A chance remark made in a meeting yesterday puzzled me. I was struck with the fact that people are amazed by a "new" statistic that defines differences between men and women. The statistic brought up - totally out of context I might add - was that men suffer urinary infection much less often than women. The statement illustrated an ignorance of the human body, or at least the socially acceptable denial of "private" parts. The reason the statistic calls attention to a difference between men and women stems from exactly the most graphic one - the parts at the end of the urinary track.

Culturally we are conditioned to deny personal knowledge of those parts. We hide them from ourselves. We don't clean them carefully at the toilet. We slide quickly around them in our daily romance with soap and water. We clean them on the towel or on our underwear.

But I digress. If you picture the position of the two waste orifices - that is holes that eliminate solid and liquid waste from human bodies - and you hesitate picturing those private parts lest you be accused of enjoying pornography - note the physical arrangement. On the male the orifices are separated by measurable inches depending upon age (or self-proclaimed prowess). The infectious culprit is bacteria and is present in the solid waste. Bacteria aids digestion of foods in animals including us.

On the female, take note, the orifices are placed one directly above the other. A swipe forward of toilet paper or fingers from the anus places the bacteria at the entrance of the vagina. Because females make a swipe every time they urinate, placement of bacteria happens whenever the swipe comes from the anus to the vagina regardless of whether solid waste is eliminated at the time.

Bacteria hovers around the anus. It is a tiny living thing, not dependent upon visible solids to be present. It moves best in liquid. Therefore chances of infection in females are off the statistical chart.

That male urinary infection occurs at all is curious since a different, less frequent, transfer must happen. Bacteria cannot crawl or swim the length of a penis. The orifice must come in contact with the bacteria at the anus. Possibly if the penis is wrapped backwards to fit underwear or jock strap, the orifice might come in contact with the bacterial area. I cannot demonstrate that position. That idea never came up when I had a male with which to discuss the matter. You'll have to puzzle that out for yourself.

Anal intercourse would make the transfer, and such acts probably take place between adults, male and/or female, consenting or not. Go figure.