Why is it cool to hold your crotch?

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers around the cultural implications and perceptions of the gesture of holding one's crotch, particularly in relation to popular musicians like Michael Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas. Participants analyze how this gesture has evolved from a provocative dance move to a more casual and often misunderstood action among younger generations. The conversation highlights the distinction between intentional performance and casual behavior, with references to specific artists and their influence on this gesture's acceptance in mainstream culture.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of cultural gestures and their meanings in music and performance.
  • Familiarity with the influence of artists like Michael Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas on popular culture.
  • Knowledge of the evolution of music video aesthetics and their impact on public perception.
  • Awareness of social norms surrounding body language and public behavior.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the historical context of provocative gestures in music, focusing on Michael Jackson's "Bad" music video.
  • Explore the impact of hip-hop culture on body language and gestures in public spaces.
  • Investigate the psychological effects of body language on social interactions and perceptions.
  • Analyze the role of humor in music and performance, particularly in relation to gestures and audience reactions.
USEFUL FOR

Musicians, cultural analysts, sociologists, and anyone interested in the intersection of body language and popular culture.

Ivan Seeking
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I keep seeing this commercial from Best Buys with The Black Eyed Peas. The lead singer looks like he has to go to the bathroom. :smile:

Sorry, my software for work was delayed and my finger hurts too much to work on the bathroom, so I notice these things. :biggrin:
 
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Hmmmm... I don't really see many people grabbing their crotch though occasional I see people grabbing other people's crotches.
 
Is this some kind of chakra-music thing?

late post:
don't really see many people grabbing their crotch

M. Jackson?

Madonna?

Pee Wee Herman?
 
Last edited:
Ivan Seeking said:
M. Jackson?
Not a fan. Maybe I don't see it because I don't listen to these musicians.

Come to think of it most of what I hear about Micheal Jackson is him grabbing other people's crotches too.
 
Ivan said:
Pee Wee Herman?
Ok you go tme on that one. The last I heard about him was him grabbing his crotch.
 
Hm, were they grabbing the crotch of their pants, because that's nowhere near their crotch. :rolleyes:
 
Ivan Seeking said:
I keep seeing this commercial from Best Buys with The Black Eyed Peas. The lead singer looks like he has to go to the bathroom. :smile:

Sorry, my software for work was delayed and my finger hurts too much to work on the bathroom, so I notice these things. :biggrin:

Could be suggestive, pain, embarrassment or over active glands they can drive
you nuts
 
I have seen that voice teachers tell their students to produce the sound deep in their gut; down in the diaphram. Has this guy just taken things too far? :biggrin:

I'm serious though. I don't see how this could be considered cool. He looks to be in great distress and needing to pee.
 
I haven't seen the commercial since I don't watch TV these days but there is this picture floating around of Fergie of the BEP with a wet spot in her crotch, as if she had wet herself. But you did say it was a guy (will.i.am?).
 
  • #10
Ivan Seeking said:
I keep seeing this commercial from Best Buys with The Black Eyed Peas. The lead singer looks like he has to go to the bathroom. :smile:
Perhaps he tries to convey the image that he has a raging, barely controllable hard-on??
 
  • #11
Ivan, I know what you're talking about. I see it a lot among the teens in that same segment of the population that wears over-sized pants (when are those going to go out of style?). I figure they're doing that to keep their pants from falling off. :biggrin: A belt really would be a better way to go, especially since my first thought when I see a teen or young adult male walking around holding his crotch in public is that he really ought to see a doctor to get that rash checked out.
 
  • #12
Ivan Seeking said:
I have seen that voice teachers tell their students to produce the sound deep in their gut; down in the diaphram. Has this guy just taken things too far? :biggrin:

When I was in my high school chorus, every once in a while, the tenors had to reach some note that was clearly above their voice range, and they'd grab their crotch as a joke that it might help them hit those higher notes. The only effect is had was to get the girls to roll their eyes (or we'd volunteer to kick them if they thought it would help) and the boys to erupt with laughter. The director just ignored them, apparently she'd seen that joke many, many, many times before.
 
  • #13
As an experiment, I am grabbing mine right now.


hmmm...


Nope. Doesn't feel cool...


hmmm...



Feels a little warm though...



hmmm...


I'll get back to you later with the results. :-p
 
  • #14
Hey, don't you need a control for that experiment?

Quick! Someone grab my crotch!

We'll compare results afterwards.
 
  • #15
Smurf said:
Hey, don't you need a control for that experiment?

Quick! Someone grab my crotch!

We'll compare results afterwards.
True, and it is much more fun to have someone else do the grabbing.
 
  • #16
It's not like I dislike getting grabbed, but what's wrong with grabbing? :confused:
 
  • #17
Shut up ardy and just grab my crotch.
 
  • #18
Smurf said:
Shut up ardy and just grab my crotch.
Sorry, I don't like lamb chop suey.
 
  • #19
Damnit! WILL NO ONE GRAB MY CROTCH!?!?!?!??11/1//

It's like high school all over again :cry:
 
  • #20
Smurf said:
Damnit! WILL NO ONE GRAB MY CROTCH!?!?!?!??11/1//

It's like high school all over again :cry:
Looks like I'll get my erotic childhood stories after all. Let the healing begin! Go on, Smurf, when did this problem first arise? How did you handle it?
 
  • #21
I would think his problem arose at night-times first. Then it grew bigger and bigger all too frequently.
 
  • #22
TheStatutoryApe said:
Ok you go tme on that one. The last I heard about him was him grabbing his crotch.
Yeah, but it didn't make him cool.

This has been going on for decades - didn't Elvis start it?
 
  • #23
I m positive this gesture grew out of "rap". It is a socially unacceptable, and therefore aggressive, "in your face" thing to do, that fits well with the unacceptable vocabulary and attitudes that music is all about.

The gesture went mainstrean when Michael Jackson adopted it long ago in his music video Bad. The whole point behind this song and video was for Jackson to shake off the sissy, effeminate, and also harmless edge he'd demonstrated in many of his formerly "tender" and "sweet" pop songs. In Bad he tries to present a kind of street gang image of himself and assures us through the lyrics: "I'm bad. I'm bad. Ya know it!" that he is not a wuss, and backs this assertion up by grabbing his crotch while making a kind of "chip on the shoulder", "how do you like this, sucka," grimace, showing us he's no timid Mr. Milktoast. a lot of his under-age-10 fans were quite convinced, I think.

I haven't seen the commercial in question, though, and can't vouch for it being done there in the same spirit as the "rap" gesture.
 
  • #24
I used to have a problem with F.O.T.L. underpants not quite holding everything in the proper position. Which required frequent crotch grabbing and adjustment of said area. When asked by my parents why I did that (I was rather young at the time) I said, "It's too big and slips out of my underpants." To which my dad replied with a grin, "That's my boy." and my mom just said, "We will have to get you different underpants." :approve:

So, my point is, he probably needs different underpants. :biggrin:
 
  • #25
zoobyshoe said:
I haven't seen the commercial in question, though, and can't vouch for it being done there in the same spirit as the "rap" gesture.
I don't know that commercial either, but the teens I see are just walking around holding their crotch, looking like a toddler who has to pee, as Ivan said. It's entirely different from a quick, "In your face," or "Don't mess with me" grab that you see in Michael Jackson's, and others', dance moves or the vulgar gesture that's intended to tell someone to **** off. It really gives me much more of an impression that they have an STD and are in pain or seriously itching or something terribly uncomfortable that they are hanging on to keep things from jiggling around too much while walking.
 
  • #26
Artman said:
I used to have a problem with F.O.T.L. underpants not quite holding everything in the proper position. Which required frequent crotch grabbing and adjustment of said area. When asked by my parents why I did that (I was rather young at the time) I said, "It's too big and slips out of my underpants." To which my dad replied with a grin, "That's my boy." and my mom just said, "We will have to get you different underpants." :approve:

So, my point is, he probably needs different underpants. :biggrin:
I'm sure Ivan knows the difference between a guy needing to "adjust himself" and holding on like he needs to pee. :wink:
 
  • #27
Moonbear said:
I don't know that commercial either, but the teens I see are just walking around holding their crotch, looking like a toddler who has to pee, as Ivan said. It's entirely different from a quick, "In your face," or "Don't mess with me" grab that you see in Michael Jackson's, and others', dance moves or the vulgar gesture that's intended to tell someone to **** off.
I'm sure they all used to be "bad". Now they're just phoning it in.
 
  • #28
Moonbear said:
I'm sure Ivan knows the difference between a guy needing to "adjust himself" and holding on like he needs to pee. :wink:
:rolleyes: You mean I shouldn't have thrust my hips forward and said, "Oooooh!" each time I did it? :biggrin:
 
  • #29
No, you should have squeaked "Oops! I did it again!"
 
  • #30
arildno said:
No, you should have squeaked "Oops! I did it again!"
That definitely would not help clarify the question of "adjust or pee."
 

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