The Holes in Our Bodies

Carlos Fraguela

HAVANA TIMES — All animals (including humans) have a series of holes in their bodies that are paths to different sensations or windows to knowledge and power. Some have multiple purposes. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. The powerful discovered this a long time ago and, in order to subjugate the masses, make an effort to plug up these holes as much as possible or limit their functions to a minimum through strict laws.

Thirty years ago, a workmate taught me the pleasure of introducing objects in one’s ears. He used to say it was better than sex. He would use a bird’s feather for stimulation, till reaching a kind of tympanic orgasm (I never got to that level myself). I read in a magazine that a man got to the point of being unable to have orgasms or ejaculating without introducing a gold chain in his ear while masturbating. The said man almost went deaf. Let us not seek the opinion of an ear, nose and throat doctor – they would surely not approve.

The great Cuban writer Virgilio Piñera pointed out the limitations of his compatriots, who made such a fuss of their anal orifice, when millions of documentaries and books spoke of the infinite number of nerve endings there. This structure has the legal function of aiding in the expulsion of digestive waste (solids, liquids and gases). Many men spend quite a bit of time worrying about other people’s holes, I guess in order to prevent generalized euphoria. Thanks to self-exploration, many human beings have ceased being castrated individuals and do not fear going spelunking.

The mouth is the most intelligent orifice. It is used to ingest foods and has the ability to perceive a limitless range of textures and tastes. The height of its capacity is demonstrated in its use as a stimulator-receptor in nearly all types of sexual contact. It is important for breathing and helps in verbal communication, through the words articulated in its cavity. And a good kiss can change a person’s life.

Though not strictly “holes,” the eyes function as such, allowing great quantities of data to enter the body in the form of lights and shadows, forms that reach the brain through the optic nerve. They are also used to convey signals or express emotions, through the shedding of tears, for instance.

In addition to aiding in respiration, nasal cavities perceive smells and are valuable tools capable of capturing innumerable olfactory signals, including sexual ones (conveyed through pheromones). In some organisms, they are crucial to reproduction.

The urethral orifice is vital in terms of eliminating kidney waste and for marking territories. One of its legal functions is the expulsion of semen (in the case of males fulfilling their reproductive function). Part of the physiological structure of the sexual apparatus (which ends with the penis), it has a “hook” designed to attract others: the pleasure it transmits and can receive simultaneously. Whoever discovers its pleasure mechanisms is set free.

To limit a wide range of senses, people invented clothing, racism, war and Stalinism. To limit the use of one’s anus, we have male chauvinism. To restrict the function of the ears and eyes, we have censorship and ear, nose and throat doctors. To restrict the use of the palate, they invented ration booklets and proletarian meal-halls.

Months ago, I told one of my friends that I regard our orifices as plugs or terminals for the exchange of information. No computer can match the capabilities that a single or several organisms can achieve together. Skin, in this context, operates like a touch screen, with unlimited advantages in terms of the possibilities afforded by biological models.