Culture And Cultural Artifacts The Phallus And The Vulva

Culture and cultural artifacts are perceived by society through the social construction of reality. Moreover, it is the collective conscience, or the totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of the same society (McIntyre, 13) that defines the values of the culture. That being said, institutions, or accepted structures or mechanisms of social structure (McIntyre, 113), which have the power to influence society by defining statuses, roles, values, and norms, ultimately have the ability to control the social construction of reality. This paper focuses on the influence of government and religion as institutions of man on the changing meanings of two symbols in society: the phallus and the vulva. Throughout time, mankind’s fascination with symbols, things that represent something else to more than one person (McIntyre, 102), of genitalia has been prevalent; however, the dominant sex of the genitalia has changed with different historical periods. This exchange of worshiped genitalia has been influenced by the shifts of power between various institutions of man. The relation between the institutions of man with the periods of time in which the sociological artifacts of the phallus and the vulva are dominant can be viewed through a sociological lens to understand their significance in mankind’s history. This change in meanings associated with the phallus and vulva symbol has been present since the early phases of mankind’s development; furthermore,