penis? Maybe you see a jock itch ad every once in a while.
When you’re growing up and learning how do deal with your body hygienically, there’s nothing special you need to learn to care for male genitals, other than to try not to get kicked in them. It’s a closed system.
Girls, however, have a lot to deal with. Periods, yeast infections, wipe front to back, pH balance, no harsh soaps, etc etc etc. It’s not a closed system. It requires maintenance. It needs to be maintained. I don’t think that can be argued without redefining the word.
Uncircumcised males have a slight bit of maintenance to deal with. They have to make sure it stays clean under there. You have to draw back skin and make an effort to keep it clean, or bad stuff happens. An uncircumcised male usually needs to be told this as a kid. That’s maintenance. Without the foreskin, the penis requires no special attention in hygiene.
I’m not saying this makes anyone better or worse than anyone else. Just that it’s one more thing that makes it hard for one group to really know what it’s like to be the other.
pH balance? I don’t really do anything special for my genitals other than washing them. And wiping front to back was never something I was told–it just seemed easier. The only maintenance I do is about the same as what a guy does. Wash it in the shower. That’s it. If I get an infection, I deal with it, but that’s not really a hygiene thing.
You’re aware that douching and the like is actually more harmful than helpful, right? No one actually needs to buy feminine hygiene products–if your genitals have a strange odor that doesn’t go away, you should probably go to a doctor whether you’re a man or a woman.
People seem to think that female parts require lots of maintenance because they’re weird or different, but as the owner of said parts, I don’t really see why.
I agree with the first part, that it’s difficult to come to a meeting of the minds on this, but I disagree that there’s no way to resolve the dispute. It can be resolved on larger moral principles.
For me, it comes down to an unalterable body modification without consent, which is generally disapproved of in all other cases. Tattoos, piercings, foot binding, neck elongating, and female genital mutilation are all examples of body modification that most people agree shouldn’t be done to people who don’t consent to them. I don’t see the need to special case circumcision just because one person can’t experience living with circumcision at a very young age and not.
A single person can’t experience growing up with a tattoo and not, or growing up with bound feet and not, but we don’t need to have that experience to determine that it’s wrong to tattoo your baby or bind its feet.
I don’t know what’s going on here. I’m talking about tampons, maxi pads, and the like. Come the period, you have to use these products. You have to make sure you have some on-hand. Maintenance. I shouldn’t need to be arguing about this. There is an entire aisle in the damn grocery store dedicated to vaginal maintenance.
I’m not trying to derail the feminine mystique. I’m pointing out a fact. And not a “fact” like women love vampires, but a fact that the vagina needs to be maintained for health in a manner separate from the rest of the body.
I was hanging out with my friend and we ran into a former co-worker of his. When the guy saw I was pregnant, he asked if the baby was a boy or girl. When I told him a boy, he asked (this was mere moments after meeting me for the first time): “Do you plan to circumsize him?” I knew this was a loaded question, so I said my husband and I were thinking it over.
He launched into this diatribe about how this was cruel mutilation, and that my husband ought to watch a few Youtube videos of circumcisions. If he still wanted to circumcise the child, then he was, “a heartless, heartless person.”
So yeah, some people feel really rabidly about this, and they are not all women. My friend later told me this guy is obsessed with being anti-circ, and is an activist against it. He goes on my list of Crazy Unsolicited Opinions About the Baby. Yeah, I have a list.
