Andrew Benesh’s Reviews > A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis > Status Update

Done! The final chapter on medicalization was rough; the early history of transplants was fascinating, but it seems the author chose to take the word of urologists that sex therapy lable evidence rather than examining the research base. Still, the discussion of the rise of pharmaceuticals and unknown future impacts was well written.

The chapter of feminism was disappointing; one gets the impression the author was more focused on cute turns of please than a well rounded examination of sexual politics. The discussion of rape theories was particularly anemic. The later section on homonal development was much better.

I generally cringe when books bring up Freud, but this was written with an appropriate level of criticism and recognition of the arbitrary nature his theories. The section on Dora was particularly biting. I did feel like the author's attempts to tie in the Clinton impeachment were a bit of a stretch.

The chapter on racial discrimination as expressed through preceptions and narratives around black penises was well written, and is a great example of scientific racism. There is a weird tension between the authors condemnations of racist characterizations of "big black penises", the authors repeated use of the phrase, and the authors note that size differences aren't supported empirically.

I enjoyed the first chapters examination of religious traditions and Aquinas' single handed demonization of sexuality. It providers some good context to ideas that make little sense in the modern world.