The Phallic Threat

The Phallic Threat: Giant Penises and Similar Threat Devices

No other anatomical structure shows the behavioral crosscurrents between sex and status more clearly than the genitalia. One might think that the primary copulatory organs would be used only in displays of copulatory attraction, when in fact they are intimately linked to the biological signals of social status. In these next two chapters we can look at how genitalia are used in social interactions and how these uses have, in turn, changed the appearances of the genitalia.

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