Every now and then, you come across a headline that covers a serious issue, but is still inherently funny. Sometimes, it’s on purpose and not just for the sake of clickbait. There are often subjects that need a bit of humor in order to get people to pay attention to something important. I’m not saying it’s right, wrong, or indifferent. But there is an underlying reason and it can be used for good.
So, when an article is written about something as serious as rectal exams, we should expect a certain amount of toilet humor to enter the conversation. It doesn’t matter if you’re a serious person with serious concerns about human health. We were all immature kids at some point. We all laugh, chuckle, or cringe at jokes involving butts, poop, and farts.
To that end, I commend Slate.com for daring to lean into the humor of the topic when discussing something as serious as prostate health, which often involves rectal exams. Butts and buttholes aside, prostate cancer kill thousands of men every year. In 2022 alone, over 33,000 men died as a result of this disease.
Thankfully, this is one of those forms of cancer that, if caught early, can be effectively treated. However, catching it early often involves men of a certain age getting regular exams. And some of those exams just happen to involve a doctor sticking a finger up your butt to feel your prostate.
Take all the time you need to laugh and/or cringe at that notion. I’m sure there’s a sizable population of men that are hilariously insecure about anyone putting anything up their buttholes. By contrast, there are others who may feel the exact opposite.
To both crowds, this latest news is certainly of interest to them. But rather than go over the serious medical details, I’ll just let the headline speak for itself:
First, let’s just take a moment to appreciate the sheer poetry of that headline. Yes, I understand that’s not the headline you see when you click on the link. That’s kind of the point. The text above isn’t meant to catch your interest with the very valid seriousness that’s associated with prostate health. It’s meant to draw out your inner 13-year-old, if only to remind you about certain aspects of your health that you’d rather not think about.
As a man who is right around that special age where examining that part of my body is necessary, this news is encouraging. It’s not just the notion that fingers up buttholes might no longer be necessary. It’s that we’re getting better at testing for and detecting prostate issues. As a man, this is important to me. While prostate cancer doesn’t run in my family, at least to my knowledge, I still take my health seriously.
If there is an ailment that awaits me in the near or distant future, I want to catch it early. I want to treat it early. Most importantly, I don’t want to let immature attitudes about things going into men’s butts to prevent me from better health.
Hopefully, other men take the same approach. Because I get it. The idea of a doctor’s finger going up your butt is bound to trigger certain feelings. But I urge you, for the sake of your health and your loved ones, get over it. The whole of your body will be better off because of it.
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