The Phallus: Power and Vulnerability

This chapter focuses upon the contemporary cultural significance of the image of the erect penis, aka the phallus. Historically, it appears in many forms, both attached to male figures and on its own, amongst the material culture of peoples all over the world. Without claiming that post-modern eyes can see the ancient phallus through premodern eyes, the chapter recounts some of these historical appearances and wonders whether decoupling the image of the phallus from the more recent colonial depiction of `savage man might prove liberating in a contemporary `post-gendered world. The authors explore specifically the idea that masculine power traditionally associated with the phallus can be destabilized through parody and the absurd, revealingfor examplethe performance of Tom Cruise as motivational speaker Frank Mackey in the film Magnolia, as a contemporary depiction not far from that of the new Penis Cafés. The authors conclude that disarming the image of the phallus from its nineteenth- and twentieth-century associations is likely to prove both liberating and revealing, leading perhaps to a celebratory enjoyment that (at least some of) the premodern depictions may themselves have represented.