Beyond Belief: Of Monkey Men and Genital Thieves

This chapter explores genital-shrinking and penis theft panics in Asia and West Africa. Outbreaks demonstrate that phantom assailant scares are limited only by plausibility. We also examine a wave of ‘attacks’ by a monkey-like creature in New Delhi, India during 2001, and compare it to accounts of Spring-heeled Jack in Europe. The outbreaks in non-Western cultures can appear to be absurd to those outside of the social and cultural milieu. Deeply held cultural convictions, in conjunction with the fallible nature of human perception, rumors, and media publicity, drive these scares as in ambiguous situations people begin to experience what they have been primed to expect.