# Phallic (or vaginal) imagery in pop culture images **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346 "2016-08-19T21:50:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/1 "2016-08-19T21:50:26Z")
Just entirely for the H\*\*\* of it, what are some famous (or even not-so-famous) phallic or vaginal “suggestions” that you’ve noticed in pop culture graphics? It can be from any source — album covers, ads, movies, whatever. Just a few off the top of my head: The iconic [Jaws](https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/37/MPW-18721) poster. the opening to the old TV series [the Rifleman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdOf5eCuK8g) and the notorious [cover](http://images.furycomics.com/viewer/0a/0afab754750f955669662d58c567eb94/0.jpg) from the spin-off comic book. And as comic book fan ever could tell you, Wonder Woman has a loooooong tradition of covers featuring the titular heroine tied up with missiles firing at her privates, such as exemplified on this [cover](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c1/17/df/c117dfaa4fcce1d593ffa259da149f6f.jpg). What else you got? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/2 "2016-08-19T22:30:18Z")
The night Ed Ames threw the axe… Also, I’m still unconvinced by the explanation that the priest’s stiffie, in the wedding scene in The Little Mermaid, was “just his knee.” I definitely see a fold in his robe protruding. (This happens quite normally in real life; men’s trousers “pleat” themselves as the wearer walks.) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/3 "2016-08-19T22:59:55Z")
I don’t know if you could call his work “pop” or not, but H. R. Giger’s art is full of both phallic and vaginal imagery. I’d post links to images, but I’m not running a search at work. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/4 "2016-08-19T23:01:45Z")
The aliens in _Alien_ managed to be both at once. EDIT: ^^Case in point. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/5 "2016-08-19T23:41:17Z")
First ones that came to mind were the VERY questionable cover of the Blind Faith album duly spoilered, very young topless girl[spoiler][http://www.angelfire.com/wi/blindfaith/images/vvcov69ff.JPG[/spoiler]](http://www.angelfire.com/wi/blindfaith/images/vvcov69ff.JPG%5B/spoiler%5D) and the iconic closing scene from North By Northwest with the train entering a tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/6 "2016-08-20T00:05:12Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Also, I’m still unconvinced by the explanation that the priest’s stiffie, in the wedding scene in The Little Mermaid, was “just his knee.” I definitely see a fold in his robe protruding. (This happens quite normally in real life; men’s trousers “pleat” themselves as the wearer walks.) I assume you mean [this](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/InFLnzeQjWw/hqdefault.jpg)? It’s definitely his knee. Because if you look at it from [another angle](http://www.snopes.com/disney/graphics/mermaid3.jpg) it’s clear they gave him really short, tiny cartoon legs, and they’re bent. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/7 "2016-08-20T00:51:12Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > I assume you mean [this](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/InFLnzeQjWw/hqdefault.jpg)? . . . Yep; in the movie, the little bulge grows, evoking the image of a rising penis. It isn’t just so much that there’s a bulge, but a swelling bulge. The still-frame shot is only part of the joy. I’m still willing to believe that it might have been deliberate on the part of the animators. No way to prove it, but I’m unconvinced that it has to be innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/8 "2016-08-20T00:55:42Z")
_The Wall_. Mother looks kinda vaginal, and there’s a sequence where something morphs into a vagina, a screaming mouth, I think…it’s been a while since I saw it. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/9 "2016-08-20T01:07:58Z")
Prometheus. The monster in the medical bay has characteristics of both. [Picture of techs working on model.](http://i46.tinypic.com/s29l39.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/10 "2016-08-20T01:37:59Z")
Again, from _Prometheus_. [[Further evidence from Prometheus.](http://www.needlessthingssite.com/2012/12/toy-review-toys-r-us-exclusive.html) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/11 "2016-08-20T02:06:38Z")
In Ingmar Bergman’s _The Silence_, the boy Johann wanders a hotel and runs into an elderly porter. The man has a sausage (the literal kind). He holds up vertically, and plays with it, moving it back and forth. Then he bites off the tip. . . . There’s the infamous cover of the album _Mom’s Apple Pie_, which is hardly subtle: [http://www.centrosangiorgio.com/messaggi\_visivi/messaggi\_visivi\_sessuali/messaggi\_nelle\_cover/mom\_apple\_pie/moms\_apple\_pie\_genitali.jpg](http://www.centrosangiorgio.com/messaggi_visivi/messaggi_visivi_sessuali/messaggi_nelle_cover/mom_apple_pie/moms_apple_pie_genitali.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/12 "2016-08-20T02:22:06Z")
The feminine equivalent of phallic is yonic. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/13 "2016-08-20T02:29:47Z")
The last scenes of the original KING KONG. The top of the Empire State Building before the pointy spiky radio antenna was installed. [![](https://thegodguy.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/kingkong4.jpg) ](https://thegodguy.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/kingkong4.jpg) No wonder Fay Wray was screaming. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/14 "2016-08-20T03:21:46Z")
Does Georgia O’Keefe count as pop culture? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/15 "2016-08-20T03:32:42Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Does Georgia O’Keefe count as pop culture? I would say high art but you CAN go to museums and buy posters of her work to hang up in your dorm room and be surrounded by enormous pulsing poontang. So go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/16 "2016-08-20T03:47:28Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I would say high art but you CAN go to museums and buy posters of her work to hang up in your dorm room and be surrounded by enormous pulsing poontang. > > So go for it. I would agree. It really is “art” rather than pop art, but given that there are an awful lot of posters of her heart around, I’d say she just straddles the line. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/17 "2016-08-20T04:12:56Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I would say high art but you CAN go to museums and buy posters of her work to hang up in your dorm room and be surrounded by enormous pulsing poontang. > > So go for it. Ew. Been there, seen that. One of the college experiences I don’t nostalgically pine for again. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/18 "2016-08-20T09:00:44Z")
So openings are all vaginas and oblongs are all penises? When I was in HS we had this English teacher who said this book we were studying featured mandala figures symbolising life. She pointed to all these circular things that were “hidden” in the plot. Some of us smart asses pointed out that if you went looking for them you could find circular “symbolic” things in almost every page of any book you choose. Circles, oblongs and openings are basic shapes found everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/19 "2016-08-20T09:15:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > _The Wall_. Mother looks kinda vaginal, and there’s a sequence where something morphs into a vagina, a screaming mouth, I think…it’s been a while since I saw it. There’s a very unsubtle scene where two flowers are mating, and then the yonic one morphs into something even less subtle. Not sure if it’s a two click rule so google “The wall flowers mating” for the YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346/20 "2016-08-20T12:36:50Z")
There’s a recurring Klingon character named [Gowron](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Gowron) in TNG and DS9 who appears to have a clitoris on his forehead. I doubt it was intentional, but I can never watch any of his episodes without being distracted by it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phallic-or-vaginal-imagery-in-pop-culture-images/763346.md?page=2)