Gerbilling

2006-01-15T13:48:47Z

82.92.119.11: Oh come on, that gerbil is perfectly innocent! More prosaically, that picture is irrelevant, as its caption betrays.

'''Gerbilling''', or '''gerbil stuffing''', refers to the supposed [[sexual practice]] of inserting small animals, usually [[gerbil]]s but also [[mouse|mice]], into the [[anus]]. Despite apparently widespread public belief and persistent rumours, especially in the [[1980s]], no verified medical evidence of gerbilling exists; its status is that of an [[urban legend]].

According to [[Snopes]],<blockquote>''The notion of gerbilling … appears to be pure invention, a tale fabricated to demonstrate the depravity with which "[[faggot (slang)|faggots]]" [sic] allegedly pursue sexual pleasure.''</blockquote>

The lack of medical evidence for gerbilling is not surprising when one considers that (1) rodents have claws, and (2) frightened animals are likely to bite.

In the mid-1980s a rumour began about actor [[Richard Gere]], claiming that he had to have a gerbil removed from his anus at [[Cedars-Sinai Hospital]] in California. Snopes writes,

<blockquote>''The rumor's spread was aided by an anonymous prankster who, not long after the film ''[[Pretty Woman]]'' led to a tremendous increase in Gere's popularity, flooded fax machines in Hollywood with a phony "press release" purportedly issued by the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, claiming that Gere had "abused" a gerbil. But, as a reporter from ''[[The National Enquirer]]'' found when he attempted to track down the gerbil story, there were no facts to be had.''</blockquote>

Former Philadelphia newscaster [[Jerry Penacoli]] was also a victim of similar rumors in the 1980s. In the early 1990s a fake [[United Press International]] story appeared on the [[Internet]] (sometimes also falsely attributed to the ''[[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]'' ''[[Los Angeles Times|Times]]'') detailing a supposed press conference at a hospital where a gay couple were taken to emergency after a session of gerbilling. Neither UPI nor the ''LA Times'' ever published a news article about these fictitious events (the full "press release" can be seen on Snopes). Nonetheless, recordings exist of radio stations covering the "story", including a memorable recording dubbed "Armageddon!" in which Robert D. Raiford (of the Big Show with [[John Boy and Billy]]) goes into near-hysterical laughter as he tries to read out the press release.

Medical literature, which covers examples of items retrieved from patients' rectums in extreme detail, has never recorded a case of an animal being removed from a patient, nor of damage inflicted on a patient's insides due to rectal insertion of an animal.

==References in other media ==
* A fictional victim of gerbilling is [[Lemmiwinks]], a gerbil in the cartoon television series ''[[South Park]]''.
* The movie ''[[Mallrats]]'' opens with a story about gerbil stuffing.
* [[Stephen Lynch (comedian)|Stephen Lynch]] sings about gerbilling in the song "Gerbil" on his album ''[[A Little Bit Special]]''.
* [[Eminem]]'s song "Fack" on his album [[Curtain Call]] contains explicit references to gerbil stuffing.
* One of the [[Bart chalkboard gags on The Simpsons|chalkboard gags]] on [[The Simpsons]] is "Everyone is tired of that Richard Gere story", a reference to the aforementioned rumor.

== See also ==
* [[Rectal foreign object]]
* [[Felching]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.snopes.com/risque/homosex/gerbil.htm Full snopes article]
* [http://darwinawards.com/legends/legends1998-10.html An urban legend from the Darwin Awards]
* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_216b.html The Straight Dope: Is it true what they say about gerbils?]

[[Category:Sexual urban legends]]
[[Category:Anal eroticism]]

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Gerbilling