No doubt, the concept of BDE and the discussion it ignites are entertaining - but beneath the initial jolt of faux-erotic titillation and scandal is a bigger conversation about how we talk about masculinity and admiration. What is BDE? Does one need colossal male genitalia to possess it? How do we spot it? How does one obtain it? And why would one want to? What began as a joke inspired by the death of one of the premiere possessors of BDE has since sparked an all-consuming cultural urge to determine who possesses it and who is lacking - as well as the urge to define it, which raises some trickier questions. So is its absence.īig Dick Energy (BDE) is the unavoidable subject of the minute on social media. If you look hard enough, it’s everywhere around you. LeBron James, Serena Williams, and Katie Ledecky have it, too. Johnny Cash had it, same with Prince and David Bowie. So do Tilda Swinton, Cher, and Cate Blanchett.

Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor wield it, as does Angela Merkel. Imperator Furiosa and Mad Max both have it. Adam Driver has it, as did Carrie Fisher.