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Susan Walsh / AP
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., waits for an elevator near his office on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
The flashes -- both the news and nether region variety -- seem to be popping up everywhere lately: Brett Favre allegedly aired it out and Kanye West snapped south of the border.
After a lewd photo was sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account, the aptly dubbed “Weinergate” saga has exposed a truly touchy question for the Tech Age: Why are some dudes compelled to take cell phone pics of their private parts then share those images -- via texts or tweets -- with the ladies?
It’s time to apply some psychological expertise -- let’s call it “junk” science -- to this sexting obsession among some fellas.
“The simplest theory for the behavior,” said Marta Meana, president of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research, “is that these men think the photos will serve to arouse the woman – because they, themselves, would find it arousing if that woman sent such a photo to them.”
Here’s the rub: that theory applies only to men who send down-and-dirty close-ups to women they know. If a sexter sends an unsolicited, digital portrait of his genitals to a woman he doesn’t know, “it is likely that the act … is arousing to the sender -- sub-clinical or clinical exhibitionism,” said Meana, also a psychology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “The primary intent … is to arouse themselves.”
That scenario seems fit the three celebrities mentioned above -- if they, in fact, did it. (Update: OK, now we know that Weiner did, in fact, do it.)
Favre, the retired quarterback, was fined $50,000 by the NFL late last year for “failing to cooperate” with a league probe into whether he sent x-rated snaps to former NY Jets employee Jenn Sterger. He has not owned up to what may have been the final sack shot of his career. Sterger said she never met Favre.
West, before fame, gifted some of his female MySpace friends with an unsolicited crotch shot which hit the Internet last year. West subsequently admitted to a radio station that the appendage image was his groin.
And on May 27, a post from New York Congressman Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account linked to an image of a man wearing two things -- gray boxer shorts and an erect penis. That picture was sent to one of Weiner’s Twitter followers -- a 21-year-old college student in Seattle, who Weiner said he didn’t know. The U.S. House member denied posting the photo, but noted he couldn’t say “with certitude” the pic was not of his own privates. Weiner’s spokesman initially said the Congressman’s Twitter account had been hacked.
From ballers to rappers to -- maybe -- lawmakers, Little Willy, Willy won’t stay home.
If nothing else, the latest battle of the bulge put Weiner’s long-time pal Jon Stewart in an awkward place. The tweeted image plus Weiner’s job plus – of course – his ironic name – proved too much for “The Daily Show” not to urge “You’ve got to come cleaner, Weiner” in this hilarious Jon Stewart clip.
Here’s the hard truth, guys: Most women are not turned on by video or digital glimpses of your junk, Meana said.
Empirical literature shows clear differences in what lights the passions of males and females. While many dudes are visual animals focused on sexual anatomy, “women’s subjective arousal appears to be more driven by relationship dynamics, expressions of desire, narrative expositions of that desire,” Meana said.
But some ladies -- especially those already in a physical relationship with the sender -- are into sexting. Still, it’s an erotic fine line.
“Sending such a photo after a sexless first date is probably a misstep -- it skips too many courtship stages,” Meana added. “Sending such a photo after you have had hot sex could be sexy to some women.”
Related:
- Breitbart site publishes photos of shirtless man it claims is Weiner
- Your name impacts how others judge you
- NY Rep. Weiner: Lewd photo 'was of me, I sent it'
Bill Briggs is a frequent contributor to msnbc.com and author of “The Third Miracle.”
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Leave a Comment:
Any girl who gets turned on by that...is a guy.
I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere, I just don't get it.
Any girl who sees those pix KNOWS why he photographed his "junk".
Now we can say that Democrats are bigger and smarter than Republicans.
Women aren't aroused by pictures of a guy's crotch. It's why I always send them a picture of my wallet. They find it irresistible.
As a general rule ( and when you create a rule, you also create exceptions), in women, the larger the breasts, the lower the IQ. In men, the larger the penis, the lower the IQ. I am a genius !
The main difference between men and women on childbirth. The women want to film the birth; the men want to film the conception.
Hey old man....bet you won't find a study to support your thesis.
Back to the original topic...why do guys take crotch shots? I dunno. Why do so many women send boob shots?
The "joke" weiner was making when he sent the pic was that you could tell he is a Democrat because he has no balls.
Come on! This is a softball (npi) question, right? Why do guys take the crotch shots? Because they still think the size of the package equates to the quality of the experience.
Pulleeeeze
You see, the thing is that this is all part of a guerrilla ad campaign to kick off Weiner's new line of men's underwear, "Weinerwear." Kind of like the Calvin Klein underwear ads. How it got out of control I have no idea, but you have to admit it's generated lots of buzz. This is advertising gold. Look out Paris Hilton, there's a new boy in town. ;-)
I don't date men I meet at work and I am not much of a bar or club goer so I primarily engage in online dating and I can't tell you how many unsolicited pictures of "packages" have been sent to me. It's an instant way to get yourself added to the blocked list.
If we are in a long term relationship and we have been physical and you want to make it an interesting day then send away BUT after 4 emails, 2 phone calls or 1 date is not an appropriate time for me to find out that you are right-leaning :)
@ Darthfrodo - you gave me LOLz :-)
Women are just as bad as men when sending photos of their boobs and privates to someone. The door swings both ways, and this obsession with Weiner's crotch is getting to be a bit much.
I'm beginning to wonder who the real purvs are on the net. Weiner, or the people obsessed with Weiner's weiner.
Give it a rest. He's not the only man that has done this, and there are 100's of thousands of men in their underwear on the net. Just google the shyt.
Why do women do the same and take boob shots as well? The door swings both way!
I'm getting the impression that a lot of women are more upset about this because he didn't tweet and send them a pic of his crotch for them to fantasize about.
So all you have to do is Google Weiner's crotch shot on google and you can fantasize all you like now.
I can only speak for myself, and not for other women, in saying that I do find the male body really attractive to look at. I don't really believe this opinion that men are visual and women are not. I just think culture, social acceptance, and, perhaps, the way in which it is shown is what affects us. There is some truth to the way women, at least for myself, have to feel towards the person who is sending it. Most men might not mind getting sent pictures of most women they don't know. I'm not saying this is true - just what I gather from what I hear men saying. I think for women, we have to have some kind of feeling towards the guy (sort of what was mentioned in the article), and that doesn't neccessarily mean we are going out with them but that we feel that we know them and are attracted to them. I don't think most women would mind seeing a particular celebrity they fancy for years, and feel like they know, naked in a photo.. It's not about not wanting to see naked photos of men - it's about not wanting to see THAT particular guy naked and obviously what kind of relationship you have with them in your mind. I really do believe it's not whether we like photos or not but how it is done that makes the difference.
Amen, LivingBeing.
He is a selfish man with a fetish, and a strong sex drive, no morals, no dignity, never figured it out, sorry!
He may be self desructive in his masturbation, therefore, the fault lies in being immature and confused as to where this all leads to...
Weinergate...Oh what a tangled web he weaved!!
Weinergate...Oh what a tangled web he weaved!!!
Guy with a cell phone: "Sigh...bored....time on my hands...what to do, what to do.... I know, I'll thrill [fill in the name of luckless female] by taking a photo of my erection! Wow, she's gonna love that!"
Save yourself the trouble, boys. It's not your best feature and it's going make you look more like a bad joke than a Romeo.
Judging by that photo, I think Rep. Weiner had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do.
Ah Jamie, what an elegant summation re: one of the dumbest things men do.
They do "crotch shots", because they are insecure with the size of their package.
They think with their -----, instead of their brain. Hormones over reacting, along with pyschiatric problems of their own virility.
Weiner is vile, nor virile.
loser weiner - what a joke he is - someone called the most eligible bachelor before he got married - someone's opinion is pretty bad. I see no redeeming qualities - not good looking, stupid and now will be unemployed!!
Women do it too.
As a matter of fact some of them I know are worse about it than the men.
But you need a spelunking team to get in depth photos.
Nah,, all you need is a silver tongue.
nice
When his wife is done with him I bet he has a much leaner wiener
No doubt about it, it's a stupid thing to do - even to your own tolerant wife. But why are there women, young for the most part, sending photos of their naked torsos to men? Let's have a story about the psychopathology of that.
If there's one lesson in this, it is STOP doing things you'd LIKE to keep private which are recorded/distributed in media over which you have NO CONTROL.
Corollary: The more visible and known you are or the more money and influence you control, the more valuable your private details are to the public and the media.
Maybe because our American society is brainwashed with sex through TV, movies, music, magazines... not to mention violence, of course, as well. Garbage in, garbage out.
Give the guy a break. He was having fun.
Why do women do it? Because men like it.
Why do men do it? Because men like it.
LOL! :)
These are the times,it's more European than American,with these actions,it's also human,but in America it's considered bad,because of all the religion brainwash sh!t since the Mayflower........if you ask me,keep it straight,above board,if you have a holier-than-thou God-complex you won't get it....EVER!.........More fodder for the scum of the earth(briebart,o'keefe..etc.)...to make money off of....such as the world turns
I think Rep. Weiner has a lot that other men are jealous of.
With a nose like that, why crotch shots?
"Why do guys take crotch shots, anyway?"
because it's there.
It was just so stupid! On the net, forever! Another sign, men really do think with their little heads most of the time.
Men like this "one" are disgusting ,he is a liar he is a cheater ,he has LOW self steem,he has not brains for sure ,hope his wife get rid of him PRONTO!
And, he's got something else a lot of other guys don't have too.
A morally bankrupt soul?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_tgw1c2wuM&NR=1
Men do it because they are proud of what they have. Women don't do it because they are ashamed of what they have - and for good reason. Is there anything less attractive than a woman's genitals?
There is nothing more beautiful than a women's "jade gate".
Uhm yeah, a guy's "junk"...
Both of you are just nasty.
Those things are attractive? Sure.... NOT. Hey, I have some holothurians to show you that you'll really find a turn on.
In the voice of Homer Simpson: MMMMMM nasty....
Why do women expose their breasts? At parties, at MardiGras, anywhere. A bathroom mirror, a digital camera and "wow look at those" Men show their wad, women show their bazongas. If they stopped there would be NOTHING on the internet. I sure as hell wouldn't do it but some people just need to show what they got...Go figure!
"Why do guys take crotch shots"? Are you kidding, if I had Weiner's package, I'd come out with my own line of sex toys.
No one wants to see your "little" secret!
"little" secret! are you kidding or blind, you know when Weiner stands at a urinal because of the splash.
I hear that he has two short people to help him at the urinal. He can't lift anything heavy.
Evidently PV and RDG have spent allot of time today fantasizing over Weiners package while studying those photos. I think the Democrats have gotten the attention of plenty of perverts that may vote Democrat because of this. I guess Weiner is turned into a martyr for the liberal party.
He'll always have a future in porn.
Do Brietbart and O'keefe have weiners? I just wondered. The seem to be so fascinated with other people lives that I do not believe that they have anythibg going on in theirs.
Frank, what does Breitbart and O'keefe have to do with the lewd acts so publically demonstrated by the half-wit Weiner? What is it about liberals that makes them defend their disgraceful politicians no matter what? Weiner took that picture and sent it willingly. Weiner's wife at least is close enough to Hillary Clinton to get advice on how to deal with Democrat lewdness and lying based on Bill Clinton's disgraceful infidelity while serving in the top office of this nation.
Guys? They're asking this question with Britney, Madonna, Beyonce' and the rest of those crotch flashing women out there with their skirts riding high? More than famous people do this. Stop with the gender bashing... this disorder covers all sexes.
I feel free to bash both genders when they shout from virtual roof-tops that they are in the throes of the disorder of stupidity.
When they do it from actual roof-tops, I feel free to bash in a gender-neutral manner as well. I just do it far enough away from the the building so as to avoid being landed on when their disorder (stupidity) brings them crashing down.
THE REAL QUESTION should be WHO ELSE IN CONGRESS sends inappropriate Pics?
PS - This is the Kind of News item that Buries RECORD UNEMPLOYMENT and FORECLOSURES!
Never mind unemployment and foreclosures! This is MUCH more important, LOL!
A lot of them probably do. A lot of them probably do drugs, are raging alcoholics, and cheat of their wives...
And you know what? Who cares. The REAL question should be how well do they do their job. I don't care how someone performs in their private life when I consider voting for them... I consider how well they will do the job they are running for. What does their private life have to do with that?
Mark, that's just what the Democrats hope will happen. Anything to draw the nations attention away from the reality of this failed administration. Is Obama going to make another speech based on this circus act? Coming out publically against the lewd acts of Weiner is his chance to get some conservative votes. By the way, the gal Weiner sent the pics to obviously was not as impressed as some here in that she turned them over to Breitbart.
I'll see your "teabagger" joke, and raise you 3 "Weiner" jokes....
The only way that I can get a crotch shot of myself is with a fisheye lens.
Too much information!
Lol! OmG! And I agree, TMI!