Australian online news sites have recently been abuzz with reports on the previously unknown post-coital act of what has been coined ‘penis dunking’ with a newly defined object now named the ‘penis beaker’.

I think I’ve given enough information for those with even a limited imagination to understand the concept, even though it seems none of us actually do it.

But for those who need a little help to put the picture together, here is some text from the original post on a site called mumsnet:

“We have a dedicated post-sex clean-up area on the bedside table. A box of tissues, a small bin, and a beaker of clean water for temporary cleaning/dunking while the bathroom is occupied by me. Apparently our penis beaker is strange and not the done thing. Does everyone else just lay there in a sticky post coital glow until morning? Really?”

The answer to the question posed in the last sentence, judging from the comments on the post, appears to be ‘yes’. While there were different variations on cleaning up involving showering, bides or plain old wiping, no comments confirmed the same routine.

So this latest ‘craze’ is not is not for the act of ‘penis dunking’ or the ‘penis beaker’ itself, which has now been confirmed as being performed by only one man worldwide. Rather, the craze is in the reporting of it.

Firstly there was a news.com.au article on October 11 titled “Query about ‘penis dunking’ goes viral on UK website Mumsnet”. Then today the Sydney Morning Herald picked up the story with their article “Why we can’t help wondering about other people’s sex lives“. Curiously, this article links through to the news.com.au article rather than the Mumsnet post, perhaps revealling where they got their inspiration for the piece. We recently saw a similar pattern of copying penis related articles when news.com.au reported on foreskin restoration, not long after a similar article on a UK online news site.

And yes, we are also guilty, and probably more so by reporting on the reporting of the penis dunking/beaker phenomenon. But we are simply fascinated that the unique routine of one man, when each of us probably have a unique penis related routine, could cause such a stir.

One serious question we wanted to explore though was whether there was any benefit to washing one’s penis after sex. The results of some quick research were surprising.

We found that a study, presented at a HIV conference in Sydney, has shown that washing the penis immediately after sex actually increases the risk of contracting HIV, at least among uncircumcised (intact) men. The study states “there ought to be a little time left for postcoital cuddling before you go and wash”. Sounds familiar? Perhaps written by a woman with another agenda?

The only other guidance we could find suggested that washing your hands immediately after sex could reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. We could find no further recommendations on washing genitalia.

So it seems that there is no compelling reason for the ‘penis dunking’ into the ‘penis beaker’. Even if there was evidence to suggest it reduced the risk of STD infection, apparently the partaker is in a monogomous relationship with his wife. So it appears that the act is done purely for personal preference, to which we say, good on him.