Phallic architecture
The Washington Monument in Washington D.C. is often seen as a prime example of phallic architecture and American masculinity. The towering monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, it is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing according to the National Park Service. Construction of the monument began in 1848, was halted from 1854 to 1877, and was completed in 1884. In a "Journal" review, dated 17 October 1911, Arnold Bennett said of the monument, "Saw Washington monument. Phallic. Appalling. A national catastrophe – only equalled by the Albert Memorial. Tiny doll-like people waiting to go into it." Dan Burstein says of it, "Speaking of sex symbols, there is no more phallic symbol in existence than the Washington Monument, and the Capitol dome can be viewed as breastlike." James Webb used a metaphor to praise the "uplift[ing]" power of the Washington Monument as a white phallus, "piercing the air like a bayonet". In the futuristic film "Hardwired", set in the United States where everything noteworthy is commercialized, the Washington Monument is used as a giant Trojan condoms billboard.
Washington Monument (West Point)
The Washington Monument at West Point is an equestrian monument to George Washington at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The bronze replica of a sculpture that was originally designed by Henry Kirke Brown and erected in Union Square, New York City, in 1856— the first equestrian sculpture cast in the United States— was obtained for West Point by Clarence P. Towne and dedicated in 1916. It formerly sat at the north end of the Plain. After expansion of Washington Hall in 1971, it was moved to its current location outside the hall's front entrance.