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The story of the South Asian deity Ganesha makes an especially provocative contribution to our insights into the dynamics of subjectivity in general and of masculinity in particular. In combination with clinical psychoanalytic experience, this myth is used to explore and illustrate the following arguments: (1) Our literature too often overlooks the significance of paternal ambivalence toward sons in the dynamics by which male subjectivity develops. (2) Our literature tends to present the root fears that structure human consciousness as either death or castration, which misunderstands the dynamics of ‘deathfulness’ and of ‘castratedness.’ (3) The transgenerational dynamics by which the repressed unconscious is structured deserve more attention than they are usually given. (4) The condition of human subjectivity as castratedness can be usefully comprehended in terms of this subjectivity or consciousness operating as a ‘phallus-that-isn't.’ (5) The attainment of orgasmic genitality depends on the individual's working-through these dynamics. The implications of these insights for any agenda of sociocultural transformation are briefly indicated.