Students filled Tindle Lounge Monday night for the Mechanics of Men's Pleasure workshop. Curt Crane, a comical urology resident at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and Ken Leslie, a post-doctorate in cognitive neuroscience, spoke about the physical anatomy of men and male brain chemistry.
Crane kicked off the seminar by showing slides of different penis types. Some of the more humorous slides elicited riotous laughter from the audience, which became a recurring theme of the evening. The slides were followed by anatomical slides, a description of what physically occurs during an erection and an explanation of why vaginas "feel so good" for penises.
During his discussion of sexual intercourse, Crane announced that "this is the climax ... ha ... this is the climax of my presentation."
Earlier, he had pointed out to his audience that a cross-section of a penis bears a striking resemblance to South Park's Eric Cartman.
Leslie then spoke about the neuroscience of sex, announcing that he is more of the "brain guy" and Crane is more of the "penis guy."
He believes we have only exposed the "tip of the iceberg" in exploring human sexuality and remained more stoic than his counterpart.
After reading a description of a human orgasm "for those who have never had one," he was sure to light-heartedly exclaim, "Doesn't that sound nice?"
The ambience of the lecture was low-key and hysterically funny while remaining informative. "They were very thorough while remaining down to earth and humorous," Scott Ceresia '05 said of the presenters. "Because it's such a sensitive subject, the humor was appreciated."
Crane's humor teetered on questionable at times. When answering whether or not penises can "make noise," Crane answered, "If you slap it against someone's face." The urologist immediately amended his statement by adding, "I can't believe I just said that."
Both Crane and Leslie think that reaching out to college students is crucial, and Leslie went as far as calling it "a community service."
"As a resident, the majority of my day is spent educating patients, and this is extending that sentiment beyond the realm of the clinic," Crane said.
Leslie thinks it is important to create a "non-judgmental atmosphere" where students can be frank.
"People carry a lot of issues around sexuality and they might think they're the only one. We can learn from each other," Leslie said.
The two presenters spoke for 30 minutes accompanied by slides before opening up the forum to questions. Question topics ranged from penis sensitivity, the prostate gland and circumcision to testicle stimulation, the mechanics of "blue balls" and size-related stereotypes.
Though some may have questioned the appropriateness of College funding for the event, attendees seemed unfettered.
"I wanted to see if studying sex is psychological or physical," Meli Garber '08 said of why she decided to attend.
The seminar was presented by The Men's Project in conjunction with Health Services, the Center for Women and Gender and the Sexual Abuse Peer Advisors. A similar evening about female pleasure will be held Feb. 22.
