Perhaps, I am alluding to a paranoid condition among a percentage of pipesmokers.kbadkar wrote: Huh?
Wait a sec, did you just call me a pipe sucker?
Guys like to attribute a femaleness to many objects, but in the case of pipes, most guys would not buy a pipe if it is being retailed as a "female pipe". Guys are often reluctant to smoke such a dainty pipe, and choose to smoke the opposite, such as a big chunky JT Cooke type pipe, while thinking that that would be the "manly" thing to smoke. But, this is not a proper way to avoid a sexual connotation, because smoking a large pipe could symbolically and psychologically be even worse for the pipesmoker who is trying to avoid a sexual connotation!
Because of the sexual shape of a pipe, it is virtually impossible to avoid the subconscious implications, no matter what kind of pipe you choose to smoke --- Because of this, the pipe smoker may develop a paranoid condition over this catch 22 situation. What is a pipe smoker to do?!??!?!
Is it just a coincidence that a standard sized billiard (6 inches long) is also the average size for an erect penis?
Perhaps, this is even the reason why most smokers choose not to smoke a pipe, and choose one of the alternatives --- they are subconsciously uncomfortable with the notion that a pipe looks like a penis.
When Freud supposedly said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", I don't recall him ever talking about the symbolism of a pipe....probably because everybody into psychoanalysis thought that the sexual connotations of a pipe were so blatantly obvious, that Freud did not want to get himself into trouble.
Once again, I am not trying to say that this type of analysis is true. I am saying that the implications can result in a paranoid condition for the pipesmoker, and in order to combat this, pipesmokers need to maintain a sense of humour, in regards to this.
For Todd to say that there is nothing erotic about pipes, is a clear indication that he would just rather avoid the issue altogether.