A Mind of its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis by David M Friedman. Robert Hale, £20, pp 368. ISBN 0 7090 7110 8. Rating: ★★★
Those after a good snigger may find themselves somewhat disappointed with this tome—it is not a lighthearted Christmas stocking filler. Friedman delivers an academic study of the penis, remaining intellectually serious and deadpan throughout (give or take the occasional double entendre). The only sense of “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” is to be found in the chapter headings—“The Demon Rod,” “The Gear Shift,” “The Measuring Stick,” “The Cigar,” “The Battering Ram,” and “The Punctureproof Balloon”—but even these turn out to be serious and academic in intent.
A Mind of its Own is educational and entertaining by virtue of an amazing amount of information gathered from a wide range of mythical and medical, cultural and scientific, historical and humorous sources. It is the casually presented details and conclusions that provide food for thought. The carefully chosen illustrations add to the impression of gravitas that the author seems to be aiming for. Naturally enough, the history that Friedman is detailing concerns that of his own, predominantly Western, culture.
Friedman starts his discourse in biblical times, proceeding through the histories of ancient Greece and Rome, where the penis was an object of cult worship and veneration, a life giving force. The takeover of the Western world by Christian monotheism has had far-reaching results, and the “sacred staff” became “the demon rod, the corrupter of all mankind.” The story of Abélard and Héloïse and the works of Thomas Aquinas come in for close scrutiny. As does Heinrich Kramer's and James Sprenger's guidebook for witchhunters, the Malleus Maleficarum—witches were accused of having come into contact with the devil's own member.
The era of the “theological penis” is followed by the discovery of the “biological penis”—from Leonardo da Vinci, to Andreas Vesalius and his students, to 19th century Americans. Friedman describes in great detail mankind's successes and failures in grasping the biology and science behind the male organ. For him the climax of that era is probably the discovery of the existence of spermatozoa by Dutchman Antony van Leeuwenhoek.
White explorers and colonial powers around the world in the 19th and 20th century were obsessed with what they saw as the penile superiority of Africans—with appalling consequences. Friedman compellingly documents the reflection of actual historical events in art and literature—William Faulkner's novel Light in August, which contains a graphic lynching scene, and the oeuvre of US photographer Robert Mapplethorpe are striking examples.
“The Cigar” is all about the cigar smoking “father” of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. It follows his professional path and the development of his ideas and theories. Friedman says that “the Freudian penis was psychoanalyzed but never politicized.” The ideological penis, symbol of male violence and oppression, came later, in the era of the “battering ram” of the next chapter's title.
The final chapter introduces the concept of the “medicalized penis” and expresses scepticism about the “erection pill” and its unknown long term consequences. The penis has become a part of the entertainment and leisure industry (the joystick?), and the consequences of this latest gear shift are as yet unknown. Friedman believes that the medical specialty of urology has replaced the actual penis with the erection, and the pharmaceutical industry has provided the means of control. The consequence? “The penis used to have a mind of its own,” Friedman says. “Not any more. The erection industry has reconfigured the organ, replacing the finicky original with a more reliable model. But the price tag for this new power tool is hidden. Eventually we'll learn if we can afford it.”