Speaking of "badass," I have a little story from Japan. On our very last day, our tour guide took us to a phallic shrine. Literally. Our guide informed us that we were in the farming village of Takata-Ginja, told us a minimal history of the need for farm laborers, etc. As the legend goes, a woman who could not conceive gave birth to many children after she began worshipping a piece of wood shaped strikingly like a penis. Gradually, more people began worshipping the wooden phallus, hence the creation of the shrine. I listened to all of this with disbelief, but as we neared the front of the shrine, I saw a six-foot-long wooden replica of a phallus. "What about those?" I asked, pointing to the many smaller replicas around the enormous ones. These smaller versions were gifts to the shrine, our tour guide explained.
"Why do they need more than one replica?"
"Because they burn one every year."
Good grief. The tour guide assured me that there was also corresponding shrine for females, but it was too far away from our directed course. To this, I say: "'This {trip} smacks of phallocentricism.'"

posted by Eunice   [9:00 PM]

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