Journey to Planet Prostate
September 6, 2002 6:58 AM Subscribe
Journey to Planet Prostate is an online (Shockwave) game created by the UK's Prostate Cancer Charity to help raise awareness and educate people about the importance of the prostate in men's sex lives, by way of a "pre-ejaculatory biological tour." It's also just the thing for a Friday morning. Are you one of the seven in eight who doesn't know what the prostate does?
The prostate is what lies flat on it's back, right?
Am I missing something here?
posted by yhbc at 7:12 AM on September 6, 2002
Am I missing something here?
posted by yhbc at 7:12 AM on September 6, 2002
Am I missing something here?
If you don't know where your prostate gland is? Oh, honey, are you ever.
posted by mediareport at 7:43 AM on September 6, 2002
If you don't know where your prostate gland is? Oh, honey, are you ever.
posted by mediareport at 7:43 AM on September 6, 2002
It was a joke, people: prostate=prostrate. Apparently, it wasn't one of my better ones, though.
posted by yhbc at 7:57 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by yhbc at 7:57 AM on September 6, 2002
You know, I've tried to find the data to back this up, and I haven't, but here I go anyway:
In the U.S., prostate cancer is as deadly as breast cancer, but gets nowhere near the attention or funding (let alone it's own 'awareness month').
Is that reverse-sex discrimination? Or is the breast just a lot more interesting and appealing than the prostate?
posted by msacheson at 8:17 AM on September 6, 2002
In the U.S., prostate cancer is as deadly as breast cancer, but gets nowhere near the attention or funding (let alone it's own 'awareness month').
Is that reverse-sex discrimination? Or is the breast just a lot more interesting and appealing than the prostate?
posted by msacheson at 8:17 AM on September 6, 2002
Or is the breast just a lot more interesting and appealing than the prostate?
Or is it because "survival for men with this cancer is generally quite high"? I think we need more information here, msacheson, like average ages of death for both cancers, before knowing if there's "reverse-sex discrimination" at work.
More interesting to me than your question are the questions raised by the racial and ethnic distribution of various cancers. E.g., why do black men in the U.S. have the highest prostate cancer rate in the world?
posted by mediareport at 8:37 AM on September 6, 2002
Or is it because "survival for men with this cancer is generally quite high"? I think we need more information here, msacheson, like average ages of death for both cancers, before knowing if there's "reverse-sex discrimination" at work.
More interesting to me than your question are the questions raised by the racial and ethnic distribution of various cancers. E.g., why do black men in the U.S. have the highest prostate cancer rate in the world?
posted by mediareport at 8:37 AM on September 6, 2002
Aha, preliminary searching confirms that my initial suspicion may be correct:
49. Data from France and the United States show breast cancer on average deprives women of at least 10 years of life expectancy, while prostate cancer reduces male average life expectancy by only one year.
posted by mediareport at 8:40 AM on September 6, 2002
49. Data from France and the United States show breast cancer on average deprives women of at least 10 years of life expectancy, while prostate cancer reduces male average life expectancy by only one year.
posted by mediareport at 8:40 AM on September 6, 2002
I got it, yhbc. Mine's funnier. :)
posted by mediareport at 8:45 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by mediareport at 8:45 AM on September 6, 2002
In the U.S., prostate cancer is as deadly as breast cancer
A quick check with the CDC reveals that (in 1998) more women died of breast cancer than men died of prostate cancer.
Relatively recent strides in prostate cancer testing have allowed doctors to diagnose more prostate cancer cases then ever before. However, some of the cancer these test detect may not be life threatening. That's one of the hard choices facing men who've been diagnosed. Do you go through the unpleasant surgery/therapy when the tumors might not be a problem?
(let alone it's own 'awareness month')
September
posted by alana at 8:56 AM on September 6, 2002
A quick check with the CDC reveals that (in 1998) more women died of breast cancer than men died of prostate cancer.
Relatively recent strides in prostate cancer testing have allowed doctors to diagnose more prostate cancer cases then ever before. However, some of the cancer these test detect may not be life threatening. That's one of the hard choices facing men who've been diagnosed. Do you go through the unpleasant surgery/therapy when the tumors might not be a problem?
(let alone it's own 'awareness month')
September
posted by alana at 8:56 AM on September 6, 2002
okay, okay: mea culpa. Sorry for jumping the gun. This thread can now go back to lying-on-its-back and sperm jokes.
posted by msacheson at 8:58 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by msacheson at 8:58 AM on September 6, 2002
Any of our lads who would like a free, hands-on demonstration of the wonders of the prostate, my email is on my profile page...
posted by evanizer at 9:17 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by evanizer at 9:17 AM on September 6, 2002
Since no one's done the obligatory one yet...is this Planet Prostate anywhere near Uranus?
posted by trondant at 9:20 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by trondant at 9:20 AM on September 6, 2002
In the U.S., prostate cancer is as deadly as breast cancer, but gets nowhere near the attention or funding (let alone it's own 'awareness month').
Actually, we are currently experiencing Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
The jokes are fine, but one in six men will come down with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Early diagnosis and treatment carries a high success rate. Men who are 50 and older should be having a simple annual PSA test (and men at higher risk, like those with a family history, should start at 40 or 45). I speak from experience, being minus a prostate for the last two years. Doing fine, thank you.
posted by beagle at 9:33 AM on September 6, 2002
Actually, we are currently experiencing Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
The jokes are fine, but one in six men will come down with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Early diagnosis and treatment carries a high success rate. Men who are 50 and older should be having a simple annual PSA test (and men at higher risk, like those with a family history, should start at 40 or 45). I speak from experience, being minus a prostate for the last two years. Doing fine, thank you.
posted by beagle at 9:33 AM on September 6, 2002
More disease-bases amusement. Courtesy of craigslist.org.
posted by small_ruminant at 9:43 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by small_ruminant at 9:43 AM on September 6, 2002
And that was supposed to be "disease-based". No more posting before coffee for me. My apologies.
posted by small_ruminant at 9:46 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by small_ruminant at 9:46 AM on September 6, 2002
Just noticed I double posted September is ProCanAwareMo, sorry, Alan.
Do you go through the unpleasant surgery/therapy when the tumors might not be a problem?
I did. At age 51, I chose surgery because I had to assume the cancer, even though it is known to be among the slowest-growing cancers, would catch up with me before my actuarial life expectancy expired. There is no telling, really, how long it would take to growth through the prostate wall, and when that happens, all bets are off. I could not go forward every day knowing I had cancer but hoping it would stay contained. (There was a recent article, no longer online, in the NewYorker, by a 50-ish male who did choose the wait-and-see route.) But if I were 71, diagnosed with prostate cancer at the same stage, I would probably opt for some form of radiation therapy instead of surgery.
posted by beagle at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2002
Do you go through the unpleasant surgery/therapy when the tumors might not be a problem?
I did. At age 51, I chose surgery because I had to assume the cancer, even though it is known to be among the slowest-growing cancers, would catch up with me before my actuarial life expectancy expired. There is no telling, really, how long it would take to growth through the prostate wall, and when that happens, all bets are off. I could not go forward every day knowing I had cancer but hoping it would stay contained. (There was a recent article, no longer online, in the NewYorker, by a 50-ish male who did choose the wait-and-see route.) But if I were 71, diagnosed with prostate cancer at the same stage, I would probably opt for some form of radiation therapy instead of surgery.
posted by beagle at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2002
but gets nowhere near the attention or funding
could it be that men (evan and the like aside..) are much less likely to discuss their prostates than women are to discuss their breasts? are men as likely to see a doctor for a regular prostate exam as women are for a tit-test? are men as likely to discuss having something inserted into their ass as women are to discuss self-examinations and whatever it is doctors do during mammography?
anecdote: while attending a smoking cessation program with my sister, the doctor leading the program made some point by holding up some device that i had never seen before. every woman in the room began laughing. later, when the doctor made a veil reference to a prostate exam, there were only a few of us men laughing. the others were totally clueless.
a lot of that, i think can be applied to testicular cancer. no guy i've ever dated had ever performed a testicular self examination (and i mean a real one, not the "yeah, i play with my 'nads all the time" ones).
posted by tolkhan at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2002
could it be that men (evan and the like aside..) are much less likely to discuss their prostates than women are to discuss their breasts? are men as likely to see a doctor for a regular prostate exam as women are for a tit-test? are men as likely to discuss having something inserted into their ass as women are to discuss self-examinations and whatever it is doctors do during mammography?
anecdote: while attending a smoking cessation program with my sister, the doctor leading the program made some point by holding up some device that i had never seen before. every woman in the room began laughing. later, when the doctor made a veil reference to a prostate exam, there were only a few of us men laughing. the others were totally clueless.
a lot of that, i think can be applied to testicular cancer. no guy i've ever dated had ever performed a testicular self examination (and i mean a real one, not the "yeah, i play with my 'nads all the time" ones).
posted by tolkhan at 10:14 AM on September 6, 2002
posted before i finished: append to the last sentence "and these are guys who have no problem discussing such things with each other."
posted by tolkhan at 10:17 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by tolkhan at 10:17 AM on September 6, 2002
From the Oxygen channel: Straight woman tries to give boyfriend prostate pleasure, encounters resistance
posted by mediareport at 10:41 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by mediareport at 10:41 AM on September 6, 2002
[Er, skip to the 2nd paragraph of the doctor's response. There's a line or something missing in the first.]
posted by mediareport at 10:43 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by mediareport at 10:43 AM on September 6, 2002
For those hesitant about getting evanized: A wonderfully useful guide to stimulating the prostate externally. I will stop thinking about prostate glands now.
posted by mediareport at 10:50 AM on September 6, 2002
posted by mediareport at 10:50 AM on September 6, 2002
A vibrating broomstick might help some people who wish to probe more deeply into the topic at hand. If only I could find a website that has discussed vibrating broomsticks...but alas, I can't think of a single one. If only there were a website where people could go to discuss vibrating broomsticks, maybe, just maybe the world would be a better place.
Maybe one day we'll build cities around VBs, as others have already suggested. Conservative Aryan witches could ride them to and from work, as I have suggested. VBs are multipurpose devices, like the baby formula processors Saddam keeps importing, so there's no need to think of VBs only in terms of VBA (vibrating brooms for assholes.) On VB Fridays, we'd all get on our VBs and shake things up. Some might complain about that, but maybe we could even have a website where we talked about talking about VBs. Wouldn't that be cool?
VBs need batteries, and batteries need a mascot. If we had a fluffy pink evanizer bunny to serve as a mascot, even if he wasn't the most publicity-friendly mascot around, we could start to gain marketing share, and begin to engage in viral marketing, spreading the VB gospel far and wide. Who knows, people might even begin to rip us off. One thing's for sure; we'd really clean up. Or would we rake it in?
(I swear I the horse moved; I wouldn't have beat it so many times otherwise.)
posted by trondant at 1:23 AM on September 7, 2002
Maybe one day we'll build cities around VBs, as others have already suggested. Conservative Aryan witches could ride them to and from work, as I have suggested. VBs are multipurpose devices, like the baby formula processors Saddam keeps importing, so there's no need to think of VBs only in terms of VBA (vibrating brooms for assholes.) On VB Fridays, we'd all get on our VBs and shake things up. Some might complain about that, but maybe we could even have a website where we talked about talking about VBs. Wouldn't that be cool?
VBs need batteries, and batteries need a mascot. If we had a fluffy pink evanizer bunny to serve as a mascot, even if he wasn't the most publicity-friendly mascot around, we could start to gain marketing share, and begin to engage in viral marketing, spreading the VB gospel far and wide. Who knows, people might even begin to rip us off. One thing's for sure; we'd really clean up. Or would we rake it in?
(I swear I the horse moved; I wouldn't have beat it so many times otherwise.)
posted by trondant at 1:23 AM on September 7, 2002
« Older 99.9% of Websites Are Obsolete | Friday Flash! Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by gottabefunky at 7:11 AM on September 6, 2002