Her.meneutics: Ben & Jerry’s ‘Schweddy Balls’ and Scatological Humor

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The Christianity Today women's blog provides news and analysis from the perspective of evangelical women. We cover news stories and books related to international justice and evangelism, pregnancy and sexual ethics, marriage, parenting, and celibacy, pop culture, health and body image, raising girls, and women in the church and parachurch.

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« Why I No Longer Pray for a Husband | Main | The Saving Grace of a Shared Meal »

September 27, 2011

Ben & Jerry’s ‘Schweddy Balls’ and Scatological Humor

Why I’m not joining ‘one million moms’ in a boycott.

Karen Swallow Prior

So, one million moms are up in arms over “Schweddy Balls,” the, uh, gutsy, name of Ben and Jerry’s newest flavor: rum-flavored vanilla ice cream adorned with fudge-covered malt balls.

One would think such an unsavory name for something that should appeal to taste not mortify it would negate the need for a boycott.

But the controversy provides an excellent opportunity to think biblically about scatological humor, which in its narrowest sense, centers on bodily excretions of any kind, or more generally, refers to any obscene humor. When it comes to humor of any sort, it’s sometimes hard to tell when the realm of manners crosses into that of morals. For manners and morals are not the same thing, and the lines connecting the twain don’t always meet.

I would argue, however, that the name of the latest Ben and Jerry’s flavor might be an offense against manners, but it’s not immoral. I’d say it’s just a rather puerile example in a long tradition scatological humor:

· Aristophanes’ prize-winning play, Peace, from the fourth century B. C., includes an insult of a scatological nature to Zeus.

· Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages, has two stories that conclude on punch lines involving flatulence.

· Within the eighth circle of hell in Dante’s Inferno, where the flatterers are found, is a pit lined with stinking excrement.

· An entire body of scholarship exists around the scatology in Shakespeare’s works.

· Perhaps the most scatological writer of all time is the conservative eighteenth century Anglican priest, Jonathan Swift. Within the body of his works is a group referred to by scholars as the “scatological poems.” Those familiar only with the children’s versions of his best known work, Gulliver’s Travels, would likely be shocked to learn exactly how Gulliver puts out the fire in the queen’s palace as well as the details about the Liiliputians’ efforts to rid their land of the giant visitor’s, um, leavings.

· Another Anglican clergyman’s entire novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, is saturated with scatological humor, beginning with the unfortunate circumstances of his conception (humorously described), followed by an accidental circumcision when the young lad hero urinates out his bedroom window and the sash malfunctions.

· By one account, scatology is a staple of contemporary children’s films, including Mr. Popper's Penguins, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Cars 2. There’s even a children’s book on the subject.

Clearly, not all scatological humor is equal. Ben and Jerry are no Jonathan Swift.

Nevertheless, eras marked by the prim propriety of the entire culture, at least within the Western tradition, are few and far between. In fact, most of the ages of man, whether ancient or modern, have had a downright celebratory attitude toward these coarser aspects of the human condition, regardless of that culture’s morality. While God’s moral standards are eternal and absolute, human manners careen as wildly as a stung donkey from age to age and culture to culture.

The continued influence of one particular period, the Victorian age, has caused many to equate Victorian manners with biblical morality. But the Bible actually has a surprising amount of scatology, most notably, Philippians 3:8 where Paul counts all his worldly gains to be dung, as it’s rendered politely, but not-quite-accurately, in the King James Version. Here, of course, Paul isn’t being humorous; he’s being quite emphatic.

But sometimes scatology, as in Chaucer’s tales, is just for laughs. The inability to laugh at ourselves, especially in the most undignified moments of the human experience, is probably one of the widest gateways to destruction. Granted, humor of any kind works best within the context of community. Proper time and place are important factors. Questions of taste, decorum, and age-appropriateness are significant considerations. Funny is as funny does.

Yet, more often than not, there is purpose behind the laughter. Within the Christian tradition, excrement has been long held as a metaphor for sin. Even in the humanist tradition which excludes the notion of sin, scatology serves as a blunt reminder of the more sordid aspects of the human condition. Beyond the snickers, scatological humor has much to teach us about ourselves as creatures that are both animal and spirit, daily decaying yet always reforming.

For this reason, I don’t believe that the biblical admonition against unwholesome talk necessarily precludes scatological humor (although certainly it sometimes does). The works of Chaucer, Dante, and Shakespeare (if not the likes of various so-called “teen comedy” films) surely build up those thoughtful enough to dig beneath the surface.

Perhaps we even have something to learn from the natural offense we take at such a distasteful name for ice cream. For despite all of the scientific, philosophic, technological, medical, and social progress we’ve made in the human race, despite all the creams, lotions, sprays, and tissues we buy, we still sweat, urinate, defecate, bleed and excrete as much decay as our body is capable of shedding. And we still alternate between mirth and shame when confronted with these realities.

Such ambivalence perfectly reflects the in-between state of the human condition, one described by some of the most scatological and incarnational words ever written, a powerful reminder from St. Augustine: inter urinas et faeces: we are born between urine and feces.

Inexplicably, God chose One born of these same humble origins to save us — by his shed blood.

And, this is nothing to laugh — or blush — at.

Comments

Bravo!

Yes we need to teach our children proper manners, but if we get caught up in every little think like this what time will we have left to deal with more important things.

My two nieces (2 and 4) love scatological humor (much to the consternation of their grandmother.) They have the ability to turn any song into a potty song and have great fun at it. Yes, I (as their nanny) have to correct them and try to teach them about appropriate humor and appropriate timing. But these girls find it funny on their own. They were not taught that bodily functions were funny, they found them funny on their own.

We need to figure out how to be people that are not known by what we are against, and leading boycotts is not the way to do it.

I agree with the whole post, but it was the last line of the first comment that really caught me....

"We need to figure out how to be a people that are not known by what we are against..."

YES! Most of what we find ourselves standing against are just symptoms of a lost and hurting world. That we would be known for our love and compassion, that we would be known as the place to find healing from hurts, and forgiveness of sins through Christ... Then and only then will all the symptoms change. Fighting the symptom does not cure anything.

Kara

Regarding scripture and scatology, one can also look to 1 Kings 18:27. Elijah was harsh (in a spiritually fitting manner, of course)!

Cheers,
Tim

Talk about straining gnats and swallowing camels - regardless of their schoolboy humour, Ben and Jerry are leading the way with Fair Trade chocolate - children are being used as slaves to harvest the cocoa so we can have cheap chocolate. Many of the ladies boycotting Ben and Jerry are buying huge amounts of chocolate for their families without any regard to the fact that children are dying on the cocoa fields (http://www.youtube.com/danssoapbox) ... Get your priorities right ladies. Humour is humour - don't eat Schweddy Balls if you don't like it, but Ben and Jerry are the only ice cream makers that I know of that are aware of the terrible travesty that is taking place in the chocolate farms of the Ivory Coast... and to my knowledge they're not Christians.

Bev, thanks for pointing out that they use Fair Trade Chocolate. That is an important issue. I saw the SNL sketch several years ago, and yes, it was hilarious. If adults weren't making such a big deal out of it, the kids wouldn't get it, unless they were watching SNL, and that's a whole different parenting problem.

Growing up with two older brothers and no sisters, my sense of scatological humor was well-honed at an early age. I cannot help but laugh when my husband offers to cut the cheese we are serving at a dinner party. Great post!

The KJV-only crowd may be the most prudish sector of American Christianity. I'd like to know what they think of their beloved KJV's 6 references to a man as a person that "pisseth against the wall"! Just wonderin'.

Okay, that does it! You used the F-word "flatulence." I'm boycotting her.meneutics.

Next thing we know, you'll be putting the scatology back into escatology, which is one of the fields where it's most often found.

anon

I dunno about that. I always enjoyed scatological jokes as a kid, with no encouragement/discouragement whatsoever. I would've made the connection between schweddy and sweaty really fast.

Does this author believe that the name of this ice cream is a reference to dung balls instead of testicles? Does she fail to realize that this is not, by her own definition, scatological humor, but is instead gross sexual innuendo?

She pays lip service to the importance of thinking Biblically, then proceeds to reference 10 secular works and just one Bible verse. All of these references are about excrement, not to sexual innuendo.

Let me refer the author to Ephesians 5:3-5, a Bible passage that applies to how Christians should view such "humor".

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (NIV)

For a much better treatment of this general topic, look at http://ichthys.com/mail-humor.htm

Miles, it sounds like you're working up a bit of a sweat over a reference to testicles which isn't, by the way, exactly the same as making a sexual innuendo. It's not sexy at all to have Schweddy Balls. It's just a fact of life; we accept it. We accept that it's kinda funny like a lot of other kind of embarassing things about our bodies.
So, maybe just laugh, take a quick shower, and enjoy some ice cream.

Yum. Ice cream.

One Million Moms should try it!

I'm not as up-in-arms as Miles, but I have to say I don't really get what "sweaty balls" has to do with scatalogy, which by the definition the author posted has to do with "fecal excrement." Typically children's literature doesn't deal with vaginas, penises or testicles.... Not the same thing.

@Miles and Nadine: here's the definition given in the article: "scatological humor, which in its narrowest sense, centers on bodily excretions of any kind, or more generally, refers to any obscene humor."

"Sweat" is an excretion, which fits the first part of the defintion, and "balls" fits the second part of the defintion given here.

Of just look it up.

Loved your post. In honor of the One Million Moms I went to the grocery and bought a pinch of Schweddy Balls. I'm literally writing this comment while eating it. It's delicious, by the way.

Thank you. I didn't know B&J ice cream was made with fair-trade chocolate. I will definitely be having some of that.

The people that are saying this is sexual innuendo are still (kinda) correct - while the name in and of itself isn't really - people are saying (and likely giggling) - "I'm eating ....." etc; that's innuendo.

Thanks to Bev for pointing out the Free Trade aspect. I didn't know they were the leaders in that. I really don't like Ben & Jerry's ice cream all that much but I've recently started personally boycotting Hershey products because of their inaction to verify that their chocolate is Free Trade (amongst other things). Human trafficking is so prevalent - I'd much rather spend a tiny bit more (and maybe eat a little less) and know my chocolate isn't being produced by the sweat of a 7 year old.

I'm not big on boycotts. I think they have their time and place but that Christians use it too often. My biggest issue is the sheer hypocrisy of most of the boycotts. I believe that everyone can have personal boycotts (meaning there is a store or product they refuse to buy for whatever reason - that's the choice of a consumer) but many of the organized boycotts are for things that in the long run; really just don't matter. 6 months from now will anyone think twice about the name of this ice cream? Something tells me that they won't.

When I was a kid, we didn't eat Ben & Jerry's because they're liberals. At least, that's what my mom said. I'm sure this new ice cream isn't helping her to overcome her prejudice against them.

Leslie, point taken about innuendo. To me, personally, saying that I'm eating "sweaty balls" is like saying "I'm eating poop." Those words don't offend me except that I think that's gross both as a food and if we're taking that statement literally. I won't go near my husband unless he's showered!
But if other people are comfortable with "eating Schweddy Balls," I have no problem with that. I might even eat the ice cream but I won't think too hard about the name. It's silly, and not very polite to make these kinds of statements, but it's not offensive in any moral way (as Karen points out).

I get that scatological humor is, well, pretty funny. I have 3 teen boys...no need to tell you what life with them is like. But if we're going to be more informed about the meaning of "scatological," let's also know that ethics is about much more than simply right actions and wrong actions. There is a moral dimension to this that relates to the development of virtue and character, and celebrating scatological humor accomplishes little in this respect. Yes, most of us have seen the SNL skit (and laughed) and get the innuendo associated with the the ice cream name. But when we laugh, there is a risk. Are we prepared to explain to our 5 year old the "schweddy balls" reference when he asks more ice cream? The Million Mom's boycott can be properly evaluated in terms of what effect it might possibly have (or not have), whether we can hold Ben & Jerry's to a certain standard of morality, and even if it is right to call ice cream "innocent." It is difficult to make the argument that ice cream is morally neutral, but the same also goes for scatological humor.

Richard - I DID look it up - I looked up the dictionary link the author provided, and nowhere does it mention "obscene humour in general."

I don't really have anything morally against it, I just think it's lame and, well, kind of off-putting. As in, it's not something that appeals to me to eat. I might read a book to my child about potty training called "Everyone Poops", but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them Chocolate Poop-sicles.

Having said that, I know in South Korea there are tons of candies and chocolates with poop references (my friend teaching there sent me many an example just for laughs). Different culture, I guess.

Oh, we Christians are silly to get so bent out of shape from a name put on an ice cream flavor. I am embarrassed to admit -- I didn't even get the name till some comments pronounced it in quotes.

You know, does it really matter? My question is: do the people behind Ben and Jerry's know Jesus? Maybe this could encourage somebody to pray for them and thank them for using fair trade chocolate (thanks for mentioning that fellow readers).

I think there is a lot more important things to dwell on than this.

And growing up with brothers and now having a husband and three sons (and 3 daughters) I think Jesus probably laughed about farts with His disciples.

Hi, all. I teach English, so I am bit persnickety (some would say anal) about definitions. The definition I link to above is pasted here. Note the third definition, which says "obscene langauge or literature":

sca·tol·o·gy (sk-tl-j, sk-)
n. pl. sca·tol·o·gies
1. The study of fecal excrement, as in medicine, paleontology, or biology.
2.
a. An obsession with excrement or excretory functions.
b. The psychiatric study of such an obsession.
3. Obscene language or literature, especially that dealing pruriently or humorously with excrement and excretory functions.

Here's a second definition that lists obscene first:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scatology

Definition of SCATOLOGY
1: interest in or treatment of obscene matters especially in literature
2: the biologically oriented study of excrement (as for taxonomic purposes or for the determination of diet)

Ben and Jerry aren't just liberals, they are committed leftists who have supported gay "marriage", among other causes.

You all should also be a bit careful about them promoting "fair trade" chocolate. Many fair trade organizations are not really fair at all. Some trade "fairly" with the seller/farmer but don't do any investigation about how he treats his laborers. Others simply pay a bit above market and slap the label "fair trade' on their product. Very, very few actually do what an organization like Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee (Rwanda) does - which not only pays their farmers and laborers a living wage, they teach them how to produce a better product which will gain them a better wage.

Unless the situation has changed since I last investigated it, there is no generallly accepted or legally defined definition of "fair trade".

Former Vermonter
Ben and Jerry aren't just liberals, they are committed leftists who have supported gay "marriage", among other causes.

I'm fine with the fact that they support gay marriage. Also, why the quotes?

I just think they're too expensive and fattening, for the most part.

Tell me what would be the response if a company named a product after a vulgar slang term for the female genitalia? The possibilities are endless – and they are all offensive. Any company that would dare do such a thing would likely find itself the target of much more than One Million Moms. Every feminist organization in the nation would be up in arms over it – and rightfully so. But when male genitalia are used in this manner it’s funny. Really? Why is it that society has come to the point that it finds it funny and acceptable to casually use slang terms for male genitalia on TV shows, news shows, and now on the food we eat?

This name that Ben & Jerry has chosen is not scatological humor. It has nothing to do with excrement. It is simply vulgar and lewd. It’s a dirty joke. And it is more than “an offense against manners”. It is immoral. When is it ever acceptable to not only laugh at dirty jokes but defend them as some form of suitable entertainment that may have some redeeming value?

Unfortunately, this type of humor has found its way into children’s movies like those mentioned, but that’s not a cause of celebration. It’s a red flag that vulgarity and lewdness in thought and speech which has poisoned the minds of adults are now poisoning our children. It has certainly poisoned teen-comedy movies. And even if were possible that such entertainment could “surely build up those thoughtful enough to dig beneath the surface” (which I question) the dangers of swimming in a cesspool far outweigh any benefit one might gain.

Indulging in this garbage is a direct violation of Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (ESV).

Our character is revealed as much by what we find humorous as by what angers and disgusts us.

Why the quotes? You really have to ask?

Because gay or same-sex "marriage" is a legal fiction that has no ontological status, no reality, no substance. God created marriage to exist between man and woman as a one-flesh relationship.

This cannot exist between persons of the same sex irregardless of any deeply held emotions between the parties.

FV
God created marriage to exist between man and woman as a one-flesh relationship.

Ah. So you put "marriage" in quotes for divorcees that have followup marriages, in accordance with Jesus' instructions in Luke 16:18? Do you believe your beliefs control; those of other beliefs can't be married, because God wouldn't bless their "marriages"?

Is an atheist "married"? Was Jacob truly married? If so, was he married to Rachel or to Leah? What of David, the "man after God's own heart"? He had a multitude of wives.

I just want to clarify.

On a side note, I think the verification system's decided it wants to have fun with me. The greek letter Psi? Really?

Wow, people actually get upset over something like the name of an ice cream?

If we are so busy policing/boycotting ice cream, Starbucks, Disneyworld, and everything else wordly that offends, when do we do the Kingdom business of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

C'mon, people! Is this all you have to do with your time!? The ice cream flavor is a take-off of a classic SNL (Saturday Night Live, for the unitiated - perhaps that's the problem) comedy skit. I think the fact that it is now an actual B & J flavor is hysterical! So what? You don't like it? Then, don't eat it. Do you honestly think Jesus Christ would waste one minute of his 3 yrs. on earth with this issue? Maybe he'd spend time with Ben or Jerry. But I'm pretty sure they sure wouldn't talk about ice cream flavors.

Sharon,

Actually, Jesus spent a significant amount of time dealing with food and drink.

Would Jesus "waste one minute of his 3 [I'll assume that's a typo] years on earth" with every insignificant thing you've talked about or thought about today?

Scatology is a staple in the film of Mr. Popper’s Penguins? It has admittedly been quite a few years since that was my favorite book as a second grader, but I am fairly sure there was little, it any, scatology. I figured I has better not see the film because I would likely not like what they did to it, but I wasn’t expecting that.

As for the ice cream, what caught my attention was "rum-flavored vanilla ice cream adorned with fudge-covered malt balls." I’m thinking, "rum and malted milk? Hmmm. I think I would prefer plain vanilla ice cream. Or maybe a fruit flavor such as peach or cherry."

One of my verification words is criticism.

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