Two separate incidents happened lately that have me concerned. While chatting with an old friend on the street, the subject of my short shorts came up. My friend's companion asked me if I was not afraid that my business would pop out. Of course, my first response was, "What business?" The companion said, "You know, your... your... business!"

A few days later, someone in class had asked if I was ever concerned that my "stuff" would fall out. My response was, "What stuff?" She then said, "You know, your... your... stuff!" I then asked her, "You mean, my penis and balls?" She was mortified. It was the same look and reaction that I got from my friend's companion a few days earlier.

Why are we still afraid to say the word "penis"? Okay, by "we", I mean the general public. I once remember having a serious discussion with a group of fitness instructors about certain exercises, one of which involved the crotch area. As the subject wore on, it was apparent that a lot of them, if not all, were afraid of saying "penis". They did say "vaginal area" but when it came to referring to the male anatomy, they either coughed or hemmed or did something else. When I finally got a word in, I said, "Before we go on, I just want to say... PENIS." The whole group burst into laughter.

I am not sure why we are still afraid of the word "penis". What the hell is the big deal? It is the correct term for the male reproductive organ. It's not a "bad" word, so to speak. Maybe it's a societal thing. Recently, parts of a movie were removed for displaying male genitalia. I can only attribute it to the fact that most of those decisions are made by heterosexual males who tend to be afraid of saying "penis" lest people think they are gay.

So, I want to go on record as saying... PENIS... big, fat, thick, throbbing PENIS. Whew. Later.  ¶ 7:39 AM