Guns, the penis, and power

[Ganymede]

This post is sort of an out-growth of these two discussions:

1. http://www.lpsg.org/new-member-introductions/38965-how-many-real-straight-guys-7.html

2. The Perfect Phallus

In the first discussion the user named "love2showoff" identifies himself as straight, and in his avatar there is a picture of a gun.

http://www.lpsg.org/members/love2showoff.html

This got me thinking about a few things.

1. Lately, it is common to hear the penis referred to as "a gun." (Example, I'm listening to an album by the rock group Sublime as I type this. In two songs Bradley Nowell refers to his "gun." In one song he sings, "If I make you cry all night, be your daddy at the end of the light, take a load from my big gun.")

2. Lately, it is common to hear a man with a big penis referred to as "packing." This is the same term often used to refer to a man who is carrying a gun. A man with a gun is often referred to as "packing" or "packing heat."

3. There are many euphamisms for ejaculation, such as "come." But one of the most common euphamisms is "shoot." I myself often refer to when I "shoot."

4. Just as the gun represents power, so does the penis.

Obviously, the point I'm making here is that in the male mind guns and the penis often intersect. The penis is often an metaphor for the penis, and vice versa. From a certain perspective, it could be said that "love2showoff" has a picture of a penis in his avatar. I don't remember who said it, but I read a while back that some psychologist said that phallus worship is no longer allowed, so men find other ways to worship the phallus, such as by carrying guns.

When I take this into account, it's perhaps not that surprising that straight men may join this group and look at the penises of other men, and even feel empowered to do so. Let's go back to the gun comparison. Say there is a group of men who collect guns. Wouldn't it be natural for them to get together and talk about their guns and compare them and even hold them, trade each other's, and even fire them off at a target? On some level, I think that this is what goes on here on this forum. On this forum there are a lot of straight guys looking at each other's penises, talking about them, complimenting them, and saying how much they'd like to "borrow" the other guy's penis for a while. A guy could say the same thing about another guy's gun, and no one would question his sexuality. But because this society is so sexuall repressed (US society) it's taboo to say that about the penis.

Frankly, I'd much rather hear straight men compliment each other's penises and say they'd like to trade for a while, because the penis is much more beneficial. The penis brings life, whereas the gun takes it. I wish that young guys with guns would replace them with their penises, and just be proud of their penises ... then the guns wouldn't be necessary.

I'm not sure how this fits into this, but something else just occurred to me. Bottom line, men are men. We make up 80% of the pornography consumption. Women, on the other hand, often prefer to read romance novels. The reason we make up 80% of the pornography industry is because we are visual. We like to SEE things, which may partly explain the straight male presence on this site. And at one basic level there's something both straight porn and gay porn have in common: a big penis (or gun) "shooting" its sperm. Straight porn may not specifically make men the focus of the entertainment, but the men are usually well endowed. Why? Because the men in the movies are often stand-ins for the straight male viewer, and that straight male viewer would like to imagine himself as being like the porno actor: well endowed.

As for me, I don't consider myself gay. (I put 1% gay because as Kinsey said, few people are 100% anything. I chose the name "Ganymede" because of my interest in Greek mythology and my longing for my own youth, which Ganymede represented to Zues. The older I get the more I long for the innocense of my youth. I suppose I'm both Zues and Ganymede within myself.) But when I see another man's erect penis, as the article "Heterosexual Men and the Other Phallus" says, I am reminded of the pleasure my own erect penis has brought me, and that's obviously a positive thing. When I see the erect penis of another man, I don't want to touch it or put it in my mouth or anything. Deep in my heart, I think, "Good for you, bro. I hope you experience a lot of pleasure with that. You're lucky to be blessed." And I feel empowered to know that I am not alone in what I experience. I am a member of a team.

I think that deep in the male heart is a desire to form a team with others of our own gender, which is why most straight men's lives revolve around sports (which is all about teams). And, yes, at some level there is also a great sense of jealousy that another guy has a bigger penis than me. But perhaps on the deepest, deepest level there is this sense among men that at some level our penises, our maleness, is actually connected ... and so if one man is big and strong and powerful, and I am a member of his team, then I am big and strong and powerful by association.

 

[Pirate Wench]

I've been using some of those terms for years when talking about the male plumbing.


And you forgot one....(I think)


Men who have had a vasectomy are supposedly shooting blanks.
:wink:

 

[Elmer Gantry]

And every male wants to be on the winning team. Mostly.......

This leads me to a theory of mine. Team sports are often equated with primitive tribalism and the parallels are obvious whether you are a competitor or spectator. Being from Australia, and working professionally in the sporting field, I've had the fortune to witness more than a few "champions" at work, and the adoration they inspire. This is a similar phenomena to the one Ganymede mentions with relation to men admiring each others handy work. The champions are the top of the food chain elite with an army of adoring foloowers who all want to be like him when they grow up.

Then there is the perpetual runner up. They seem to make a living out of not quite being their. "Coodabeens" is the phrase we use. The drama of screwing it up, choking at the last minute or general not being at the top of the dias is what they live for. Not the cheering of the crowds, nor the sense of accomplishment of triumphing over his fellow man but the crushing feeling of defeat. Could these be the cuckold's of the sporting world. The SPH cravers?

 

[D_Bob_Crotchitch]

So, does this mean the smaller the man's penis the larger the weapon he will own? Hmmm, passes out peashooters to the men that are packing.

 

[Ganymede]

Well, if the penis represents power, then a guy with a big gun may not necessarily have a small penis. He may feel, however, that he has to compensate for not having what the penis represents: power.

Also, there are other penis replacements. There's the stereotype that men who drive fancy sports cars have small penises.

So, does this mean the smaller the man's penis the larger the weapon he will own? Hmmm, passes out peashooters to the men that are packing.

 

[Ganymede]

Thanks for adding this, bro. I had forgotten about this one.

I've been using some of those terms for years when talking about the male plumbing.


And you forgot one....(I think)


Men who have had a vasectomy are supposedly shooting blanks.
:wink:

 

[Ganymede]

These sports stars are the "phallus" of the team, and of the team fans. I was recently in a sports store and I noticed something interesting. All the people shopping were male, presumably straight males. And all the employees were the same.

There seems to be this idea that if a man is heterosexual then he is always obsessed with sex and with the female body. But you know what I saw in this sports store? I saw poster after poster, and sports cards and calendars, featuring men. In other words, what I saw was a store full of straight men looking at images of other straight men -- which is what goes on here at this website; straight men looking at one another.

Above, I mentioned that in straight porn the men have big penises because that's what we wish we had. They are a stand-in for us. I think this is exactly what goes on in the sports store as well. Men go in there and buy jerseys with the number of their favorite athlete because they want to be that athelete.

I think that what has happened is that society has been boundaries around how it will accept and allow men to admire other men. It is acceptable to admire another male if he is an athlete. But to admire the most primal symbol of that athlete's maleness, his penis, would make others (and often oneself) uneasy. Again, as with the guns and the fancy sport cars, society is more comfortable with the symbol of the penis than with the actual thing.

It sounds odd to say it, but those sports stars, those jocks strutting around campus, are actually walking penises -- and everyone, particularly other straight men, admire those walking penises.

Your post gives me other ideas. I'll post more about them later. In the meantime, thanks for your response, bro.

Oh, lastly, what I wanted to mention in this post is that a while ago I was reading about nudity in Russian art. At some period in Russian hsitory it was decided that the male nude could be depicted only as long as that nude form was in action, preferably a type of competitive action. I think that this is another distinction between the gay and straight porn. In straight porn, the male is almost always in action; he is needed for that specifically. In gay porn, the male is the object of attention and therefore does not always need to be in action; he just needs to be good looking. I suppose what I'm getting at is that heterosexual males feel okay to admit to admiring other males as long as that admiration is within the context of some sort of action or competition. I think this explains why I feel a bit awkward to admit that I see some penises are good looking, but then have to add the element of competition by saying, "I wish mine were that big...." Apparently, straight males need competition and "action" of some sort. (I'm not saying gay men don't need that too. I know there are gay athletes. But it seems more prevalent among straight males.)

And every male wants to be on the winning team. Mostly.......

This leads me to a theory of mine. Team sports are often equated with primitive tribalism and the parallels are obvious whether you are a competitor or spectator. Being from Australia, and working professionally in the sporting field, I've had the fortune to witness more than a few "champions" at work, and the adoration they inspire. This is a similar phenomena to the one Ganymede mentions with relation to men admiring each others handy work. The champions are the top of the food chain elite with an army of adoring foloowers who all want to be like him when they grow up.

Then there is the perpetual runner up. They seem to make a living out of not quite being their. "Coodabeens" is the phrase we use. The drama of screwing it up, choking at the last minute or general not being at the top of the dias is what they live for. Not the cheering of the crowds, nor the sense of accomplishment of triumphing over his fellow man but the crushing feeling of defeat. Could these be the cuckold's of the sporting world. The SPH cravers?

 

[B_big dirigible]

You guys are trying way too hard.

 

[D_Bob_Crotchitch]

You guys are trying way too hard.

Tell me about it. The joke about the peashooters was totally missed.

 

[Ganymede]

Or are you just caught off guard to be presented with things you've never thought of before? Have you ever thought about the fact that several sports terms have made their way into sexual lingo, and that perhaps in the male mind the game itself is seen as a woman, that is, something you want to win? Baseball metaphors for sex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maybe we're trying too hard, but at least we're trying.

You guys are trying way too hard.

 

[Ganymede]

Another example:
http://www.lpsg.org/members/toolman.html

 

[Love-it]

So a small phallus is a BB gun?

Are you old enough to remember the term for a homemade, jail made or school shop made gun - Zip gun?

 

[Ganymede]

Funny. Like Freud said, "Sometimes a cigars is just a cigar."

Not all guns are penises. But it's interesting that the gun is often a metephor for the penis, and vice versa.

 

[wifeofalargeman]

Ganymede this is a very interesting post, my friend and I both coach a High School Lacrosse team and have discussed that men must have named the equipment- heads, shafts, sticks and balls.

 

[Ganymede]

LOL. That's really funny. Thanks.

 

[viking1]

I remeber a TV show a couple of years back on the The Discovery Channel.
There was an English doctor who made a documentery on human sexuality.
His last name was Morris. He commented on the penis shrines (ying-yang shrines) that they have in Japan. He said I can't show these shrines on TV in this country. He said I can show guns which shoot death but not penises which shoot life. We are way too uptight about sex in our society. That is why I joined this board...for open discussion about things that almost nobody will talk about face to face.

Guns are empowering and are an equalizer. If you have a gun that puts you mostly on level ground with anyone else. Maybe this all goes back to a large penis giving men confidence. Large and or fancy cars too.

I am sure some men find the male body to be repulsive and don't look at nude men. Some find the female body repulsive too. I find the human body to be beautiful...female or male. I do look at nude male pictures but I don't necessarily find them erotic. I do find female erotic both nude and clothed. If I am looking for pictures to mastubate to they are almost always female. I don't care much to watch men have sex with men.
I don't even like to watch men have sex with women all that much.
Just pictures of women nude or clothed are erotic to me.

I think a lot of these "I don't ever look at other men" comments are from men who are homophobic. I mean no offense by this either...if that's how you then that's how you are. Like the guy I worked with who said I was part gay because I liked the athletic womens body type best. However if anybody joked with him about anything to do with gays he went off.
He was definitely homophobic. I do admire a nice male body and a large
penis too. I just don't find them particularly erotic.

As far as "borrowing" another guys penis I have seen a few on here I would like to "borrow" just to see how empowering it really is. If nothing else I would like to see what it's like to masturbate with two hands.

I think the competitive and teams sports thing is a male thing and hormone
driven for the most part. Sure, women compete in sports but I am not sure it's for the same reasons. I do think women can do anything men can do except for one thing. Also most women don't have the physical strength that most men do. I have no problem with female doctors, pilots, truckers
mechanics and so on. They can do the job just as well and are often more careful due to not being so ego driven.

 

[chesz001]

i think it's the society why penis is associated to gun..think of this it'll be annoying saying penis to a kid or in a public where there are kids watching..but as soon as they grow they realized what is the term 'gun' for a boy..


in addition,gun is one of the exact representation of a guy's dick,it shoots and it comes in different sizes..

 

[cute5]

...
1. Lately, it is common to hear the penis referred to as "a gun."
2. Lately, it is common to hear a man with a big penis referred to as "packing." This is the same term often used to refer to a man who is carrying a gun. A man with a gun is often referred to as "packing" or "packing heat."

3. There are many euphamisms for ejaculation, such as "come." But one of the most common euphamisms is "shoot." I myself often refer to when I "shoot."

4. Just as the gun represents power, so does the penis.

1. I've never heard that.
2. Maybe, I don't say either one of those.
3. Guns don't represent anything, they are mechanical devices, so are penises.

 

[chesz001]

1. I've never heard that.
2. Maybe, I don't say either one of those.
3. Guns don't represent anything, they are mechanical devices, so are penises.

REally?where in earth are you?..just kiddin..i hear it in television,read it in magazines and internet and heard it from other people..

 

[losangelestim]

this is the best discussion line on this board! thanks ganymede