Women who love to pop your zits and why.

General Questions
#1

OpalCat’s comment in the Pit inspired me to ask this question that has been in the back of my head for some time.

Why is it that some women get off on popping zits? I have never met a guy who got excited by it, and I will not say that all or even most women get off on it, but five women I have been intimate with actually got really into popping zits (especially ones on my back).

Whats the deal? I offhandedly formed a theory that sounded Freudian but I just pulled it out of my arse, the theory was that since women don’t typically experience ejaculation that the act of popping a zit took the place of this act for some of them. This is obviously flawed and I would like the straight dope on this from those of you who do get off on this activity.

#2

It may not be Freudian but there is a good possibility of their being a Jungian Archetype in there :wink:

#3

I like to do it.

#4

Women who like to pop zits? My god man thats fucking gross. I sure as hell wouldn’t pop their pimplely back. Well maybe for Cindy Crawford, but thats totally different.

#5

Yeah, I admit it. I do it to my boyfriend.

It’s not a Freudian/Jungian thing, but it’s actually a primal grooming instinct–think back to watching chimps groom each other, i.e. picking the bugs out of their hair, etc.

Women seem to be more in tune with it than men do–I believe it seems to be tied in with maternal instinct.

#6

Oh yeah. My SO (and several previous others) really gets off on this. She is not above partly picking at one so it goes pussy and gives a better squirt in a few days. We have discussed this and she refuses to explain why she likes it.

I’ll run the ejaculation theory past her, but it seems unlikely to me.

My idea had been that it is a form of control. I lie still while she picks zits.

d’ugh

#7

Ewwww…this makes me slightly uncomfortable…I used to have to endure being on the receiving end of zit popping from my sister…

Wonder if she does it to her husband nowadays…hmm.

#8

I don’t know why my she likes it but I hate it. It hurts like hell, and if I refuse she gets really mad. :frowning:

#9

My mom always used to do that to me. Weird.

Freud would probably have a field day with that.

#10

My bestfriend had a boyfriend who was really into this, so I dont think it is necessarily a girl thing.

c_goat, my mom did too.

Yeah, this whole topic makes my stomach turn. I was hoping to gain some insight into why. . .but the main reason seems to be, “because.”

#11

I do it. I give my husband a buzz cut about every two weeks, and this usually reveals around three gorgeous whiteheads. Sometimes he actually requests that I pop a deep, painful zit on his back. I don’t know why it’s so satisfying. I pop my own zits too, with great pleasure. It probably has something to do with the if - you - pick - it - it’ll - never - heal fallacy. Every dermatologist on the face of the earth is constantly telling you not to pop your zits or pick at scabs. If that’s such great advice, how come it feels so good?

#12

My fiancee does this to me also. She is the first person I know who is in to this. Whenever I ask her she never really answers. My personal hypothesis is that it has to do with control.

#13

What? You mean my wife isn’t the only one who does this? I do happen to think it is related to the whole grooming thing. It is also possible that it’s control related too. She tends to do it the most when she’s really stressed and feeling out-of-control. That’s when it hurts the most too. She can’t understand why I don’t lie back and purr.

#14

You mean that there are other people like my ex-roommate out there (shudder). One day, my boyfriend and I were sitting up in my dorm room, and my roommate and her boyfriend were getting ready to go out on a date. They were almost ready to go, when Ex-roomie turns to her boyfriend and says, "Wait a minute. You have a zit right there. Let me pop it. He said no, and she said “Aw, c’mon, it will only take a minute!” Suddenly, she is chasing the poor guy around our room trying to catch him so that she can pop his zit. She seemed completely obsessed with this blemish. My boyfriend and I were both grossed out by this, and we decided to head to the cafeteria before this lovefest turned our stomachs any more.

It’s unsanitary enough to pop your own zits–I couldn’t imagine getting someone else’s germs in the picture. Gross!

I have to admit, though, that I have a similar compulsion about picking scabs, even other people’s scabs, but I try my darnedest to keep it under control.

#15

I pop the zit’s on my husband’s back. In fact, he usually comes to me requesting help. I don’t find it gross at all and sometimes it’s oddly satisfying.

I blame my mom. She used to do this for me and my dad pretty often. I’m sure my dad still suffers through it every now and then.

I think it is likely a grooming behaviour. Plus, it’s helpful since you obviously can’t reach your own back easily.

I try to keep the desire to pop my husband’s zits under some control (I ask him first) but I know when I have kids, they’ll be at my mercy. (Aw, Mom, do you have to do this now?)

#16

I can’t stand zits. On anybody. So I pop 'em.

#17

OK, the TMI rating in this thread is reaching critical levels.

“Grooming” is a good a WAG as any, but does someone have access to a study that has actually examined this, uh, phonomenon?

#18

I LOVE PERFORMING “SURGERY” ON MY GIRL!!! She’s absolutely beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but she has a little acne on her upper back. I don’t go for the ones I know will hurt or exude some liquid puss. I go for the little, white hard ones that are already sticking out of the skin. I get a flashlight and hold the beam horizontally to her back, in order to illuminate the “little trees”. Then I get some tweezers and pick them out. I’ll save them in a little pile on the bed, and then show them to her when I’m done. She thinks it’s disgusting, but I find it to be terrific fun. I wish I had them on my back so she could pick them out of me!

#19

I actually enjoy popping my own zits, but I would never in a million years pop someone elses’! GROSS!

Of course, in light of the above, the following true story seems even stranger: About six years ago when I was 18 and my brother about 26, we were both home for Christmas when I noticed a “thing” on his upper right shoulder. To this day we’re not sure exactly what it was, but we figure it might’ve been an ingrown hair. There was a very small circular hole in his skin about 1/8 inch across. The edges of this hole were black, and underneath it was a hard mass about the size of a marble, although it didn’t form a visible bump in his skin. My brother said he had noticed it the other day and had no idea what it was. He had tried to squeeze it but couldn’t really reach it. So I had to try for myself. I put my thumbs on either side of that thing and pressed like hell. Oh-so-slowly, flesh colored “stuff” came oozing out of the hole. It wasn’t pus; it had the color and consistency of refrigerated peanut butter. This stuff was apparently what made up the hard mass under the hole, because after about ten minutes of squeezing, the mass was almost entirely gone. The hole eventually healed up and closed over.

Gross, I know. But that thing wasn’t a zit. I’d still like to know exactly what it was.

#20

Liz, it might be what’s known as a sebaceous cyst. Of course I’m no doctor. But I am a patient.