Raphael Lee Cass, Byron Bay
I want to clear up something regarding the constant references to ‘The Sculpture’ as ‘Disco Dong’, ‘Silver Phallus,’ ‘Cock-up,’ ‘Sparkly Dick,’ ’Giant Dildo,’ etc.
No person, even the most fastidious pain freak, would use a dildo with those protrusions.
It is an insult to me that my sex organ is compared in any way to that metal construction. It’s an insult to all men. Some of us may actually think our genitals are useful, sensitive and aesthetically pleasant. To have a shape like that with its jagged metallic protrusions compared to a penis makes me shudder with horror.
Anyway, that is looking at the sculpture from the Bayshore Drive direction. The societal sexist angle. Why did the penis word get used at all?
If you look at it – as an estimated 20,000 drivers per day on Ewingsdale Road do – then if the Bayshore view is a penis, the Ewingsdale view is a vulva.
I consulted a thesaurus and extrapolated some phrases. In the interests of balanced journalism we can now call ‘The Sculpture’: ‘Tinny Vagina,’ ‘Polished Pussy,’ ‘Silvery Vulva,’ ‘Burnished Box,’ and ‘Sparkling C—.’
I wonder how women would react if those phrases were bandied around media.
Let’s call the sculpture ‘The Controversial Sculpture’ and leave off with the genital insults, please.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
