Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
In Praise of Dicks
I don't normally watch much television, but a while back I saw three shows at a friend's house. What dismayed me so much was not to hear dicks mentioned on every single one of them—I'm gay, I enjoy talking about dicks—but to hear how they were mentioned.
Not once were dicks mentioned as a part of the body. In every single instance, they were used as metaphors. In every single instance, they were used as a metaphor for something bad.
Don't be a dick. Translation: Don't be a jerk.
Dick-measuring contest.Translation: Being needlessly competitive.
Dick-waving.Translation: Pulling rank to get what you want.
Now, using television as a cultural barometer is a fraught and risky enterprise. But all of these metaphors are in general, real-world use, and to my gay, pagan ear they suggest a culture that finds maleness problematic.
And that really is a problem.
I'm gay. For me, dicks are an inherent good.
I'm pagan. For me, dicks are sacred.
To the sexists and phallophobes of the world I say: Go find some other metaphor.
You're poisoning the air.
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Certainly referring to another as a taboo body part is one of the oldest forms of insult. Even today when you call a man a "dick," or a woman a "cunt," everyone in the room knows exactly what you mean. However, there are those that chafe at such expressions, especially when self inflicted. I belong to an online community, made up of men, where there were recently some older men chastising younger ones for referring to male genitalia as their "junk."