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The Male Body & the Female Body Susan Bordo, author o

Susan Bordo, author of The Male Body, offers her readers an analysis of many issues related to being male and having a male body. In the process, she also considers what it means to be female and to have a female body. In two sections of her book, Bordo also talks about "men's insecurities about penis size." She makes the point that just as women are concerned about the appearance of their bodies, males are also concerned. Men, like women, have idealized standards of what they and various parts of their bodies should look like. When the reality does measure up to the idealized image, men experience the same type of insecurities that are found in women. Just as women often define their attractiveness with respect to the shape of their bodies and the size of their breasts, men also regard the size of their penis as evidence of their male prowess and appeal.

Bordo's thesis is that "the humongous penis, like the idealized female body, is a cultural fantasy." Most males are "equipped" with a fairly average penis but, again like women, want something more. The association of a large penis with male superiority รป among men themselves and with respect to women - is a dominant characteristic of many cultures. It is hardly limited to Western culture or American culture. What Bordo attempts to do in this and a later essay in her book is identify where the idealized vision of a large penis as indicating some type of superiority or dominance cam from.

Bordo says that there is very little evidence that a large penis adds significantly to sexual pleasure for either a man or a woman. However, she makes the case that an association of genital size with power is common in our culture. In a chapter titled "What Is a Phallus,"? Bordo makes the point that the phallus is more than a penis. The penis is a physical item whereas a phallus has symbolic meaning. Bordo stated that "to be a phallus, reverence of the erect penis (or its a...

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The Male Body & the Female Body Susan Bordo, author o. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:30, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1703224.html