• _db
    3.6k
    The issue I am concerned with here is society's orientation to testicles in general and how this reflects the relationship between men and women.

    Testicles are often seen as a sign of masculinity, strength, and power. Sometimes, testicles are flaunted like peacocks' feathers: the bigger your "balls", the more manly you are. Oftentimes warriors, sports icons and other masculine idols are described in terms of having "balls of steel" or similar phrases. There is an apparent correlation between heroism and having testicles. If you do not have the courage, you are often seen as not having testicles. In this sense, having testicles means having courage, etc. This seems to marginalize heroes who are women, who do not have testicles themselves.

    I believe the society I live in finds testicles to be a source of sadistic entertainment. It is a common trope, especially in film: a man gets hit in the testicles and comedically falls down in pain. This is supposed to be funny. However, most other forms of pain-inflicting violence are not funny. It is not usually funny to hit, stab, shoot, or otherwise assault another person. But hitting a man in the testicles is a trope that has a long history of being amusing.

    My question is, why is this? Why is seeing a man succumb to intense pain by being hit in the testicles, funny? What makes this funny? (I have never found this funny, myself)

    In my own experience, I have met many women who seem to relish in this humor. They do not just find it funny, but also find it vindicating, to see a man succumb to a hit to his testicles. From my perspective, it is as if they think the man deserves to be reduced to a helpless creature, curled up in the fetal position. I have detected an immense amount of rage, bordering sadism, in these women. They not only find it funny, but some would also like to personally kick a (certain) man in his testicles. And society at large seems to excuse this sadism.

    These experiences make me believe that society does not care if a man is hurt when he has his testicles damaged. Testicles are a source of amusement. But furthermore, I believe the rage and sadism held by some women with respect to this is a sign of patriarchal oppression. The fact that they enjoy seeing a man writhe in pain is an indication that they believe this man deserves to be punished, that he deserves to be "stripped" of his power. In a patriarchy, men have power over women. The fact that a man has an extremely vulnerable pair of external organs is a way for women to seek "revenge" on men for their oppression. It is a way of leveling the playing field, so to speak.

    In this way, testicles are both a representation of pure masculinity and a vulnerability that betrays this very same masculinity.
  • Joshs
    5.7k
    Testicles produce testosterone. Testosterone vs estrogen equates to manliness vs femininity. Castrati, with their higher voices, are seen as feminized. Is all humor derived from damage to testicles a sign of hostility or oppression? Perhaps only to the humorless. But I gotta hand it to you, it took balls to write that.
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k
    You observe individuals say x or behave in y way, and you conclude that "society thinks such and such."

    No.
  • Terrapin Station
    13.8k


    Hey, we agree on something finally.
  • unenlightened
    9.2k
    To further the general level of understanding of this important topic, I suggest we form a study group and make a close reading of the major text, The Ball of Kerrymuir. There are many editions, but this one is freely available, and fairly unbiased
  • Tzeentch
    3.8k


    Great to see such wholesome behavior from long-time members of this forum.
  • Streetlight
    9.1k
    Idk there's a delicious irony in the fact that manhood is associated with a pair of fragile little dangly, shrively things. And everybody - men and women - has a pained giggle when someone gets kicked in the nads. It the taboo and the sacral made comic and pedestrian.
  • Baden
    16.3k
    It is a common trope, especially in film: a man gets hit in the testicles and comedically falls down in pain. This is supposed to be funny.darthbarracuda

    I have to admit I'm not immune to that reaction. In fact, I'm all for slapdick comedy. :halo:

    But... it's unnecessary as evidence to establish the existence of patriarchal oppression, for which much more direct empirical data is available:

    e.g. https://www.payscale.com/data/gender-pay-gap
  • Tzeentch
    3.8k
    "Patriarchal oppression" makes it sound like a conspiracy. Given the axiom of "men like things, women like people" (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-19763-004) it is not surprising that men generally thrive in a materialistic society.

    Calling it oppression would suggest that somehow this has been premeditated by the 'evil woman-hating man', which is coincidentally the sort of sentiment that would lead to the pathology as described in the original post. Though, a distinction needs to be made between innocent laughs about innocent pain and sadism.

    Jung wrote some very interesting things about how men have a feminine side (anima) and women have a masculine side (animus) which need to be properly incorporated to become a psychologically healthy individual. Sentiments like "Women only care about money" and "All men are pigs" are all too commonly expressed these days, indicating child-like levels of development in this regard. It really begs the question of what is wrong in male-female relationships these days.
  • Baden
    16.3k


    I'm not stuck on the nomenclature. Just making the point that the testicles angle is probably not the most effective evidence for the overall issue darth wants to highlight.
  • BC
    13.6k
    Both posts served a salutary purpose in this discussion.

    Quite a bit of the discussion one hears about the differences between, and grievances directed toward men and women are moronic (but never within this sublime shelter of reason, of course).
  • BC
    13.6k
    Testicles are often seen as a sign of masculinity, strength, and power. Sometimes, testicles are flaunted like peacocks' feathers: the bigger your "balls", the more manly you are. Oftentimes warriors, sports icons and other masculine idols are described in terms of having "balls of steel" or similar phrases.darthbarracuda

    Taking the expression literally, I think a man with steel balls would find them an inconvenience. They'd be much too heavy, make too much noise banging together, and would stretch his scrotum down to his knees. Never mind trying to get through airport security screening. Just picture what would happen in an MRI machine.

    There might be a some relationship between larger testicles and some masculine features like a lower voice pitch. However, pictures of naked muscle-builders don't usually show remarkably large testicles. Testicle size doesn't seem correlated with heterosexual he-man stereotypes. The lack of correlation is partly owing to the role that testosterone plays in fetal development. Male fetuses supply the testosterone that masculinizes the brain. AND, of course, male and female brains look pretty similar when you scoop them out of the skull and put them side by side on the lab table, as one does.

    To repeat myself, much of the discussion one hears about the differences between, and grievances directed toward men and women are moronic. Some of it is just another trope like the 'kick in the balls' humor you mentioned. A lot of it is stupid, but that doesn't mean that there is no seriousness in saying it.
  • unenlightened
    9.2k
    a close reading of the major text, The Ball of Kerrymuir.unenlightened

    Since no one has leaped forward to put their testicles where their mouths are, I'll make a few preliminary remarks myself. The text is sacred to an ancient Celtic ritual to do with the anointing of the King, known at the time as the 'Man-o-the-match'. (see Frazer's Golden Bough).) There are tantalising hints as to the nature of this ritual in a celebration called 'the Cup Final', a struggle for possession of, with much handling and kicking, a giant testicle, and in a surviving children's game called 'Cup and Ball'. The medical ritual whereby a doctor 'cups' the testicles while pronouncing "Cough please", which is thought to have been originally part of the wedding ceremony, is also connected. The most popular theory is that suitors for a princess would line up 'against the wall' (to prevent surprise attacks), and submit to various testicular ordeals until the last man standing won his bride.

    So one must read the chorus with great care, because it is not only recited by the ensemble but repeated, and with each repetition takes on a different meaning, that has, as Wittgenstein has pointed out, only a family resemblance. To assume that the chorus has a single and stable meaning would be to entirely miss the subtlety of the text.

    singing balls to your father
    arse against the wall.

    if you never get fucked on a saturday night,
    you'll never get fucked at all

    In the first recitation, the meaning is fairly straightforwardly describing the ritual, naming the day and the only slight difficulty is that 'fucked' means kicked in line 3, and married in line 4. But this much is surely obvious to most. I'll stop here before considering the first verse, in case any further insights are forthcoming, or clarifications needed, and with each verse in turn, revisit the chorus in the light of the verse.
  • Nils Loc
    1.4k
    How many testicles did it take to make this thread?
  • DiegoT
    318
    Curiousity: We "testify" in courts, because Romans literally grabbed their pack when they took an oath.

    Our society is all about crushing symbolically men´s testicles, and that´s bad for women, as they have no protection against their own biological dark desires for brutes and dangerous men. These characters glare like fireflies in the night, becouse women are now living surrounded by emasculated "best friends" that are afraid of being denounced or forsaken for being too forward with them. So women, especially young girls, become easy victims for orcs who are used to impose themselves aggressively and treat women like inferiors. The emasculated boyfriend or husband will go to his corner to cry, instead of manning up.

    Enough of this; Western men need to be men again, if not for our own sake, for the sake of our women and families. We need to claim our testicles back.

    [Mod edit: Deleted racist image]
  • Baden
    16.3k
    [Racist image]DiegoT

    This requires an explanation.
  • DiegoT
    318
    This requires an explanation.Baden

    No, it doesn´t, I picked a picture from the internet that seems to ilustrate my point. I don´t know the story behind and it really does not matter; it is just a visual aid. Not everything needs to be plain and accurate, imagination and symbolism are also relevant to reasoning. According to James Hillman, Jungian author who developed Archetypal Psychology, it is important to let images speak by themselves to our unconscious mind:

    "For instance, a black snake comes in a dream, a great big black snake, and you can spend a whole hour with this black snake talking about the devouring mother, talking about anxiety, talking about the repressed sexuality, talking about the natural mind, all those interpretive moves that people make, and what is left, what is vitally important, is what this snake is doing, this crawling huge black snake that's walking into your life…and the moment you've defined the snake, you've interpreted it, you've lost the snake, you've stopped it.… The task of analysis is to keep the snake there.…"

    Nowadays we know for certain that the Unconscious is crucial to rational thinking, since most of our cognitive activity is really sub-conscious. Notice how cover of books actually help to make sense of the content; they are chosen for a reason, and play a role in the way you interpret the texts. However, this influence is not direct or obvious, but through the imaginal world of symbols that J.A. Cirlot studied so well (I totally recommend his dictionary of symbols, since it is in English too).

    For example, look at this cover; the simplicity, the choice of letter type (that is suitable for Scripture), and the marble background tells our subconscious that the content is transcendent, prophetical and abstract or sublime. The title is impressed on our mind very strongly, because it is all we get. This influences how we will read the book:

    https://miculteolog.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/309621273_2.jpg
  • Baden
    16.3k
    No, it doesn´tDiegoT

    Yes, it does. What point was it supposed to make and why did you choose that pic to make it?
  • DiegoT
    318
    none of those words.
  • DiegoT
    318
    which from what I can make out, is his choice word for the people of different races that he perceives to be doing the cucking...Mr Phil O'Sophy

    I don´t believe in races. I don´t think we live in the Middle Earth. Racial theories were abandoned even before DNA discovery, and only poor ignorant people and supremacists believe in them anymore. Darwin did too much harm to Biology.
  • Baden
    16.3k


    I'm deleting the racist image now. Be more careful about what you post in future.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    It's strange that people didn't pick the penis as a symbol for masculinity. That's not entirely true because in Hinduism we have the Shiva Lingam - the phallus.

    Good point though - the source of manly power and yet it's weakest point :grin:

    I agree that the "manly parts" are exposed to attack. I guess evolution thought sex was more important than safety.
  • Deleteduserrc
    2.8k
    For example, look at this cover; the simplicity, the choice of letter type (that is suitable for Scripture), and the marble background tells our subconscious that the content is transcendent, prophetical and abstract or sublime. The title is impressed on our mind very strongly, because it is all we getDiegoT

    All this cover evokes for me is 'default template.' Looks like the type of thing you get when you're trying to make a quick buck off of works in the public domain, and you don't have the money to spend on cover design.
  • Hanover
    12.9k
    In this way, testicles are both a representation of pure masculinity and a vulnerability that betrays this very same masculinity.darthbarracuda

    Yeah, but if you call someone a dick, it's not a compliment either, so there's that. Calling a man a pussy also isn't a compliment, but I suppose women could tolerate that insult better, considering it amounts to pointing out their lack of masculine assertiveness which they aren't always expected to have (damn double standards).

    Regarding humor, I might laugh if two women were punching one another's breasts like speed bags, or if one took a kick to the hoo-haa and the other cried out "Ouch! My balls!" All of this assumes slapstick cartoon humor where no one is actually getting injured. I, being the sensitive soul that I am, truly never found humor in those videos where someone flew headfirst off their bicycle into a beehive, nor where someone took a kick to the nads. It's not funny, but then again, I'm very sophisticated. If you don't get it, grow a pair of ovaries and call me.
  • Deleteduserrc
    2.8k
    These experiences make me believe that society does not care if a man is hurt when he has his testicles damaged.darthbarracuda

    Society also seems to be indifferent to expressive animals who take an anvil to the head. And poor folk falling victim to descending safes.
  • Deleteduserrc
    2.8k
    I've always had a softspot for those who, chasing a beautiful lady, trip on a banana peel, and fall facefirst into a pie. Those who, after falling, are revived by the scent of a steaming turkey. Who, so-revived, flutter their arms as though they were a bird, flapping their way toward the scent's source. Who, flapping, encounter the finality of a well-aimed frying pan. Who, laid flat, consider the unerring circuits of birds flapping in haloes round their head, chirping.
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