[Smithy]

Originally Posted by Marsh.

Aren't your children grown adults?

I'm sure they know what a penis looks like.

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

Aw, sorry the thread is not to your taste, Brillo.
But, I hope you agree, since it is displayed in such prominent locations in some major cities, it deserves to be discussed. We are not giggling here over some graffito genitals in the dark corner of a seedy street.
And you are too hard on the contributions to this discussion. All the post so far made sense and had a point.
Do you see any merit in explicit art in public spaces or such art existing at all?

Sorry I wasn’t really talking about this thread but the nonsense that was going on in another thread - that has now disappeared, although I stand by my comments on how obsessed many men seem to me with their bits.

[Twosugars]

It seems to me that there's nothing vulgar or filthy about our external reproductive organs, after all, thanks to them our species survive. They should be depicted and even celebrated as symbols of good things like fertility etc.
I'd blame our Judeo-Christian religions, or even wider, Abrahamic religions (judaism, christianity, islam). Starting with Adam and Eve story when they were happily frolicking naked in the garden of Eden until their sinned (snake and apple stuff) and god cursed them with feeling shame among other things. So they started covering up.
Since then religion has made us view genitals and sex as something unclean.
As Maru illustrated, the Far East has different view of things. Also, African tribes etc had no problem with nudity until missionaries arrived.

[Twosugars]

Originally Posted by Brillopad

Sorry I wasn’t really talking about this thread but the nonsense that was going on in another thread - that has now disappeared, although I stand by my comments on how obsessed many men seem to me with their bits.

Ok. Yeah, the other thread disappeared when I was reading it so never got to know how it all ended.

Re. men and their bits, yes, we are. It's at the centre of our gender identity. What about women? How do you see the importance of your bits?
I know that women can go through tough time when losing breasts to mastectomy, feel they may be seen as less of a woman. But how important your bits are on day to day basis?

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

Ok. Yeah, the other thread disappeared when I was reading it so never got to know how it all ended.

Re. men and their bits, yes, we are. It's at the centre of our gender identity. What about women? How do you see the importance of your bits?
I know that women can go through tough time when losing breasts to mastectomy, feel they may be seen as less of a woman. But how important your bits are on day to day basis?

I guess as important as you want them to be. Too many obsess on their bits, often based on insecurity in my opinion - for example too many young attractive women risk their health for bigger boobs when most look great as they are and men do nothing but talk about the size of their bits. I find the reasons behind why so many obsess more about one part of their body more interesting.

[Kizzy]

I blame Freud!

[Maru]

In my experience, women do tend to talk a lot more about their own body (especially health and hygeine) more-so than the men, with fewer boundaries... but that may be a cultural thing here in the US.

I wouldn't say that is necessarily compensation when a woman does it. I think it's pretty natural to be fascinated with our own human form and other bodily functions. Children are the same way, and I think that's a lot of how they work out their early insecurities about their body (from puberty, etc) and graduate to a more self-confident view of their own bodies ...

So essentially we start from a very infantile perspective towards the physical early on and it takes a number of years (and perhaps some extroversion) to chip away any insecurities that come up from the major physical/emotional/mental changes during early adult years/development... so when an adult can talk about their body, can joke about it... that's possibly a good sign they've developed a positive relationship with their own body.

I'm quite happy with my own body. I don't really care what people think of me with regard to my attitude towards it, I'm never intentionally 'vulgar'. I'm conservative in many ways (including in dress), but my comfort with my own body and being able to talk about it, all but. I think that when friends have been self-conscious of these topics during conversations in the past, they hear me and realize I wouldn't pick a bone over their wording or insecurity, so it's helped them to be more open about other more sensitive topics (like sexual health) that otherwise would never come up at all...

We also go through a bit of re-conditioning in Studio Art with reference to nudity. I've met some interesting folk in there, people who are quite professional and take that past-time quite seriously. I don't think of them as dirty for coming into an art studio and allowing other folk to view them or draw them. They have burlesque/costume workshops as well where we can draw nudes/live figures if people want experience with dressing the human form in drawings/paintings... some people are quite proud of that craft. I don't think that is childish at all. I think the artistic approach is quite mature and encourages self-composure actually.

Anyway all random thoughts.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by Brillopad

I guess as important as you want them to be. Too many obsess on their bits, often based on insecurity in my opinion - for example too many young attractive women risk their health for bigger boobs when most look great as they are and men do nothing but talk about the size of their bits. I find the reasons behind why so many obsess more about one part of their body more interesting.

You mustn't know very interesting men then.

[Twosugars]

I think that although we like to think of ourselves as rational beings, a lot of our behaviour is driven by primal instincts, e.g. our reproductive behaviour. Each sex tries to impress however they can. In humans, female of the species is more decorative and wears "colourfull plumage". But men are not immune from that either. It's getting more equal on that front lately (men are more body conscious & strive for perfection in their looks - que quest for six pack, steroid use, insecurity, etc).
Sorry to be ellitist, but it seems to me, people with less education or intelligence, tend to follow the crudest ideals of beauty e.g. some women trying to look like blowup dolls or porn actresses through plastic surgery. I guess in men the equivalent would be also plastic surgery and steroid pumped muscles.
Re. cock size, like it or not, studies and anecdotal evidence shows that, given a choice, women prefer a bigger one.
I'm generalizing for the sake of argument of course. Majority of people avoid these superficial extremes and prefer other, more sophisticated means of wooing a partner or not giving a sh*t (or say they do).