indigo boy | 18 jul 07 txt

Friday 18 - Tuesday 24
July 2007

The Wound by the King's Men

An explanation of the significance of the leg wound is important at this point in our story.

"That afternoon the young man caught the apple also. But this time, when he rode away with it, the King's men galloped after him, and one got close enough to give him a leg wound with the end of his sword."

- from the original brothers' Grimm "Iron John"

A wound to the genitals:

With Freud in mind, we would probably assume first that there is a sexual wound lurking in the story. It is always possible that the leg is a euphemism for genitals. Maybe a piece of iron lodged in the testicles. Iron is usually associated in fairy tales with the imprisonment of men. The man's sexuality is "imprisoned".

- Robert Bly

Personal notes:

I believe that many men today suffer from erectile dysfunction; this may very well be a direct result of the "sexual wound" as described in Iron John. It is common knowledge that in most cases erectile dysfunction is psychological and not physiological. There are constant pressures on men to perform in society, at the workplace, at home and especially with his partner in bed. Erectile dysfunction is often seen as a sign of a "lesser man", or a "crippled animal", who cannot perform his sexual duty. Erectile dysfunction is still very much in the proverbial "closet" and men do not discuss their inability to "perform" easily. With the appearance of medicines such as Viagra and Cialis, many men do not have this "problem" any longer, even those with psychological impotence, who do not really need medicine, but therapy.

The erect penis is seen in most cultures as a signifier of power and potency. Strange that society is still too afraid to be confronted with an erect penis in the media, on television and in the movies. The movie "Shortbus", recently released, challenged this outdated and Victorian notion. Shortbus is not pornographic at all; it is an extremely honest view of the human sexual condition.