October 25, 2007: Pikachu private parts

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

You were told up front it was amiss, so you were looking for something naughty. Porn is in the mind of the beholder.

Well the first part was true, that I was expecting something dodgy. But even if I hadn't been, I'm sure I would still have made the connection. C'mon, I note you've dodged answering the question - are you really saying you wouldn't have noticed anything odd if you hadn't read the introduction? Really? (If you say yes I'm immediately posting it in the "I can't believe they said this with a straight face" thread )

Porn is in the eye of the beholder? I never argued that this was porn as such (hell I am not turned on by it ... anything you feel like sharing with us? ). Just asking if you thought it was, or could reasonably be viewed as, offensive.
As for being in the eye of the beholder, this is sometimes true and sometimes not. In this case, the resemblance to a vagina I think is not "just" in the mind of the beholder. The reason being that there are some facts which are true for all humans, such as the fact that most vaginas look pretty similar, and this Pikachu fun-house in shape and placement is a pretty close match. Maybe kids wouldn't notice it ... but the vast majority of adults would.
Likewise sexual violence against women is a widespread reality, and can't be dismissed this easily, as being "in the eye/mind of the beholder". It is a fair question if this violence has any connection with this photo.

Dana, good points, although my friend was not "upset" but just found it objectionable. But she is fairly sensitive to things like this, for reasons I won't share here.

On a lighter note, I wonder if "Pikachu fun-house" will soon become a euphemism for vagina. I think it should .

[BigV]

Hey, ZenGum, while we've got you on the line...

You're our most verbose Japanese-Engrish poster here.... what the hell does Pikachu mean anyway?

Is it just a made up name, as I suspect? Has it acquired any other associations, as you predicted above?

TIA

[ZenGum]

You had me stumped with this one. I'm much too old to know more than four things about pokemon. So for the third time tonight I have consulted the great Wikiguru and learned:

The name Pikachu is a portmanteau of the Japanese words pikapika, an onomatopoeia for electric sparkling, and chū, which is the Japanese onomatopoeia for a mouse's squeak. It may also be based on the pika. The name Pikachu refers to both the overall species, and to individual Pikachu within the games, anime, and manga series.

So, roughly it means "Bzzzzt-eeek".
Do you feel richer for knowing this?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

The only beholders that wouldn't see that, text or no text, would be boys young enough to not know that boys and girls have different parts.

I disagree, I don't think young girls would make the connection either. I doubt very much that preteens would make a sexual connection with this toon character, without being prodded by elders.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Well the first part was true, that I was expecting something dodgy. But even if I hadn't been, I'm sure I would still have made the connection. C'mon, I note you've dodged answering the question - are you really saying you wouldn't have noticed anything odd if you hadn't read the introduction? Really? (If you say yes I'm immediately posting it in the "I can't believe they said this with a straight face" thread )

So if you don't get the answer you want you're threatening to ridicule me? Fuck you. I'm not dodging anything. I don't have sexual fantasies about Jap schoolgirls or cartoon characters.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

So if you don't get the answer you want you're threatening to ridicule me? Fuck you. I'm not dodging anything. I don't have sexual fantasies about Jap schoolgirls or cartoon characters.

I had hoped that the use of the smiley would convey a non-hostile tone. Seems this didn't work. Sorry.
And I wasn't suggesting that you were having sexual fantasies about Pikachu. Don't straw man me. I was saying that anyone with an adult mind would almost inevitably notice that in shape and position the entrance to the house resembled a vagina.
Meh, if this bothers you lets call Dead Horse on it. I'm getting bored. You can have the last horse-beating.

[Aliantha]

I think that's the main difference. We're all adults here (the majority of whom enjoy the odd crass joke or suggestion) so if we can see a bit of something naughty we will.

I'm sure I don't speak for all cellarites, but I'm pretty sure it's plain to see where Zen is coming from. Or it could be just an Aussie thing. lol

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I disagree, I don't think young girls would make the connection either. I doubt very much that preteens would make a sexual connection with this toon character, without being prodded by elders.

Never having been a young girl, I can't speak with authority. But I can say that if it looked like a penis, young boys would make the connection.

[ViennaWaits]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

We're all adults here (the majority of whom enjoy the odd crass joke or suggestion) so if we can see a bit of something naughty we will.

You hit the closest on what I was thinking - I think (gimme a break, it's 5 a.m.). IMO, if this was widely thought of (or recognized) as objectionable there wouldn't be nearly so many climbing in and out of the pika-gina. Men and women, young and old - we all have different ideas about what's objectionable, sexual, or both/neither due to whatever psychological theorum are popular lately.

I know several people who are naive/prudish/repressed enough that the resemblance may very well have to be pointed out to them.

Just my quarter of a cent. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. God, they're getting shorter, I think.

[DanaC]

pika-gina.

[toranokaze]

So that is were pika children come from.

[DanaC]

Nah...they're delivered by the Pika-stork

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Nah...they're delivered by the Pika-stork

No, they're stitched together by a Spanish artist called Pika-Sew.