Turkey slap is a term referring to the act of a male slapping another person's face with his penis (the "turkey"). While the act of hitting another's face with the penis can be a sexual act, the term "turkey slap" refers to the act when performed in a non-sexual way either playfully or to shame, degrade or harass the victim. The turkey slap draws its name from the resemblance of the male's scrotum to the waddle under a turkey's neck.

The term gained notoriety in Australia during 2006, after two male contestants in the Big Brother reality TV series performed the act on a female housemate. In the ensuing controversy the male housemates were expelled from the house and contest for violating the show's terms of agreement.

The act and variations can also be known as windmilling, a trout slap, a Danza slap, a fodunk, or a mushroom stamp.

Big Brother Australia

Big Brother Australia 2006 was thrown into controversy when two housemates, Michael "Ashley" Cox and Michael "John" Bric were removed from the house after performing a "turkey slap" on female housemate Camilla Halliwell.

The two men called Camilla to a bed, to which she agreed. John then held Camilla down whilst Ashley performed the act. Some have suggested that at the time of the act Camilla was in obvious distress and verbalised her objection, however the footage can be perceived to reflect that Camilla was a willing participant until stating her objection, at which point the men released her. Later, Camilla stated to Big Brother (before the two men were removed) that she did not wish any action taken against Ashley and John. The act was seen as harmless and light in nature by the two males, however Ashley and John had broken Big Brother Australia rules and were later that day removed from the compound. Queensland Police looked into the matter, but felt the incident didn't require further investigation.

After the housemates were informed of the removal of two of their fellow housemates, Camilla said, "I'm sorry" and agreed that "it was all in good fun". However, her apologies for the act inflicted upon her, and her agreement to its light-hearted nature, only came after her initial distress and verbalised objection at the time the act was actually performed. According to official Big Brother statements, this back-pedalling is seen as a common reaction of sexually harassed victims. She visited the house's counselor soon after.

Since the widespread publicity of this incident, a Big Brother Australia 2005 contestant, Rita Lazzarotto came forward alleging claims of similar misconduct.

It has been suggested by various Australian media that the removal of the two offending housemates may have been a publicity stunt by the Big Brother producers.

Parodies

On the July 6 2006 episode of the AFL Footy Show, the opening skit parodied the Big Brother incident, with Sam Newman depicted in the house, lying on a bed, with James Brayshaw. Newman exclaimed, "you're not going to turkey slap me are you?", at which point Brayshaw unleashed a frozen turkey and slapped Newman across the face. A skit on the July 7 2006 episode of The Chaser's War on Everything featured co-host Julian Morrow asking people what they thought of "turkey slapping," and then presented them with an actual frozen turkey to slap.

See also

• Teabagging