Danish public television has just launched a new animation program about a man named John Dillermand and his unavoidably long penis.
The premise of the program, aimed at children aged four to eight, is to show how Mr. Dillermand – who translates as Mr. Man of the Penis – overcame the obvious challenges that come with an incredibly long schlong.
Instead of being harmed by his huge package, he uses it in creative ways, including conducting rescue operations, raising flags, barbecuing and even an extravagant episode when Dillermand’s phallus somehow steals an unexpected child’s ice cream.
The show, of course, has its critics. Danish author Anne Lise Marstrand-Jørgensen has wondered about the moment since Denmark recently severely criticized sexual harassment in the workplace. “Is this really the message we want to send to children while we are in the middle of a huge #MeToo wave?” she wrote on Twitter.
But the creators of the show, of which 13 episodes have been watched more than 140,000 times since its debut on January 2, defended the unusual choice in children’s programming. “We think it’s important to be able to tell stories about bodies,” posted the public broadcaster DR on Facebook on Tuesday. “In the series, we recognize the growing curiosity of children about their bodies and genitals, as well as embarrassment and pleasure with the body.”
Some episodes show an unsatisfied and somewhat inelegant Mrs. Dillermand trying to keep her husband in line, including a scene in which she throws a bunch of balloons from which her husband is hung by his member. Spoiler alert: it survives.
“It’s a very Danish program,” education expert Sophie Munster told AFP. “We have a tradition of pushing the limits and using humor and we think it is completely normal.”
Erla Heinesen Højsted, a clinical psychologist, told AFP that the program does not harm children. “John Dillermand talks to the kids and shares his way of thinking – and the kids find the genitals funny,” she said. “He takes responsibility for his actions. When a woman on the show tells him that he must keep his penis in his pants, for example, he listens. That is good. He is responsible. “
Others argue that an entire program about an oversized organ is bad for men. “It is perpetuating the standard idea of a patriarchal society and normalizing the ‘dressing room culture’,” Christian Groes, associate professor and gender researcher at Roskilde University, told local Danish media. “It is supposed to be funny – so it is seen as harmless. But it is not. And we are teaching this to our children.”
The public broadcaster responded to criticism on its Facebook page saying it might as well have done a program “about a woman without control over her vagina” and what really matters is that the children love Mr. Dillermand.