"Why with the functioning role unquestionably established should the functional role of the penis have been shrouded so successfully by 'phallic fallacy' concepts? This, indeed, is one of the great mysteries of biological science."
- Masters and Johnson, Human Sexual Response
No other anatomical structure shows the behavioral crosscurrents between sex and status more clearly than the genitalia. One might think that the primary copulatory organs would be used only in displays of copulatory attraction, when in fact they are intimately linked to the biological signals of social status. In these next two chapters we can look at how genitalia are used in social interactions and how these uses have, in turn, changed the appearances of the genitalia.
There is no aspect of human existence which is more emotionally loaded, carries more taboos, and dominates our mythology more than genitalia. Comparative ethology is rich with clues as to why this should be so.
A review of the general themes of mammalian hierarchies shows that sex membership is an important element, with mature males at the top of the scale. The characteristics of "maleness" that signal mature males' status are the main centers of his status communication, even to the point where, in several groups of mammals, females have evolved mimics of male genitalia for social ends. If a quick check for the qualitative signal of sex is important in status, one can see where qualitative signals can blur in quantitative ones. A signal of maleness which is larger or more conspicuous than those of most other males might easily be interpreted as more male - more dominant.
In some characters this principle carries directly across from qualitative to quantitative meaning with real worth. For example, if in a group of antelope the presence of horns signifies that the individual is a male (where females are hornless), by the size of the horns an antelope can tell how "male" his opponent is. There are many species where the horn size gradient among males does influence the outcome of fights - the larger horns giving more momentum to the thrust. In these cases a male seeing "horns" not only gets information as to sex, but also probably stature within that sex.
What area of the mammalian body would be more subject to being a source of direct information about sex than the primary sex organs - genitalia? It is in this area that a fundamental sexual difference obviously exists in all mammals. Unlike horns or fangs, one would think that genitalia are not weapons to be wielded in a status bout - but indeed they are. It is an easy progression, if one is equating male genitals with social position, to equate larger genitals with higher status. Male squirrel monkeys threaten each other with their erections in a display labeled a "penis duel."
In the ethological literature there is common reference to male hoofed animals getting penis erections as part of the intimidation ritual. It is seen in threats or fights between buck deer of almost all species, and is very common among antelope. Erection and threat occur together commonly in many of the monkeys. Understandably, it was once quite a puzzle for naturalists to see an erection in the context of anger; now we know it to be a general theme.
A colleague of mine recalls that, at the swimming hole in his boyhood days in the rural South, the nude swimmers were called either "bank walkers" or "quick divers" depending on their degree of puberty progression. The tiny penis of the prepuberty male undergoes a dramatic change in size as the pubic and upper lip fuzz begins to coarsen and darken. The bunched prepuce, which gives the prepuberty male's flaccid penis a miniature "coke-bottle" shape, stretches back around the expanding glans. Statues of warriors probably say something about the oft commented upon sexual attitudes of early Greek males: amid those bulging Charles Atlas muscles, showing under the massive breastplate, is a diminutive prepuberty penis.
The maturing human penis goes through several stages; marked especially by the onset, of puberty. Before puberty it is, a small "coke bottle" structure with the foreskin or prepuce gathered in a fold beyond the glans. As the penis grows the gathered foreskin disappears and the prepuce allows the tip of the glans to protrude beyond it. In conditions of extreme fright or cold the adult penis reverts to the prepuberty form.
Though the sexual clinicians, Masters and Johnson, tell us that the female's satisfaction is virtually independent of the man's penis size, males all over the world are concerned about it. It is not an overt part of our daily interactions, because we take great care to cover up and taboo our organs so they are not as they once were - a usual part of the ancient social display of personal confrontation.
Yet genitals are still important social tools beneath all those draperies of civilization. Especially during that trying time of puberty, males compare and judge. A slow developer or one naturally unendowed may be marked for life psychologically in self-confidence or assertiveness - either by compensating by aggressive activity in other areas, as in the Napoleon complex in shorter men, or simply by receding socially. Self-doubts about sexual prowess go much deeper than male-female satisfaction; rather, they are tinged with that same squirrel monkey penile duel. There is a large male-male social component - that is, relative status.
But at the same time that we cover up our real genitals, we have consciously or unconsciously incorporated phallic symbolism into our social paraphernalia - canes, swagger sticks, dangling neckties, staffs, scepter batons, maces, truncheons.
The combination of (1) the fact that the penile display is an important part of the intimidation display of other primates, and (2) the knowledge that penis size is important in many societies and subcultures today as symbol of status, suggest that the penis had a significant role in human social organization and communication in the past. I believe this may be the solution to the problem posed by Masters and Johnson: "Why with the functioning role unquestionably established, should the functional role of the penis have been shrouded so successfully by ‘phallic fallacy’ concepts?"
If indeed we have such basic biological values relating to the role of the penis socially, one might suspect that there has been some selection feedback affecting its anatomy.
One of the most striking things about primate genitalia is their vivid color. Signal "hot spots" are usually demarcated by contrasting hues or bright colors. In African monkeys, the glans tends to be red and the scrotum blue. Sometimes the penile shaft is white. Male genital displays in the vervet monkeys have been referred to as the "red, white, and blue display." In most other groups it is a mixture of these colors, red from the scarlet of the red blood cells showing through the skin and blue (from the melanin pigment colors transformed by the epidermis), forming purples, persimmon, violets, lilacs, and pinks. Some have an eye-catching contrast derived from different intensities of melanin, whether almost completely absent or in deep concentration.
Our own genitals are more pigmented than the surrounding areas, markedly at puberty; but the kinship with our simian relatives can best be seen during erection. Masters and Johnson describe the "plateau phase" of erection as having a marked color change: "The male response is an increased purple cast to the coronal area of the penis." In contrast, male Alakaluf Indians in South America have deep blue genitals even in a flaccid state.
A variety of genital ornamentation found in different tribes throughout New Guinea.
The anatomical specializations of the penis for social signaling are not limited to color. Morris brought attention to something which had received casual comments for some time: the human penis is much larger than it functionally needs to be to accomplish internal fertilization. In comparison to the rest of the apes, it is very thick compared with the pencil-like penis of, say, gorillas and chimps. Morris proposed that this giant organ was selected for because it stimulated the female clitoral area more than a slender simian rod would have, thereby giving more satisfaction to the female and further strengthening the pair-bond. This may be partially true, but I suspect the inordinate size of the male genitals is rather a result of selection pressures originating among males, because of its influence on social stature.
There are a number of pieces of evidence for this. The size of the normal flaccid penis can be reduced further by severe physiological and psychological changes, indicating that even in its non-erect state it is under some tonus by vasocongestion (constriction of the blood vessels). Male Miamin of New Guinea, and some tribes in South America, even wear artificial penis extensions to further increase their masculine appearance. Penis size varies among different human subgroups, as do other social organs. For example, some Negro groups maintain a flaccid penis size nearer the erect state than do Caucasians.
It was a tradition among the Australian aboriginals to split the penis down the urethral slit so that it ended up as a broad flat band - kind of like cutting a garden hose along a seam and flattening it out. One of the puberty rituals of the South Sea Islanders from Mangaia involves "super incision" deep down the top of the penis so the foreskin hangs down in a drape, leaving the glans exposed. It used to be done with a sharpened flint, but now the leaders prefer straight razors. Like the widespread rite of circumcision, these leave the glans exposed so even a flaccid penis carries some status - as a weapon permanently unsheathed.
Various forms of penis alterations to affect status – as a weapon permanently unsheathed. From left to right: circumcision as found in some Western cultures; South Sea Island Mangaia’s superincision; and an Australian’s urethral split.
Unlike the rest of the primates, we have an erect posture which provides an increased exposure of the penis to public view, continually reminding other individuals of its size. This may explain why the giant penis is, among primates at least, uniquely human. Because of our unusual posture, it is impossible to approach another individual without performing to some degree a genital display (with both intimidation and sexual overtones). I would argue that the covering of the genitals is not so much to conceal a sexually attractive organ as it is to cover an organ that is intimidating, in addition to, or maybe because of, its sexual significance. I believe I am monitoring general sentiments correctly by saying that pictures of genitalia away from the excitement of the sex act are more offensive than pleasurable.
The common guinea pig which kids keep as a pet is a native South American rodent with an unusual genital display. The males can lower or withdraw their testes from within the abdominal cavity. In a threat display directed at other males, they raise their rears and flick the testes into the colored scrotum. Among some male macaques, when an individual is approached by a monkey quite his senior, the testicles may even retract temporarily through the inguinal canal, leaving an empty fold of skin where the large scrotum once was.
There are some indications that human erections of penis and testicles were also once a part of a threat display. In our era, the human erection and testicular swelling with threat has almost vanished in the adult male. Anger in babies, however, still produces these changes. Adults do tend to undergo penis and testes contraction, however, in times of fear or extreme subordination. We still have the potential for testicular enlargement; in the middle stages of sexual excitement human testes enlarge, sometimes doubling in size.
The males of many primate species choose comfort postures - ways of relaxing - which seem to display their genital equipment to its fullest. There is a remarkable similarity between the comfort postures chosen by human males and those baboons sitting out there on a bare anthill, or monkeys in tall shrubs. It is mildly verboten for a male to heist one leg up and place his foot on the chair though this is quite comfortable.
In Body Language, Julius Fast analyzes leg-crossing and its importance in social signaling, but doesn't refer to its origin. It is a genital cover-up just opposite of the straddle-legged slouch posture. Leg-crossing is a symbolic gesture of hiding the naked self.
Human comfort postures – ways of relaxing – appear to differ between the sexes. Males tend to use the legs-apart postures more frequently than females. These same sexual differences are found in other primates who use a penis display as part of their status signal (after Hewes, 1957).
It is not difficult to imagine how, in a closed folk society (the context of much of our evolutionary history), subtle differences at puberty could play a role in later relationships. I don't mean to imply that girls had no say in who wasn't a desirable boy to date, but they were surely influenced a great deal by the stature a boy had among other boys. One has only to look at how frequently the team captain dates the pretty cheerleader, the homecoming queen, or some analogous pairing. Also, a woman plays a definite role in the man's self-image. Some of the psychoses men with small genitals have must derive from their fear of disappointing a woman - not necessarily in her orgasmic satisfaction, but just in her getting a man with smaller male organs that might be incorrectly interpreted as less masculine.
Males who brag about their sexual exploits or must continue to fly from "flower to flower" are not so much superendowed with sexual drive as they are deficient in masculine self-image; that is, deficient in status in their own estimation. Often these are small men, men with small genitals, men conspicuously lacking in other organs of status, or men with some major social handicap. The phallic threat has rebounded on them.