Gerbilling
Gerbilling, also known as gerbil stuffing or gerbil shooting, is a rumored 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. Some variations of reports suggest that the rodent be covered in a psychoactive substance such as cocaine prior to being inserted.
Overview
According to folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand, accounts of gerbilling were first recorded in 1984 and initially were said to involve a mouse and an unidentified man. In subsequent versions of the story, the animal was a gerbil and the story applied to several male celebrities. Rumors surrounding various male celebrities engaging in gerbilling have become persistent urban legends.
According to Snopes.com writers, gerbilling is simply an unverified and persistent urban legend that is pure fiction.
Dan Savage, a well-known sex-advice columnist who frequently discusses unusual sexual practices, has stated that he has never received a first-hand or even a second-hand account of the practice.
Mike Walker, a National Enquirer gossip columnist, spent months attempting to verify the gerbilling rumors about a celebrity. "I've never worked harder on a story in my life," Walker told the Palm Beach Post in 1995. After much investigation, he was unable to find any evidence that a gerbilling incident ever happened: "I'm convinced that it's nothing more than an urban legend."
As of the mid-1980s, there were no reports in the peer-reviewed medical literature describing gerbilling.
Nonetheless, the practice of gerbilling remains in popular culture.
Richard Gere and the gerbil
The specific rumor we're here to address goes something like this:
Several years ago, "they" say, Richard Gere was admitted into the emergency room of a Los Angeles hospital with a foreign object lodged in his rectum. Some say Gere was alone when he arrived; others say he was accompanied by a friend (former love interest Cindy Crawford tops the list).
In any case, an x-ray was taken and it was determined that the foreign object was a gerbil (either alive or dead at that point, depending on who tells the story). Mr. Gere was rushed to surgery, where it literally took a team of doctors to extract the unfortunate animal. Some say the gerbil was found to have been shaven and declawed; others claim it had been encased in a special plastic pouch. I've even heard it said that the gerbil was Gere's own beloved pet (appropriately named "Tibet" in this variant). In any event, when the gerbilectomy was done the medical team was sworn to secrecy (unsuccessfully, we must conclude), and Gere went on his merry way, suffering no permanent harm other than to his reputation.
Would that be a "Gere-bil"?
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root