Keeping the magic in your 'wand'

[dwai]

No, the only reason the link above was used (as explicitly pointed out above) was because it discusses the actual Sanskrit words used by THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR, not her translation or insertion. Regardless of how she translates anything else in the book or any other book), if the ORIGINAL AUTHOR used "lingam" to describe the penis then her abilities otherwise as a translator/scholar are unimportant. The Kama Sutra has seen relatively (compared with say, Taoist texts) little difference between translators, thus, since other translators have not translated the word in that text as "Image/mark of Shiva", we don't have to rely on her interpretation.

Again, the above link was not an endorsement of any one translator (regardless of the fact that she also had two other co-authors for the translation in question), it was only used BECAUSE OF THE DISCUSSION OF THE SANSKRIT WORDS IN THE ORIGINAL.

 

They even point out the rarity of the use of lingam when describing the penis.

Bottom line, lingam usually means all that you have pointed out, but it can and has been used in the past (by Indian writers) to describe the penis.

 

Linga can be a mark of anything. A penis could be considered a mark of malehood. The Sanskrit word for penis is however shishna and not linga. To take this discussion to a logical conclusion -- even if you do find references (in Indic texts) to the word lingam to be specifically meant to indicate the penis, those are rare and are more than likely meant to refer to the organ as being a mark (as opposed to being the anatomical organ itself).

 

That point aside, it is irresponsible to use the term as such, given that this is not a borrowed "cool" term from a dead tradition or culture but a loan word from a very much alive and thriving culture.