Abstract

*BIDLISIW: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCHOLARLY JOURNAL, Volume 3, Issue 2, Special Issue on Travel Studies While growing up, I gradually realized the relevance of the body as discourse. Similar to the concept of somatic society, which was mentioned by Turner (1992), it is pivotal that discourses on the body be included in Philippine society in relation to the study of the body as tools for political and cultural discourses. During the period of my travels overseas 2013-2023, one phallic symbol caught my attention. I desired to go beyond the interpretation of an acquaintance when that person saw some of the phallic wall paintings in Bhutan when they posted on a Facebook wall and tagged them as “silly” and “sexually explicit.” Moreover, this essay aims to prove that this is beyond vulgarity since various Asian societies and communities have exhibited in-depth interpretations related to phallic symbols and phallus in general. This essay highlights the preliminary information gathered regarding phallic symbolism in some of the countries that I have been to: Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos (Lao PDR), Thailand, and Indonesia.