From Liberation to Trivialization

when i interviewed margaret mead in the late 1970s, she said it wasn't women who need liberation, it was men. she cited the malevolent symbolism of the penis, shown publicly only in photographs of corpses on battlefields. she said such public displays were considered secret, dirty and even violent by women and men. (she was neglecting bigger-than-life greek statues, which, as some art historians point out, possess disproportionately small male sex organs.)

i wasn't sure i agreed with mead. i hadn't thought about it. but she was provocative as always. by the 1990s, i noted full-frontal male nudity in broadway shows, such as steppenwolf's otherwise dreary production of the grapes of wrath.

mead's liberation had begun.

while working for michael douglas, then a bratty hollywood star, he told me that he and jack nicholson kept themselves hilariously amused recalling names they used for their penises. he reeled off some 50 names, including captain winky and mister johnson. i wondered if it was just uninhibited gay men and self-absorbed men in show business who seemed obsessed by the penis.

but, presto, the preoccupation became mainstream. i'm not sure, however, that liberation is the correct term. on curb your enthusiasm, larry david announced (and i paraphrase) that the penis wasn't attractive. what i find fascinating about his remark is his assumption that he can speak for women as well as men.

on our most popular and emmy-nominated primetime sitcom two and a half men, charlie sheen, adorable despite bad behaviors, and his disapproving brother, played by comedic wonder jon cryer, routinely mention charlie's penis in brilliantly crafted jokes. cryer chides charlie for thinking with his penis, which, says cryer, is clearly dopey.

my favorite tv person, craig ferguson, explains that the point at the end of his necktie emphasizes his gentleman's parts. we know, from prideful hints, that ferguson's "pee pee" is amply sized. "after all, i'm scottish," he says, as if explaining it. he's chided the camera for veering below his waist to "check him out."

indeed, reviewers claim that 2009 is a watershed in the film business-and one for the history books. most recently, sacha baron cohen's hit film brüno features a humorous close-up of what one reviewer refers to as "a well-manicured austrian wurst."

and, puppetry of the penis, an international hit show, has just reopened at the 45 bleecker street theater. it features two men who twist their genitals into replicas of the eiffel tower, a hamburger and a pelican.

it all seems to be pretty much about humor. and, hollywood's current comic muse, seth rogen, says, "?the little dick is funnier than the big dick." humor is defensive and perhaps the first line of defense here.

what's interesting is that i can't think of any woman, except margaret mead, who's mentioned or demonstrated a desire to publicly unveil the male sex organ-or female genitals, for that matter. the people who talk about or show male genitalia are almost exclusively men. are they doing it for themselves?

as the culture follows scientific advances, it is perhaps clear to men that they've become less and less important in the reproduction dance. women can go to sperm banks and custom order what they need to have children. single motherhood is no longer a reason for shame and suicide. in fact, it's becoming so prevalent that we may be entering a new matriarchal phase of our society-in which, for starters, property will be inherited through the female parent. n

-- susan braudy is the author and journalist whose last book, family circle: the boudins and the aristocracy of the left, was nominated for a pulitzer by publisher alfred knopf.