Koteka Comparisons

Even for adults it was a little embarrassing. When you're in church looking at missionary slides you're not too surprised to see a little exposed breast here and there. But when the guest speaker began to show the aboriginal men with their kotekas all of us guys got a little squeamish.

"These kotekas are worn by the Dani and Yali tribes as a natural part of their wardrobe," the speaker intoned. "I believe it is to accentuate their masculinity."

Maybe you've seen a man with a koteka before. It's a long gourd tied with a string around the waist. Traditionally, it is the only clothing the men wear. It is positioned directly above the male sexual organ which, as best I can tell, is inserted directly into the end of the koteka. The koteka has a variety of lengths, but I've seen pictures where they are several feet long extending upward to the shoulder. One of the tribes wear their kotekas more or less straight out from their bodies. The other tribe wears it in, well, erect position.

The other day I had an odd thought. Suppose I was flipping through television stations. I happen upon the travel channel and observe a story not too different from the missionary slides I just mentioned: men posing for pictures fully decked out in their kotekas.

"How can they live with those sticks pointing straight in their air from their private parts?" I think. "That's got to be really unsafe, or uncomfortable, or ... something!" To say the least, I don't find it erotic or impressive; if anything, I'm a little saddened by their primitive culture.

I imagine myself flipping the station only to find a story about breast implants. A woman who recently had surgery is interviewed. Her before and after pictures are shown. Perhaps there is some discreet shading but for the most part I am staring at two pairs of uncovered breasts. One of them is in its natural state; the other has been surgically enlarged.

What do you think I'm thinking when I observe that scene? Which pair of breasts attracts my attention? And what does that say about my culture? Just wondering....