Domestic Abuse Makes Your Penis Fall Off?

That lovely image of a man with an airbrushed-flat, genitals-free crotch is a new ad from the UK’s National Centre of Domestic Violence, aimed at male abuse victims. Needless to say, it’s a bit of a disaster, writes Sady Doyle on Salon. The text is gentle and understanding:"You might feel ashamed, embarrassed, or worried you'll be viewed as less of a man." But something tells us men are more likely to remember the picture, which screams, “So, being hit by your partner made your dick fall off.”

The ad won’t convince many men to come forward, and “it ends up reinforcing the same gender dynamics it protests,” Doyle observes. It implies that having a penis is a sign of power; it’s “nature’s way of signifying a totally-not-abused person.” Not having a penis is awful because “it makes you like all those other natural-born victims out there with a reputation for dicklessness. You know: Women.” (More domestic abuse stories.)