New Release & Review: PHALLACY: LIFE LESSONS FROM THE ANIMAL PENIS by Emily Willingham

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A wry look at what the astonishing world of animal penises can tell us about how we use our own.

The fallacy sold to many of us is that the penis signals dominance and power. But this wry and penetrating book reveals that in fact nature did not shape the penis--or the human attached to it--to have the upper...hand.

Phallacy looks closely at some of nature's more remarkable examples of penises and the many lessons to learn from them. In tracing how we ended up positioning our nondescript penis as a pulsing, awe-inspiring shaft of all masculinity and human dominance, Phallacy also shows what can we do to put that penis back where it belongs.

Emphasizing our human capacities for impulse control, Phallacy ultimately challenges the toxic message that the penis makes the man and the man can't control himself. With instructive illustrations of unusual genitalia and tales of animal mating rituals that will make you particularly happy you are not a bedbug, Phallacy shows where humans fit on the continuum from fun to fatal phalli and why the human penis is an implement for intimacy, not intimidation.

Publication date: 22 September, 2020

MY THOUGHTS

This book – PHALLACY: LIFE LESSONS FROM THE ANIMAL PENIS  by Emily Willingham - and I are not a natural reading match, and yet, it’s certainly turned into one of the most interesting books I’ve read this year. 

This book is about putting the penis in its place. Willingham demonstrates how skewed cultural perceptions about penises equalling power is refuted in nature and that our social constructs have given rise to this fallacy. Her examples of scientific research projects where the female species are excluded just … because (??) proved to be quite the eye-opener.

It’s not always a light read and at times I found myself having to reread passages to understand what was happening – hey, fiction is more my jam. Nonetheless, the author has done a great job of shaping what might be considered dry material into a cohesive narrative. It’s educational, humorous and there are plenty of fascinating tidbits to whip out when you want to wow – or even gross out –your friends.

PHALLACY is an ideal gift for that hard-to-buy-for bookworm with eclectic reading tastes.  

Finally, barnacles! Who would have thought? But you’ll have to read this book to get the dirt.  

Review copy courtesy of publisher and Edelweiss+

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The business of my life has been writing and science. My work as a research scientist has led me to many cool things, including ultrasound and surgery on a spotted hyena, plastic casting of the inside of the mammalian penis, chasing tiny blazing-fast lizards around in the desert, and innumerable activities involving gonads. My work as a writer has done the same, from stories about the black bears of Big Bend to one of my all-time favorites, a piece on zombie grasshoppers. There are hundreds of adventures in between, and I wouldn't trade in the science or the writing for anything else.

http://www.emilywillinghamphd.com/