Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis

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Author: David M. Friedman

ISBN-10: 0142002593

ISBN-13: 9780142002599

Category: Gender Studies

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Setting out to "make intellectual and emotional sense of a man's relationship with his defining organ," David Friedman moves from highbrow to lowbrow in this lighthearted but substantive cultural history. Successively viewed as a life source, a symbol of a sacred covenant with God, an emblem of shame, an instrument of domination, a mere prop for the pharmaceutical companies, and finally, as simply a means of penetration-the penis has always been at the core of Western man's (and woman's) cultural evolution. With such luminaries as Leonardo da Vinci, Sigmund Freud, Walt Whitman, and Norman Mailer marking their territory on the subject, A Mind of Its Own is an intelligent and often hilarious account of man's complicated bond with his closest friend. Publishers Weekly It should reign as the seminal treatment of this topic (and inspire many more puns).

ContentsI The Demon RodII The Gear ShiftIII The Measuring StickIV The CigarV The Battering RamVI The Punctureproof BalloonAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex