Linda de Mol has never received a dick pic

I received one a long time ago, and before I could really take in the details, I removed it. Just because I didn't want to see it, a bit out of self-protection, and I also don't find it the most photogenic part of the male body. No offense otherwise, okay? In the new talk show Ladies Night by Merel Westrik, the dick pic came up and quite prominently on screen.

It should be over with the unwanted dick pic, was the gist. It seems you also have a desired category, as evidenced by the comments from show friend Stella Bergsma and PvdA member of parliament Attje Kuiken herself, who raised the subject in the House of Representatives. “I receive them both solicited and unsolicited,” I quote literally. Nynke Nijman, the show's sexologist, explains why men do it. One gets excited, another wants to shock, and there’s also a gray area of men who are unaware of any wrongdoing (okay?) and then there’s the man who knows it’s unwanted but tries anyway. The goal? Sex.

The subject was initially illustrated neatly with an eggplant, which I find almost an insult to the eggplant emoji, because they could wish it was that shiny and smooth and well... But later came the collage with a considerable number of penises from every conceivable angle. That together formed an autumnal scene, Stella herself thought (it was her collage) because they looked like mushrooms. Bartender Stefano initially said something about how he had never sent them, because he wouldn't know which angle or lighting to start with. Well, here’s your inspiration Stefano. Forty (!) percent of women apparently receive a dick pic, of which Linda de Mol is not one, she said. Never had one in her life, although there was the flasher in the subway who felt the need to press his erection against the window while she had already gotten off, and the whole station could enjoy the mess against the window. I think in pictures, yes.

That penises are quite rampant on social media is a fact, Merel calls the unwanted dick pic visual assault, a statement I can agree with. Although it turns out you can't do anything about it at the police, because Milou Deelen (who was also a guest at Ladies Night) had to build a case herself with visual material and then eventually there would be enough to do something with. But huh, you can't be serious? I hope for success for Attje in the House, because we might still be able to handle a dick pic here and there (this is not – I repeat not – an invitation), but young girls or women dealing with sexual violence absolutely cannot. It is not okay to unsolicitedly swing that penis around whether you are in a subway street or on social media.

Oh, and Merel, I liked you. See you again next week.

Image: Instagram Merel Westrik