Gerbilling

Gerbilling, also known as gerbil stuffing or gerbil shooting, is an urban legend that describes a supposed sexual practice of inserting small live animals (usually gerbils but also mice, hamsters, rats and various other rodents) into the human rectum to obtain stimulation.

Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand records that the urban legend began in 1984, and initially involved a mouse and an unidentified gay man. In subsequent years this story metamorphosed into a gerbil, and was applied to several named male celebrities that were publicly supposed to be gay.^[1] Rumors surrounding various male celebrities engaging in gerbilling have become popular urban legends over the years.^[2]

There are no reports in peer-reviewed medical literature describing gerbilling.^[3][4]

See also

• Rectal foreign object
• American Psycho
• Richard Gere

References

1. ^ Brunvand, Jan Harold (2001). "The Colo-Rectal Mouse". Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 81. ISBN 978-1-57607-076-5. 
2. ^ Brunvand, Jan Harold (2001). "Gerbiling". Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 166. ISBN 978-1-57607-076-5. 
3. ^ Adams, Cecil (1986). "Is It True What they Say About Gerbils?" The Straight Dope, March 28, 1986.
4. ^ Busch, D. B.; Starling, J. R. (1986). "Rectal foreign bodies: case reports and a comprehensive review of the world's literature". Surgery 100 (3): 512–519. PMID 3738771.  edit

Further reading

• Norine Dresser (July 1994). "The Case of the Missing Gerbil". Western Folklore 53 (3): 229–242. JSTOR 1499810. 
• Barbara and David P. Mikkelson (2001-11-18). "From Gere to Eternity". Urban Legends Reference Pages. http://snopes.com/risque/homosex/gerbil.asp. 
• Cecil Adams (1986-03-28). "Is it true what they say about gerbils?". The Straight Dope. http://straightdope.com/columns/read/478/is-it-true-what-they-say-about-gerbils. 
• Becky Vorpagel (1988). "A rodent by Any Other Name: Implications of a Contemporary Legend". International Folklore Review 6: 53–57. 

External links

• A study of felching and gerbiling in language, culture, and popular imagination.