I Didn't Ask for This ...

Whitney Bell at her gallery show surrounded by 

some of her large collection of dick pics turned art 

(Photo: Courtesy of Whitney Bell / via KALW) 

 

 

I. 

 

I am not a woman. And I have never been sent unsolicited male genital images, or dick pics as they are commonly referred to. So, I've no idea how I would react were I cyberflashed [1]. 

 

Some recipients are, I know, negatively impacted by such images and while I don't wish to downplay the distress that can be caused by acts of sexual harassment and online exhibitionism, I like to imagine that I'd respond like Whitney Bell [2], or in the manner that some women have recently responded on social media, which is with humour and song, just tinged with the right amount of anger and outrage. 

 

 

II. 

 

The really rather brilliant comic song 'I Didn't Ask to See Your Dick' was released on the audio-sharing account Unhinged & Unfiltered [3] just last month. 

 

It almost immediately went viral across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts - embraced by women who love to lip-sync far more than they enjoy receiving unsolicited pictures of a sexual nature from men they hardly know - if they know them at all - and probably don't wish to know [4].   

 

With its Irish folk-punk sound and expletive-laden lyrics it's extremely catchy. And yet, it is of course created with generative AI tools - not by human musicians - even if prompted by an anonymous person. 

 

It is, then, a pretty impressive example of how AI tools can, when used by the right person in the right way [5], produce genuinely amusing pieces of popular entertainment. I'm not quite sure I'd call it art, but it wouldn't greatly trouble me if someone else described it as such. 

 

  

Notes

 

[1] Responses to receiving a dick pic vary as widely as the motivations for sending such images. What research has been done into this phenomenon suggests that women tend to react negatively, while homosexual men tend to react positively. 

      Often the negative reactions of the receiving party are not caused by the explicit nature of the photo per se, but by the fact that it was unsolicited and not consented to. It's a violation and an impertinence. And it's this aspect that ensures that cyberflashing is criminalised in England and Wales under the Online Safety Act (2023) and carries not only a large fine, but a possible prison sentence of up to two years. A convicted offender will most likely find themselves also placed on the sex offenders register.  

 

[2] In 2016, the LA-based feminist artist and activist Whitney Bell transformed countless unsolicited dick pics sent to her and other women into a provocative art show titled I Didn’t Ask for This: A Lifetime of Dick Pics. Her aim was not simply to shame the men, but expose the absurd nature of the phenomenon and demonstrate how widespread sexual harassment is within pornified contemporary culture. 

      I don't quite agree with Ms Bell on her interpretation of why men might do this - she insists it's only always power and control, while, as I mention above, I believe the motivations for this behaviour are myriad and more complex. Those interested in knowing more might like to see Alison Stevenson, 'This Woman Turned Her Collection of Unsolicited Dick Pics into an Art Show' (15 April 2016) and/or Mitchell Sunderland, 'Dick Pics on Display: The Woman Behind the Controversial Art Show', (20 September 2017). Both these articles are available to read on vice.com.    

  

[3] Unhinged & Unfiltered (@unhinged.tunes) is a comedy audio brand that sets human-written adult humour to AI-generated Irish pub music. Tracks with male vocals are attributed to The Unfiltered Lads, while tracks with female vocals are credited to The Unhinged Lasses. They have around 30,000 followers on the main page of their TikTok account and over 167,000 likes, though some of their tracks have had millions of views and reposts. 

 

[4] As one might imagine, there are many mimed performances of the song now circulating on social media. This video - by Lauren Collins on Instagram - is selected purely at random, being the first that came up on my phone when searched for. It's maybe not the best or funniest, but it's certainly not the worst and serves its exemplary function. 

 

[5] While the AI provides vocals, instrumentation, and the musical arrangement, the track still relies on a human comedy songwriter to provide the witty lyrics, structure the rhyme scheme, and make sure the comic timing is on the money.