"His wife seized his prize and cut it to size": Folk and popular commentary on Lorena Bobbitt

"His Wife Seized His Prize and Cut it to Size": Folk and Popular Commentary on Lorena Bobbitt

State University of New York at Albany

John Bobbitt was never a loner.

In fact, he was known as a roamer.

His wife seized his prize

And cut it to size.

Now John is his own organ donor.

-- Limerick circulated during 1993-94

In January 1994, the trial of Lorena Bobbitt, who was charged with the "malicious wounding" of her husband, captured the attention of the public in the United States and abroad. The case received extensive media coverage, much more than had the earlier trial of John Wayne Bobbitt, who was accused and acquitted of the rape (marital sexual assault) of his wife. Lorena Bobbitt was in the limelight not because she broke the law but because she violated a cultural taboo: she cut off her husband's penis. The incident and subsequent media attention became the subject of intense national debate. It also sparked a flurry of jokes, limericks, urban legends, T-shirt slogans, and advertising gimmicks. Bobbitt-related discussions filtered into everyday conversations, office jokes, and electronic mail networks. Children circulated their own Bobbitt folklore.(1) For months, nationally known stand-up comedians and television talk show hosts performed extensive repertoires of Bobbitt jokes, while members of the general public created new lyrics to popular melodies (e.g., "The Ballad of the Bobbitt Hillbillies" sung to the Beverly Hillbillies theme song).

Folklore -- which may be defined as informal or traditional communication that arises out of a shared aesthetic and is transmitted through dynamic processes of social interaction -- often provides a socially acceptable way for people to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and responses to issues of the day. Because folklore emanates from people's everyday expressive behavior and is often spontaneous in nature, it offers a window to ideas, values, and concerns not always articulated in official or "high" culture. People use folklore to educate or enculturate one another about their sense of identity, social values, and views of the world, and the study of folk expression can contribute valuable insights about the political aspects of social and cultural life. This essay offers an analysis of Bobbitt-related folklore (or Bobbitt-lore, as I call it) and the cultural politics embedded in expressive...