‘World’s most painful dildo’ to be auctioned for HIV charity

Is this the world’s most painful dildo?

It might look alarming, but this eye-grabbing piece is going under the hammer in aid of HIV and sexual health charity, Terrence Higgins Trust.

The six-inch high sculpture, which resembles a dildo punctured by multiple pins, was created by HIV-positive artist Paul Chisholm, and explores his feelings about HIV infectiousness and the ‘ownership’ of transmission.

It’s set to go under the hammer this month in an online auction to raise money for THT – with a guide price of $3,000.

The artist Paul Chisholm explained: “Straight pins puncture this phallus with a congregation of red pins, signalling danger, concentrated at the very tip of the penis.

“In this era of neoliberalism, where people are held more individually responsible for personal and public health, one’s ‘viral load’ becomes a way to know how infectious one is; viral load has also become a remarkable way to predict HIV transmission rates, as we’re now seeing in new prevention technologies such as community ‘viral load mapping’.

“Now, having a high viral load is not only potentially damaging to one’s own health, but also dangerous for those uninfected.”

Depending on the price it reaches in the auction, it could be the world’s most expensive – though a 24 karat gold dildo was previously sold for £10,000.

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, offering support, information and advice services for those living with HIV and affected by HIV or poor sexual health.

It was previously revealed that Americans once used butt plugs as ‘miracle cure’ device for everything from insomnia to bad breath.

Sold under the name ‘Dr Young’s Ideal Rectal Dilators’, early forms of commercially-available butt plugs have been traced back to the late 1800s.

Despite little evidence of a medical benefit, the devices caught on around the turn of the century, with one ad claiming they “may be used by any intelligent person” for treating piles or constipation.

Writing in a 1893 medical journal, the eponymous Dr Young touted the devices as a cure for insanity, insisting that it could cure 75% of people considered insane “in a few weeks’ time”.

• Nov 29 2023

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