The Problem Of Penile Presentation

At the same time, though, the glimpse of the anus between the slightly parted buttocks suggests a chink, as it were, in the armor of the model's masculinity. Despite his virility, he may be vulnerable to attack, to penetration, to occupation. He may, in short, be subject to being taken, to being fucked, to be being treated like a woman, to being conquered and feminized. This image has conflicting, if not contradictory, implications which point to the androgynous nature of men as obvious males and, yet, paradoxically, at the same time, potentially surrogate females.

A similar tactic is to show the scrotum not compressed by its being flattened against a horizontal surface, such as a mattress, but hanging freely, the balls seemingly heavy inside the loose and suspended flesh of the relatively unwrinkled, pouch-like container. The buttocks, if parted, again permit a glimpse of the anus, and, if the underpants are shown pushed down, around the thighs, the image is clearly one of invitation: in the model's posture, as in his nakedness, the message is clear--he awaits penetration. Once again, from a different vantage point, the male is shown as a subject who may be taken, who may be fucked, who may be treated like a woman, who may be conquered and feminized. Like the first picture, this image has very similar conflicting, if not contradictory, implications, which point to the androgynous nature of men as obvious males and, yet, paradoxically, at the same time, potentially surrogate females.

Let's consider another means by which the problem of penile presentation has been resolved by an artist. In the picture before me, the model's lower abdomen, from a few inches above his navel down, and his thighs, to just above the knees, are shown in a three-quarters-full view, his upper body being turned to the right. His left arm lies along his side, the hand against his thigh. Amid a flurry of dark-brown pubic hair, his balls nestle between his thighs, his erect cock rearing from his groin.