The Problem Of Penile Presentation

There is a great bias, in erotica, pornography, glamour photography, and visual art in general in favor of female nudes, and many women are, indeed, beautiful. However, for visual art (drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs) created for heterosexual women, bisexuals, and male homosexual viewers, the male nude is, of course, the central concern. Artists, whether their subject matter is male or female, heterosexual or homosexual, use the same techniques, designs, and strategies to depict their models to the best effect, to make them as pleasing to the eye as possible, and to suggest, at times, at least, the importance of the image beyond itself. With regard to visual art that, featuring male models, includes a depiction of the penis, the matter of penile presentation asserts itself. How, artists must decide, should the penis be represented and shown? Should it be erect, semi-erect, flaccid? Circumcised or uncircumcised? Should primary consideration be given to length or girth? Should the penis belong to an African-American, an Asian, or a Caucasian? Should it be the appendage of a male or a shemale? How should it be lighted? What properties, or "props," if any, should be shown with it, and why? How should the penis be integrated into the rest of the composition? How can the penis best be shown as virile? As an aesthetic object? These are but a few of the challenges that penile presentation involve. Let's examine some artists' solutions to this problem.

One approach is to leave the penis out altogether, and show, from the rear, merely the testes-stuffed scrotum, resting upon a mattress, between spread thighs, with, perhaps, the perineum and a glimpse of the anus above, between slightly spread buttocks. This is an interesting solution, especially for gay viewers, because it isolates the testicles from the penis, focusing the viewer's attention upon the gonads, which are the very essence of both masculinity and virility, the centers and sources of male potency and fertility.