Well… I mean, if you train your dog to sit still before breakfast and dinner, then that’s exercising power. Even if it is for their own good. You’re being useful to them.
My guy’s gone now, but I held vast power over him, even though the main focus was just working to keep him alive. A task we all fail, unless you have a tortoise or parrot.
I got quite a few hits; here’s a summary of a few suggestions:
Power tripping - or rather, feeling incapable of attracting someone and sending unsolicited pix to get a reaction. “I used to send dick pics to basically anyone who would have them… It’s definitely an expression of power in some sense. It’s the epitome of your masculinity; it’s what makes you a man — what good am I but it?”
Lashing out at the feeling that they’re being ignored by women.
A fundamental misunderstanding about what women tend to want from a relationship, exacerbated by porn. This is conflated with a feeling that if they have no problem with receiving a vagina pic, women must be OK about getting dick pics.
They think the woman will reciprocate.
Some women do respond positively. The chances aren’t high, so spam 100 women to find that one special admirer of dick pics.
Many women do actually send sexualised photos, but not usually crotch shots. Some men think this is where they can do the same (especially in a response to someone posting sexy photos of herself).
They’ve been asked once and think this is normal.
It’s a more direct and less verbal way of saying “Do you want sex?” for someone who may not know how to put it into words. The theory may be that if a woman is not interested in penis pics, the signs aren’t good that she’ll be into sex.
It’s also the way many people apply for jobs. Most of your applications are going to be rejected, so make the message simple and spread the net wide. Women don’t tend to have to look for a long time to find someone who’s interested, it’s the quality that’s the problem.
Obviously ethically there’s a problem, but it’s interesting to think about why people keep doing it despite near universal rejection.