२३ ऑक्टोबर, २००५
Here's a ... uh ... children's book.
Well, I guess that about explains it... German style. (Via Metafilter.) I'm trying to think how that would have affected me when I was a kid. It's just so damned clear! Wait 'til they ask, hand them the book, and see if they have any questions. I'm sure it will be better than my own insanely botched explanation. Or my mother's nuttily over-simplified version, in its entirety: "You know how men and women are physically built."
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The Europeans have never taught that there was anything shameful about ones body.
Like most statements containing "never" and referring "the Europeans" as a monolithic bloc, this is blatantly untrue. This actually might be one of the least true things I've ever read, but is the epitome of a particularly blinkered outlook on life.
I'm constantly astonished at how people who know so little about Europe feel the need to project their imagination onto it, pretending that it's perfect and matches their ideal, or how they extrapolate from one location in Europe or some anecdote, and imagine that all of Europe or all "the Europeans" are the same. How many people know, for example, that Prohibition was hardly just a US phenomenon, with Canda (1901 to 1948 in Prince Edward Island, and for shorter periods in other locations in Canada, basically mid 10s to the 20s, same as other countries), Russia (1914 to 1925, called "sukhoy zakon"), Iceland (1915 to 1922, though beer was still prohibited until 1989), Norway (1916 to 1927 for hard liquor, wine and beer also including starting in 1917), and Finland (1919 to 1932, called "kieltolaki") also having alcohol Prohibition around the same time as the US. How many know that the Dutch constitution enshrines the right for people to send their children to religious schools using public money, and enshrines the right of those sectarian schools to deny enrollment to those not sharing the religion? I hear so many sweeping statements about civil liberties or police procedure, about how public health insurance functions (in France and Norway, the answer is user fees, often higher than the out-of-pocket costs for insurance here-- which is a good thing), and everything else that is borne of ignorance and fantasizing about Europe.
It could be worse, of course. It could be as bad as the ignorance of non-European, non-English speaking countries, including things like people having no idea that Japan has the death penalty.
I like the kid pulling himself from the womb with both hands.
If that had happened at my wife's last delivery, I think we all would have kind of freaked out.
Allah: I was going to bring up that horrible "Joy of Sex" guy myself. Why does a guy like that seem to represent the male for illustrators of sex manuals? I've drawn a lot of naked men (in life drawing classes), and, in my opinion, a beard is very undesirable, because it separates the face from the rest of the body. It really limits the composition. For a clothed man, this isn't an issue. The worst male models are in the dandelion format: they have big hair and beards -- a large round fuzzball of a head -- and thin, undifferentiated bodies -- stems.
Paul Zrimsek: It looks just like the picture of Cartman's mom in 'Crack Whore Magazine'.
That reminds me: I want some cheesy-poofs and PIE.
Will Ferrell also had a hairy swinger professor type schtick on SNL where he talked to his "lover" (his equally aroused wife) in fron t of guests and he would invariably throw out his back and shout at her.
Similar looking to the Joy of Sex guy.... Maybe hairy guys get more action? Any sociological or anthropological studies to back that up?
I don't get it. Could we go over it again? And shouldn't there be a stork and some cabbages?
It's even ickier if you can read German. "You can see mother's slit. The slit is called a sheath (Germanic for "vagina," which is Latin for sheath). You can see Father's "little tail," which is called a member. Mother and father love each other very much. They kiss each other. Father's member has gotten big. It stands out stiff. Mother and Father would like very much for Father's member to come into Mother's vagina. It's very nice."
I don't know what's European, but I guess it's very American to find it icky. Precisely because it's so healthy. It goes with Birkenstocks and eating plenty of fiber.
Slocum: LOL. So the woman's personal lady area looked like Kenny's parka hood? I'll never look at a parka hood the same what again. (I stole the term "personal lady area" from here.)
Amba: Thanks. "Slit"? That's considered pretty crude in English. Funny that it's a respectable term in German!
The same way again, I mean.
The Europeans have never taught that there was anything shameful about ones body.
EddieP, that's just not right, sorry.
I'm "European", too, and all cultures in the Eurosphere have a modicum of modesty and even prudery associated with them.
You cannot be naked on the beaches of Italy, e.g. Old men kick sand on you.
What you see, especially in Nordic cultures, is a love of nature.
This kind of person is called a Naturkind and lauded for his healthiness.
But you try to do the same thing in Romania, or Greece, and see what reaction you get...
Also, forgive me further, but Americans seem to have an idea that all Europeans can be lumped together when referring to culture.
It's to do with your own Heinz57 backgrounds, I think, where you lump together German, Swedish, Russian, Bulgarian, and somehow, think it's all the same -- possibly because of racial reasons...
It's not. Trust me. It's disconcerting to hear such things.
Cheers,
Victoria
personal lady area
I like the term 'manregion' but personal lady area just sucks hosepipe.
Cheers,
Victoria
Everything my kiddies will learn about sex will come from Ai No Korida.
Especially the bit with the boiled egg.
Cheers,
Victoria
"Slit" is the direct English translation of "Schlitz." (I guess you'll never look at your beer the same way again, either!)
That's considered pretty crude in English. Funny that it's a respectable term in German!
It's an amusing linguistic quirk having to do with the history of English. German words often correspond to various Anglo-Saxon native English words. But the native Anglo-Saxon words tend to be more basic, and in the case of things like this, cruder than the clinical, educated-sounding French, Latinate, and Greek-derived words. How much of this is because the non-native words are inherently euphemistic, and how much because they were used by higher class and more highly educated people, I don't know.
Japanese works similarly, interestingly. Native Japanese words are considered cruder than English or Sino-Japanese words.
I don't know what's European, but I guess it's very American to find it icky. Precisely because it's so healthy. It goes with Birkenstocks and eating plenty of fiber.
Nothing healthy about mom birthing the baby lying flat on her back. If she were a true Birk-wearer, she would be squatting or something.
Allah-
I am currently watching "Total Recall" on DVD... and Bob Ross will always rule!
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