Naples. What a beautiful city.

Despite the heat, everything was great. Although I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to rent a scooter while teenage kids were riding around on their scooters: did they even have driver’s license? Anyway, another thing that caught my attention was the subconscious phallic behavior people had. I was walking around on the streets of Naples and there was a guy talking to a friend scratching his wiener. I looked the other way to avoid that image and there was another guy doing the same thing! People didn’t seem to be bothered by that phallic behavior and I couldn’t understand it. That changed a bit when I went to Pompeii.

There’s much to see in that ruined city. There were many little symbols on the houses, totemic figures: all in the shape of a masculine organ. Our guide explained, the phallic symbol on houses and shops were signs of fertility and good fortune.

However, those symbols had a sexual meaning in other contexts, she explained as she took us to the old brothel. She could not stop telling us how macho the Roman Empire used to be – I agree with her. She explained that the explicit pictures in the brothel were addressed to all the merchants – who didn’t speak Latin – that used to stop by Pompeii. That way they could request the desired service.

As a tourist, you’re usually looking up. Suddenly, the guide stopped in the middle of the street and she pointed down. Carved on the pavement of that Roman street, there it was again, a penis. Our guide explained that it was pointing towards the brothel, showing the way to those who didn’t speak Latin. So that’s when I thought that one of the reasons for the subconscious phallic behavior in Naples could be linked to their more than a millennium old culture.

While in Pompeii, I learned that all the big statues and treasures were taken to the archaeological museum in Naples. So, I went there. Everything from the life of these people was in those museum galleries. Wandering in the museum, I went inside a gallery and there it was: sexuality hidden away and shown. The gallery was full of pictures, woodcraft and pottery with a phallic form. The most amusing side of it was this young woman contemplating all those objects: hypnotized; with a big smile on her face. I was amazed by the time she spent looking at some objects and pictures in that manner.

I wonder: what could have been going through her mind? I took pictures of the murals, woodcraft and objects she was most interested in. Maybe you could look at those murals from this young woman’s perspective and tell me: what do you think could have been going through her mind?