Maybe the reason the penis is so mysterious is because it's an image that girls are sequestered from on cultural reflex?

Definitely.

And the father thing is basic Freudian psychology. Our opposite-gender parent gives us our picture for what people of that gender are supposed to be like, and supposedly defines our self-image a bit more than the other parent. So women whose fathers were misogynistic and dismissive towards them are more likely to have those (skewed) values and to view themselves and all women as being less than men. These women are also more likely to look for similar values in potential mates.