Tidbits from Bonk by Mary Roach

Last week I finished reading Mary Roach's hilariously educational Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (click here to read all my posts about this book).

Here are some tidbits for you:

• The syngina is a synthetic human vagina used in tampon R&D.
• In 2002, a group of psychologists at SUNY Albany published a paper suggesting that semen may have antidepressant properties, based on studies of college age women's moods and whether they have sex with or without condoms.
• The Monkey Gland Affair by David Hamilton is the story of the once popular notion that the implantation of monkey testicles would rejuvenate male sexual powers and heal just about any ailment.
• The USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) has issued a variety of interestingly titled patents for sex or penis related purposes such as Disposable Internally Applied Penile Erector and Men's Underwear with Penile Envelope.
• There is supposedly a Thai saying "I better get home or the ducks will have something to eat." This is due to the hundreds of incidents in 1970s Thailand involving angry wives chopping off their adulterous husbands' members. Sometimes the women would flush them down the drain or thrown them out the window and if the latter occurred, ducks and other livestock would end up eating them.
• Somewhere in Seattle, WA, the local police department sponsored a bondage safety course.
• Only one tenth of the clitoris is visible but 60% of the penis is visible.
• The only FDA approved device for female sexual arousal disorder, Eros Clitoral Therapy Device, is essentially a $400 masturbation device.

Bonk was a fun and easy read (though the graphic descriptions of penis surgery and experiments may make this book less appealing to men) and I wonder what Mary Roach's next subject matter will be!