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DICK FOR A DAY: What Would You Do If You Had One?

Edited by Fiona Giles, Villard, 304 pages, Nonfiction.

what a difference a dick makes -- or so say some of the 52 female writers, poets and artists to whom Fiona Giles posed the question: "What would you do if you had one?" The responses range from erotic to insightful to humorous to just plain flaccid, bringing to mind a joke we used to tell in college. Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: THAT'S NOT FUNNY!

Some of the writers here -- Kerry Greenwood, Lyn Lifshun, Lisa Hill and Ginu Kamani -- take an inventive approach to their newfound friend, creating elaborate fairy tales and fantasies in which welcoming a new member to the family is a magical act of wonder and wish-fulfillment. Jackie O. reads "The Story of O" and wonders what it would be like to have one, a professor visits the Penis Parlor for a Full Shaft Special and a journalist sends away for a PENIS® to report on life with a willie.

A few more prominent (read: busy) writers, such as Terry McMillan, Germaine Greer and Sidney Biddle Barrows, simply tossed off a paragraph or two. ("If it was long enough, I would probably try to find out whether I was as good/bad a fuck as I was reputed to be," writes Greer.) Browsing through this collection, female readers can't help but imagine what they would do with their own dick for a day. You search for an account with which you can identify, making the process alternately frustrating, thought-provoking and deeply funny. Male readers will probably be surprised that none of the penile-privileged writers go on a 24-hour sexcapade. (Maybe we should wait for the sequel, "Weenie for a Week.")

So you're probably wondering what these women choose to do with it. Well, they ...

  • Pee standing up, ultimately writing one's name in the snow.
  • Masturbate, being careful not to dirty the sheets.
  • Find appropriate undergarments (boxers or briefs?).
  • Make their boyfriend fellate-and-swallow.
  • Navigate effortlessly through the male power structure.
  • Put it in a hot-dog bun.
  • Make the cat smell it.
  • Go to a leather bar and find a bottom.
  • Give a woman the ultimate sexual experience.
  • Rape.
  • Fuck their boyfriend's mistress.
  • Get it caught in the zipper.
  • Greet the dawn with relief.
Feb. 14, 1997

-- Christine Muhlke

Christine Muhlke is the managing editor of Paper.


Bookmark: http://www.salonmagazine.com/sneaks/sneak.html

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