Peak TV: Britain's Ban on Erections on TV Ended This Week

Britain's Channel 4 broke a broadcast taboo earlier this week by showing a series of erect penises in a special, the British tabloid The Mirror wrote.

"In its new documentary 'Me & My Penis,' footage of eight erections will be shown as men pose for naked photos."

The men speak about various male issues as they pose in the nude. Explicit close-ups were shown, which shattered regulations that forbid erections airing on television.

"And in one scene, a well-endowed subject stands to attention in explicit, close-up shots," writes the Daily Sun.

A TV insider told that tabloid: "This shatters one of the final no-go areas on terrestrial TV because regulations forbid an erect penis being shown in a sexual context. But as these aroused private parts are shown in an entirely artistic context, filming them doesn't break any rules.

"Channel 4 also clearly feel that in more open-minded times, there's likely to be fewer complaints from viewers – particularly as the show airs at 10 pm which is well after the watershed."

In the documentary by activist/artist Ajamu X, the men "discuss everything from abuse and infertility to post-traumatic stress disorder and relationships while peeling off," the Sun adds.

The program executive director Susanne Curran told the Telegraph: "It's been exhilarating working with Ajamu and a brilliant cast of courageous and honest men, prepared to share their most formative and intimate experiences – so often not heard. And to capture their shared desire to change how men are defined."

In the special "the penis becomes a gateway through which to explore all sorts of aspects of masculinity," Shaminder Nahal, commissioning editor at Channel 4, told The Telegraph.

"The men taking part deal with everything from sex to violence, fear and love, masturbation and ejaculation," she continued.

Ajamu X is a London-based artist whose work was displayed at the acclaimed Hayward Gallery group exhibition "Kiss My Genders," which explored and engaged with gender identity.

It was long thought that British broadcasters "had to stick to the unofficial 'Mull of Kintyre' rule when it came to televising todgers," adds The Sun.

"This stated that manhood should never be shown in a more erect state than the outline of the famous Scottish peninsula. In fact, it was an urban myth."

The UK communications regulator Ofcom has simply stated that there was a ban on terrestrial TV showing: "Images and/or language of a strong sexual nature which is broadcast for the primary purpose of sexual arousal or stimulation."

The reviews have largely been positive:

"This wasn't men slapping their old lad on the table and telling swashbuckling tales of its adventures. It was a serious, thoughtful attempt by the artist Ajamu to address men's vulnerabilities, break down taboos, explore what the penis means psychologically to men and to celebrate 'the beauty and power of the erection'. It was an illuminating, moving hour," wrote Carol Midgley in The Times.

"The wobbly shots of pistons and rocket launches used to illustrate ejaculation were a bit naff. But the forest imagery was refreshing, reconnecting the penis with its natural purpose as a creator of life. This tender and thoughtful programme should be added to the sex education curriculum," commented Helen Brown in The Telegraph.

"Ajamu proved a sensitive interviewer, putting his subjects at ease, even as he placed them in increasingly outr� positions: surrounded by fruit, trapped in a straitjacket, caught in a series of angular poses. What emerged was fascinating. It all added up to a compelling portrait of men and the myriad ways they try, and often fail, to cope," added Sarah Hughes on the website The i.