Spinks’ “Codpieces and Potbellies”, Essay Example

Spinks examines ideas of sixteenth century masculinity by using a close examination of the Songes drolatiques (1565), a series of satirical drawings that features the prominent use of codpieces in its depiction of satirical male figures. According to Spinks, the exaggerated figures and specifically the use of codpieces are meant to suggest men for whom sexuality is an uncontrollable urge or force. The author also remarks on the connection between male sexuality and political and military power. Spinks remarks that “sexual and military conquest are metaphorically entwined” (Spinks, 87). The illustrations are Rabelaisian in inspiration and moralistic in nature.

The moralism of the drawings comes from their association with exaggerated male genitals and the out-of-control appetites that indicate both personal and social dissipation. Spinks interprets this use of the grotesque to have been a form of reinforcement for social mores regarding appetites and desires. The argument that is presented by Spinks is carefully constructed, with ample reference to specific illustrations. The approach taken by Spinks not only informs the reader about the way that sixteenth century European society viewed masculinity and morality, but how these ideas were viewed as being connected to the essential integrity of a given society. Another highly interesting aspect of the chapter is that it explains the illustrations to a modern audience, which is essential due to the fact that the original illustrations were published without any form of explanatory text whatsoever. Spinks utilizes this fact to show the modern reader just how obvious a form of satire the illustrations comprised for their contemporary audience. This gives readers in the twenty-first century an excellent insight into the nature of media and morality that existed centuries ago. More specifically, the chapter encourages the reader to seek out further historical information about the drawings and their social context, and also to perhaps seek out the full set of illustrations themselves.

Work Cited

Jennifer Spinks. “Codpieces and potbellies in the Songes drolatiques: satirizing masculine self-control in early modern France and Germany.” In Governing masculinities in the early modern period: regulating selves and others, ed. Susan Broomhall and Jacqueline Van Gent, eds, 85-112. Burlington: Ashgate, 2011.