THE PHALLUS-THE SYMBOL OF POWER
The male sexual organ is the most obvious sign of masculinity. Besides being a source of sensual pleasure comparable to the tongue and palate, the erected penis has become a symbol of masculine power. Although penises have never played any significant role in the struggle for survival, they have enjoyed a unique status related to the feeling of power. The so-called virility, he-man feeling, male pride, and other terms referring to the man’s ability to sleep with women and produce children have been glorified as most spectacular symbols of power. It is small wonder that men took such a pride in this child-producing tool. One may doubt whether male dogs, horses, bulls, and apes derive much pride from their mounting, inserting, and copulating proficiency, but human males, thanks to their ability for symbolic thinking, have accepted the penis and its potency as symbols of power, courage, health, and creativity. Such a correspondence has never been proved (Mead).
In its earliest gloomy, hungry, and danger-fraught origins, the human species had good reasons for fostering the myth of male pride and male supremacy. Eunuchs, impotents, and sexually passive males were ridiculed and ostrasized, because they were of little help to their tribe which badly needed the speedy and abundant production of workers and warriors. Troubadours and poets described the hero who fought bravely against enemies and conquered (that is, fertilized) many women. Sexual achievements were praised for economic and military reasons, and many primitive religions adored the Gods-Fathers with erected penises ready for action.
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