Because in Euphoria the men are taking their turn
I’m watching Euphoria right now. People warned me against it because I have a seventeen-year-old daughter. I’ve heard people say that it glorifies drug use and casual sex. As a mother, it is horrifying to watch, but besides the Molly, Fentanyl, excessive drinking, and access to prescription pills, the thing I am most surprised by is the number of penises I have seen on Euphoria.
Zendaya plays Rue, the star of Euphoria. She plays a complex, troubled, amazing sixteen-year-old who struggles with drugs, happiness, and the general bullshit of being alive. I love Zendaya. She went to the same high school as my nephew so I feel close to her, kind of like I know her a little bit.
Rue is exactly who I wish I had been in high school without the drugs. She’s her own person — independent, brave, defiant, and sensitive. Swirling in Rue’s orbit are all kinds of other teens — jocks, mean girls, basic girls, outcasts, bullies, and everything in between. And they all seem to drink excessively, take ridiculous amounts of drugs and have sex constantly. But it’s a really good show. The acting is amazing even though you are constantly shocked by a random penis on the screen.
I have never in my life seen so many penises. It’s true that I am a lesbian so that limits my exposure, but I’ve seen thousands of breasts in my life. And that’s not because I’m a lesbian. It’s because I watch TV and movies.
Since I was young, breasts have been part of what’s on the screen. If not the full breast, then cleavage. You don’t see men’s balls squirting out of their shorts at the rate that women’s cleavage is in full view ALL. THE. TIME. And full frontal of women’s breasts barely register to most of us anymore because we’re so used to seeing them constantly.
I don’t know if the producers and directors of Euphoria are showing so many penises because they are trying to shock the viewer or if they are doing it to change the narrative of what we’re used to seeing or if they have a completely different motive for being so penis heavy.
But for me, as a woman, the carefree showing of schlongs feels like a great shift in the balance of what we’ve seen for decades. I’ve seen WAY more penises than breasts in the four episodes of Euphoria I’ve watched. And the breasts I have seen have mostly been covered by bras. My favorite part of the penis- heavy show is that I have never seen Rue’s (Zendaya’s) breasts, and she’s the star! A beautiful woman, and the star of the show and they haven’t shown even a peek of her breasts. That makes me so happy.
You might be thinking, “eew, I don’t want to see so many penises.” And if that’s your reaction then don’t watch Euphoria. But if you want to see something totally different, then try it.
The experience has given me a lot to think about. For example, do those actors feel exploited because their junk is flying all over the place on large screen TVs and laptops all over the world? Do men and boys watching the show feel a little more exposed and vulnerable to see images of ding dongs that are bigger or smaller or fatter or skinnier than theirs so casually displayed? Maybe.
Girls and women have been in that position forever. We still are. I find it refreshing that in Euphoria the shift has been made. The focus is off the boobies and onto the willies. It’s about time.