At this very moment, countless dicks compete for your attention.
March 4, 2015 5:24 PM   Subscribe

"With a bit of panic and a lot of excitement about debasing my philosophical heroes, I will attempt to place the dick pic at the intersection of anatomical and juridical photography, the #selfie, pornography, and finally, the global brand." [NSFW]

Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal : "The dick pic, though, is rarely just about genitals....The very conventions of the genre—and the lack of visual information in the average cock—ultimately promote the ground over the figure of the dick, and, by the logic of conspicuous consumption, highlight mise-en-scène—and not the dick itself—as the ultimate assessor of the dick pic's impact or import."

[Featuring the Critique My Dick Pic tumblr: previously, previously]
posted by cowboy_sally (17 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite


 
I can't parse the jargon in the Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal's piece, but I do always appreciate a link to Critique My Dick Pic.
posted by Squeak Attack at 6:18 PM on March 4, 2015


I heart the first footnote.

[1] I take comfort in the first sentence of Judith Butler's "The Lesbian Phallus" here: "After such a promising title, I knew that I could not possibly offer a satisfying essay; but perhaps the promise of the phallus is always dissatisfying in some way."
posted by umbú at 6:29 PM on March 4, 2015 [8 favorites]


Critique My Dick Pic

Purely on the phonetics, I always want that to be "Critic My Dick Pic" or "Critique My Deek Peek," but "Critique my dick pic" makes me wince.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:45 PM on March 4, 2015 [3 favorites]


This is beautiful writing, and i wonder about the return of photography from the land of art, to its more ambigious places--her discussion of the judicial was genuinely new. also, can we assume that techincal articles should not be immediately dismissed for "jargon" (rhizome is an art history journal, it should talk in the cant of art history)
posted by PinkMoose at 7:03 PM on March 4, 2015


I don't mean jargon as a dismissal - just that I don't have the vocab or references to really get where she's going.

From her closing paragraphs: Certainly an uptick in cum tributes to actor Emma Watson since her recent foray into public intelligence might be a pitiful reminder of proprietary phallus-posturing; yet how easy it is, in the psychosexual imaginary, to reverse our perception of domination and submission. As every middle schooler knows, erections are almost embarrassingly literal: arousal and its cause. Who sacrificed a retina screen or a magazine? For what is a #tribute without sacrifice? And ultimately, fantasies (no matter what's in them) are as consensual as sex can get.

Truly, I defy you to find a pictorial genre that better reflects an exchange of information and affect.


What are we seeing in cum shots on Emma Watson when we "reverse our perception of domination and submission"? I don't know.

The ejaculate is a hashtag "sacrifice"? I don't feel persuaded.

Posting a photo of your ejaculate on a picture of an actress is consensual? No.

Don't understand what an exchange of information and affect is, nor why a dick pic or cum shot is particularly representative.

And so on.
posted by Squeak Attack at 7:18 PM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


Critique My Dick Pic isn't so much a tumblr as it is a public service announcement, and I would gladly work with the curator to develop a handy pocket guide to distribute as needed. There would be infographics, somehow.
posted by redsparkler at 8:13 PM on March 4, 2015 [2 favorites]


Dip Flash, the solution is clearly "The Dick Pic Critic". They should have workshopped that one a bit longer.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:30 PM on March 4, 2015 [2 favorites]


"Critique My Dick Pic," though it doesn't scan as nicely, is a much inviting and informative title. It sounds like a service, promising constructive criticism and accolades, when deserved.

"Dick Pic Critic" sounds more like what my friends who frequently receive unsolicited peen shots from randoms, usually along with personal missives that range from pleading to threatening to incoherent. The judgements handed down by that court are much more harsh.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:13 AM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Dick pics aside, it never ceases to amaze and utterly perplex me that so many people have no qualms of posting NSFW images and videos of themselves online. I mean, Tumblr alone is like the Library of Alexandria of amateur pr0n.

I guess I'm just old and from a different time.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:09 AM on March 5, 2015


Is ejaculating right onto your computer screen a thing? Because that's how you get ants.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:35 AM on March 5, 2015 [5 favorites]


I'm baffled by this. My sample size is very small (as it's not a question one asks over tea with one's colleagues). But is there an actual "market" for this? I can't imagine many hereto females being enthralled by this, even though they may be the (imagined) target.

Having read (but not fully digested) the linked piece, my suspicions were confirmed, in that dick pics are more for the submitter than the consumer. But they must be getting some views from other interested parties.
posted by Homemade Interossiter at 6:58 AM on March 5, 2015


Is ejaculating right onto your computer screen a thing?

Well...Tributing the entire internet at once does seem like an efficient method.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:08 AM on March 5, 2015


Has anyone here ever sent a dick pic? Serious question.
posted by gucci mane at 5:38 PM on March 5, 2015


Has anyone here ever sent a dick pic? Serious question.

I have been present while drunk people took pictures of their dicks with someone else's phone and set the pics as the screensaver. It's hard for me to imagine someone sending a dick pic with the intent of being sexy, but maybe I am limited in my imagination.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:35 PM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


[answers "yes," implying that my penis is worth taking a good picture of]
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:58 PM on March 5, 2015



I'm baffled by this. My sample size is very small


It's a grower, not a shower.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:54 PM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]



Has anyone here ever sent a dick pic? Serious question.


You mean of MY dick?
posted by louche mustachio at 5:14 PM on March 7, 2015 [1 favorite]


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