Stigmata

Stigmata
Original Watercolor on Handmade Paper
35 x 50 cm
(Click on the penis to enlarge)

Jesus Christ was said to first shed blood when his penis was mutilated at eight days old. I recently reflected that the Catholic church, with its fucked up views on sexuality, would never call the wound on his penis stigmata. But if religion were honest (and we know they are not) and the myth of Jesus’ life were to be accurate, there would be six wounds (stigmata) not five.

The barbaric religious practice of circumcision continues to this day, primarily to prevent cisgender men from easily pleasuring themselves. Somehow, I escaped the circumcision mutilation (this is a self-portrait). Sadly, I would not escape the crown of thorns thrust violently on my genitalia as a growing boy in the form of repression, guilt, fear, and the promise of eternal damnation. It took me over fifty years of life to free myself from this crown of thorns and acknowledge that my penis is a beautiful and essential part of who I am. It is an instrument of ecstatic pleasure, love, and life. And I should be proud and grateful for this amazing part of me, not ashamed and prudish.