Just the other day I read an article about how important penis size is when it comes to having a happy and fulfilling sexual relationship.
The author of this particular article seemed to suggest that it was some sort of undisputable truth (as well as common knowledge) that possessing anything less than a Ron Jeremy sized erection seriously hinders your ability to satisfy a woman. What’s more…the article went on to inform me…the unbearable lack of satisfaction the old girl was undoubtedly experiencing due to my utter inadequacy would leave her gagging for a ‘real man’ to fulfil her needs.
Had I not read the same dribble over and over again for the past 10 years I might have broken out in an anxiety induced cold sweat. And of course, that’s exactly what the author of the article was hoping for, because by a stroke of luck he had just the product to easily transform my pathetic excuse of a penis into something that would make even Jenna Jameson’s eyes water.
Of course, it’s all nonsense. On a purely genetic level, natural selection doesn’t favour the freaks of nature, it finds a physical trait that works best for a specific purpose and then propagates that trait throughout the species…or in other words, it favours average. So, from an evolutionary point of view at least, if you have an ‘average’ sized penis, the missus shouldn’t be complaining too much.
So what’s average?
Of course, in order to use the above argument to effectively alleviate your penis size related anxieties, you first need to know whether or not you fall into the ‘average’ size range.
To answer that very question, a certain Victorian gentleman, Dr W Krause, published a report in 1879 that concluded that the average erect human penis measured around 8 ¼ inches.
Therefore, if you measure less than this, you’ve probably got a legitimate concern.
Only joking…
Fortunately, later studies have proved Dr Krause to be a bit (possibly an understatement) off the mark. In fact, the volumes of research postdating Dr Krause’s farfetched conclusions show that roughly only 1 – 2 percent of men possess such monolithic erect penis lengths – a very elite club indeed.
So putting aside Dr Krause’s undoubtedly important contributions to science, a slightly more balanced overview of penis size is needed… which is fortunately provided by the results of a study published in the BJU International medical journal in 2007.
Through an exhaustive synthesis of 12 previous medical studies into penis size – spanning many decades and based on measurements taken from tens of thousands of men, the joint research by scientists from both Sheffield and Leeds Universities in the United Kingdom showed that the ‘average’ adult human penis when erect measures 14 – 16 cm / 5.5 – 6.3 inches in length and 12 – 13 cm / 4.7 – 5.1 inches in girth.
In other words, not quite the monster 8 inches all those disgruntled Victorian ladies must have thought they were missing out on.
What…You’re Only 5 1/4 Inches?
Fortunately, even if your erect penis length measures slightly less than the above study’s 5.5 inch minimum requirement to qualify as average, you still need not fear. Looking at things from the perspective of percentages, most studies confirm that falling anywhere between 5 and 6 inches in erect length is pretty normal.
Take for example, data released by the condom manufacturer ‘Condomania’ in 2010.
Over the course of six years from 2004 to 2010, they’d amassed a database of over 27,000 erect penis size measurements – gathered from customers who’d taken advantage of their ‘custom fit’ condom range. Out of this massive database Condomania’s statistics revealed that 50 percent of men measured between 5 – 6 inches in erect length, with another 25 percent measuring less than 5 inches and only the other 25 percent measuring over the 6 inch mark.
In other words, an average erect penis length (shared by the majority), according to Condomania’s statistics is anywhere between 5 – 6 inches.
But what if your erect penis length is less than 5 inches?
It’s all well and good harping on about how it’s fine to be average, but what if you’re one of the 25 percent of men with an erect penis length of less than 5 inches? Is your only rightful place between the covers of an issue of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Are you destined to have a totally unfulfilled sex life devoid of all ability to pleasure the fairer sex?
Well, not really…because you see, there’s still the anatomical argument.
Penis Size & Female Anatomy…
The average human vagina has a depth of only 4 inches when sexually excited – so theoretically at least, a bloke with a 4 inch penis should be able to satisfy the ‘average’ woman. Of course, the average vagina will stretch to accommodate a bigger penis (men aren’t the only ones with the capacity to expand – the length of the vaginal canal can expand by 200 percent if need be) – but without the stimulus of a larger penis to prompt this expansion, a 4 inch penis should fit pretty perfectly.
There’s also the minor detail that all the really sensitive bits (including that highly sensitive bundle of nerves called the G-Spot) are located within the first couple of inches of the vagina. The deeper recesses are in fact, so lacking in nerve endings, that certain minor surgical procedures can actually be performed with little or no anaesthetic.
So in other words, if various metal objects can be poked and prodded around up there without causing discomfort, how much of a difference to you think a couple of extra inches of penile length is going to make to your pleasure giving potential (from an anatomical point of view at least)?
The answer…not a lot really.
And whilst we’re still on the subject of female anatomy, let’s not forget the positioning of the clitoris…your ability to stimulate that little pleasure zone is inconsequential to your penile length…whether you measure 12 millimetres or 12 inches.
Penis Size: Women’s Modern Day Cultural Preferences…
Ok…so genetically an erect penis length of 5 – 6 inches seems to be favoured, and from an anatomical point of view, a penis length of 4 inches should be enough to get the job done.
But what about modern day preferences? Perhaps woman have only just recently become penis size junkies – thanks maybe to reading one too many copies of Playgirl – a bit like our own modern day media induced preoccupation with breast size.
Again, most studies don’t seem to support this theory. A 2005 study conducted by the University of California, which analysed male and female perceptions of body image for example, found that 85 percent of woman were ‘very satisfied’ with the dimensions of their partner’s penis – which bearing in mind the fact that only 50 percent of men statistically measure between 5 – 6 inches, meant that a fair few of the women in the study were obviously happy with a partner of less than average dimensions.
What’s more, only 6 percent of female respondents actually considered their partner to have a smaller than average penis – although as we’ve seen above, 25 percent of men statistically measure under the 5 – 6 inch average mark.
The obvious conclusion to draw from this study (which by the way involved a massive 50,000 male and female respondents) is that woman are not only pretty unconcerned about penis size, but in fact they tend to be rather generous when it comes to estimating the size of their partner’s appendage.
‘Happy days then’ you’re thinking – penis size really doesn’t matter after all.
Or does it?
Ironically after all I’ve written up to now, the penis size debate does have something of a sting in the tail, which might undermine your new found confidence just a tad – because a few studies also show that whilst the majority of women are pretty unconcerned about penile size, there remains a small but significant proportion of the fairer sex who do in fact judge a man by the size of his dick.
Take for example the results of a survey published in ‘Psychology Today’ way back in 1993 which looked at the importance that both men and woman placed on various male physical attributes.
When asked in the questionnaire whether men placed too much importance on the size of their penises, 77 percent of the 960 woman respondents said yes…men were indeed too preoccupied with that particular part of their anatomy. This of course, nicely corroborates what we discovered above – women generally don’t care about penile size.
But…delving a little deeper into the study revealed a slightly unsettling undercurrent. Female respondents who considered themselves particularly attractive seemed to place a great deal more emphasis on penile size – with 64 percent of the ‘good lookers’ stating that penis girth was of great importance to them, and 54 percent stating the same about penile length.
So it seems that women who think that they can have the pick of the bunch by virtue of their better looks might indeed figure penis size into the equation as part of the partner selection process.
And in the mildly disconcerting words of one of the female respondents, “If women say the size of a man’s penis doesn’t matter they haven’t been with a man with a big one!”
The Psychology Today survey may have been the first to identify the significant ‘size queen’ minority, but it certainly hasn’t been the only one.
In 2002, a study published in the European Urology medical journal noted that out of a sample group of 375 women who were asked to rate the importance of penis size for a fulfilling sexual relationship, 20 percent said that erect penis length was an ‘important’ factor, whilst 1 percent considered it to be ‘very important’. In light of these findings, the researchers concluded that whilst obviously forming a minority opinion, a substantial number of women still however considered penile size to be an important male attribute.
But it’s not all about penis length…
As men, we tend to obsess far more about our penis length than we do our girth, but the real irony is that studies suggest that women are more likely to rate girth as the ‘important’ factor.
Take the above study as an example…whilst 21 percent rated penis length to be important, 32 percent considered girth to be more so.
In another 2001 survey that studied the link between women’s perceptions of sexual satisfaction and penis size, 50 sexually active female undergraduates at the University of Texas-Pan American were asked by psychologists, which was more important to them – penis length or width. The almost unanimous verdict – accounting for 90 percent of responses – was that penile width was the most important factor when it came to sexual pleasure.
Why the preference for girth?
Well, as you discovered above, those extra inches in length don’t count for much in the deeper recesses of the vagina where sensitivity is limited due to a lack of nerve endings. A wider penis on the other hand, can provide extra stimulus to the clitoris, as well as place more pressure against the highly sensitive G-Spot found just a couple of inches inside the vagina.
So where do all these facts and figures leave us?
Back at square one you might say. Some woman say size is important…but the majority say it isn’t. And from a woman’s perspective at least, if she cares about anything…it’s more likely to be girth.
What’s clear however is that you don’t need to be hung like a proverbial horse to sexually satisfy your partner – being average is (usually) fine. Most would consider that being a caring, considerate, empathetic and passionate lover are in fact, the keys to a great sex life – which are all attributes that really transcend penis size.
Maybe Men Care More…
But the real irony is that if we delve deep enough into our sub conscious, we could well find that our preoccupation with penis size is less to do with women and more to do with ourselves. In the words of one professor of urology at the University of California, ‘We equate masculinity and power with penis size’ – a simply statement that perfectly sums up how our egos and self-esteem seem to be inextricably linked with that relative small part of our anatomy.
In fact, a study into male perceptions of penis size and body image undertaken by psychologists at Victoria University, Australia, in 2009, concluded that out of a sample of over 700 men, those who reported having larger than average penises ‘had higher self-esteem, better general health functioning and higher overall body satisfaction’ in comparison to those with average or smaller than average penises.
It’s no wonder then that a 2007 report in the BJU International journal entitled ‘Penile size and the ‘small penis syndrome’ ‘noted that not only do around 45 percent of all men suffer from some degree of penile size anxiety, but those who do so tend to be in the normal size range – because it seems we all want to be bigger than average (for purely emotional reasons).
So going back to why I wrote this article in the first place – the author of the article who tried to sell me some ‘penis pills’ by telling me that having an average sized penis is a recipe for sexual relationship disaster. If he’d done his homework a little better, he’d have figured that saying,’ a bigger penis will make you happier’ would have been a more effective sales pitch – because research into male body image certainly seems to suggest that the latter argument is closer to the mark.
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