"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." – Albert Einstein

Having looked around, not too thoroughly I might add, I have discovered that I am the FIRST!  The first, that is, to post a GAMBLE review on last month’s book.  I am no longer a slackblogger.  I RULE! 

If you come along and show me you beat me, and totally burst my little pride-bubble, you are an evil, heartless excuse for a human being.

Soooo….

A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis by David Friedman

In short, I liked it.  Of all the non-fiction selections we have had so far, I thought it was definitely the most readable.  It was well organized and well presented, even if the author did not escape the sin of overstatement that seems to be prevalent in non-fiction historical writing nowadays.  I thought his treatment of the image of the penis in Classical history was probably the best and most enlightening portion of the book.  The contrast between Greek and Roman views on the male generative organ were fairly representative of the mindset of the two cultures, and it was very well done.

When he got past Freud, I think he began to flounder a bit.  Admittedly, we do not have the benefit of hindsight in evaluating the role of the penis in current cultural outlooks, but I think he wandered a bit too far in one direction on a couple of points.  His comments on the emerging feminism and the penis were insightful, but his exposition on rape I think fell a bit wide of the mark.  While the view of rape as a exhibition of power has been mitigated in recent psychological circles, it has not, by any means, been abandoned.  Yes, rape in some circumstances can be interpreted as biological imperative to spread our genes, but, as a biologist with a background in evolutionary biology  (and, I feel somewhat qualified to judge this), I think he goes a bit far on the “nature” side in this argument.  Biology, ultimately, does not exculpate behavior, and although he does qualify this, he does it a bit weakly.  The result is that he does come across as a bit of an apologist for violent sexual behavior.  There is an inherent conflict in his faint criticism of men-as-predators stance of radical feminism, while at the same time positing that rape is a manifestation of the genetic drive.  I had a hard time buying his assessment after looking at the last few chapters in context.

But overall, the stumbling in the last few chapters did not mar what was overall a pretty good and informative read.  Good choice.

December 1st, 2006 at 1:58 pm
2 Responses to “First at last!”
  1. 1
    Kat Says:

    Saw the title of the post… forgive me for not reading… I want to see how it comes out in the end.

    Er, I mean, the end of the book.

    Er, I mean… HELL!

    Anyway, I am up to Freud (I actually didn’t start until right before Thanksgiving, and somehow I couldn’t bear to take it with me to Paul’s dad’s — what would he have said?

    But it IS quite an eye opener.

  2. 2
    Cinnkitty Says:

    I tried…really I did. But I guess it’s official now. I just can’t read non-fiction without falling asleep! Even a book about the penis made my eyes droop and my brain shut down. And I really DID want to read this book! So, I’m a slacker. Didn’t finish it. Didn’t even get out of chapter one for pity’s sake! But, on the other side of the fence, I’m more than halfway through A Game of Thrones and it has be captivated. sigh!