MalahatTwo7
02-25-2005, 04:22 PM
So who's up for a "modelling job"? :D
Pair of penile projects takes on cultural taboo
It's the Vagina Monologues for men, with a little help from your tax dollars
Misty Harris CanWest News Service February 25, 2005
EDMONTON-- Mr. Johnson. Freudian cigar. Chief of staff. Whatever you call it, the penis is about to get the Vagina Monologues treatment in two upcoming projects that aim to lift cultural taboos against man's other best friend.
Toronto's Markham Street Films is entering post-production on Penis Dementia: The Search for the Perfect Penis, a documentary airing this spring on the Life Network and Discovery Health. Partially funded by the federal government, the film is described as "a fearless, uninhibited one-hour quest for honest and surprising answers in a search for the perfect modern penis."
Also this week, a San Francisco graphic designer is seeking volunteer penis models for his upcoming book Members Only.
The photo essay, to be published this summer, will attempt to illustrate "how (men are) so very different, yet somewhat the same."
"I like to think we're contributing to a climate where people aren't afraid to talk about these things," said Michael McNamara, director of Penis Dementia. "Up until the Janet Jackson nipplegate thing, I was under the impression things were getting better."
Indeed, Calgary's 2001 stage production CockTales (a cabaret-style send-up of "the members of the male fraternity -- a subject often handled, but little understood") was so successful it inspired an entire series of sold-out plays. Around the same time, the two-man Australian show Puppetry of the Penis ("the art of genital origami") was finishing its Canadian tour, which played to sell-out crowds and rave reviews.
Just last month, however, citizens of Penticton were so outraged by a nude male statue on public display that a vigilante castrated it.
McNamara's film suggests this alternating obsession with, and aversion to, the male member has more to do with what the penis represents than its actual function.
The ancient Greeks, for example, considered the penis a measure of a man's proximity to divine power. The Romans saw it as a dictator of earthly strength. The Puritans saw it as a manifestation of the devil. The makers of the Ferrari Testarossa simply saw it as a way to sell fast cars.
"Our whole approach was to be playful and show there's really nothing to be scared of," said McNamara. "In its very essence, Penis Dementia is a health film."
Similarly, Richard Hansen says the life-size photos in Members Only are "not about sex" but rather removing stigmas from contemporary culture.
He notes that penis taboos affect everything from men's behaviour at the gym to the de facto sexism of movies that won't show full-frontal male nudity.
"I've always felt like the western world could move a little bit further along in its ideas of what's appropriate visual information," said Hansen, who is married with two kids.
"I mean, it's just a penis."
Dr. Jon L. Pryor, a leading expert on male sexual dysfunction and co-author of It's in the Male: Everyone's Guide to Men's Health, is hopeful about the upcoming projects.
He notes that increased discourse on male genitalia could mimic the positive effect Viagra's publicity had on men's sexual health.
"It's just another step toward awareness," said Pryor. "With time, I think we'll see more and more things like this. And that's wonderful."
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005
Pair of penile projects takes on cultural taboo
It's the Vagina Monologues for men, with a little help from your tax dollars
Misty Harris CanWest News Service February 25, 2005
EDMONTON-- Mr. Johnson. Freudian cigar. Chief of staff. Whatever you call it, the penis is about to get the Vagina Monologues treatment in two upcoming projects that aim to lift cultural taboos against man's other best friend.
Toronto's Markham Street Films is entering post-production on Penis Dementia: The Search for the Perfect Penis, a documentary airing this spring on the Life Network and Discovery Health. Partially funded by the federal government, the film is described as "a fearless, uninhibited one-hour quest for honest and surprising answers in a search for the perfect modern penis."
Also this week, a San Francisco graphic designer is seeking volunteer penis models for his upcoming book Members Only.
The photo essay, to be published this summer, will attempt to illustrate "how (men are) so very different, yet somewhat the same."
"I like to think we're contributing to a climate where people aren't afraid to talk about these things," said Michael McNamara, director of Penis Dementia. "Up until the Janet Jackson nipplegate thing, I was under the impression things were getting better."
Indeed, Calgary's 2001 stage production CockTales (a cabaret-style send-up of "the members of the male fraternity -- a subject often handled, but little understood") was so successful it inspired an entire series of sold-out plays. Around the same time, the two-man Australian show Puppetry of the Penis ("the art of genital origami") was finishing its Canadian tour, which played to sell-out crowds and rave reviews.
Just last month, however, citizens of Penticton were so outraged by a nude male statue on public display that a vigilante castrated it.
McNamara's film suggests this alternating obsession with, and aversion to, the male member has more to do with what the penis represents than its actual function.
The ancient Greeks, for example, considered the penis a measure of a man's proximity to divine power. The Romans saw it as a dictator of earthly strength. The Puritans saw it as a manifestation of the devil. The makers of the Ferrari Testarossa simply saw it as a way to sell fast cars.
"Our whole approach was to be playful and show there's really nothing to be scared of," said McNamara. "In its very essence, Penis Dementia is a health film."
Similarly, Richard Hansen says the life-size photos in Members Only are "not about sex" but rather removing stigmas from contemporary culture.
He notes that penis taboos affect everything from men's behaviour at the gym to the de facto sexism of movies that won't show full-frontal male nudity.
"I've always felt like the western world could move a little bit further along in its ideas of what's appropriate visual information," said Hansen, who is married with two kids.
"I mean, it's just a penis."
Dr. Jon L. Pryor, a leading expert on male sexual dysfunction and co-author of It's in the Male: Everyone's Guide to Men's Health, is hopeful about the upcoming projects.
He notes that increased discourse on male genitalia could mimic the positive effect Viagra's publicity had on men's sexual health.
"It's just another step toward awareness," said Pryor. "With time, I think we'll see more and more things like this. And that's wonderful."
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005