The notion that larger penises guarantee a great sex life. Worse still, locker room talk and societal myths have associated penis size and manhood for years. But are these notions actually true? And what do they mean for people and their relationships?
Myths and weird notions about penises can lead to unhealthy attitudes about sex and relationships. For instance, men with large penises can feel overly confident about their prowess and will assume that women care about penis size more than they do. A guy with a giant penis will think that size alone will carry the day and forego oral play.
Many men think women care a lot about penis size, and guys with penis size insecurities may believe that penis enlargement techniques or products will help them level the playing field. So they then go out and spend money on creams, lotions, and other products to become "Mr Perfect". The only penis enlargement technique that might work is penis enlargement surgery. Other methods do not work, but they do have effective marketing.
Myth: The size of a flaccid penis predicts or correlates to the size of an erect penis. Nope! A tiny flaccid penis could be a rather sizeable erect penis or vice-versa. There are other penis-size myths out there, and some are almost comical. See this Seinfeld episode where George loses it because a lady saw his flaccid penis:
Myth: Porn accurately portrays men's members. Male actors in porn get the role in the film because they have enormous penises and not because they are representative of men more generally. Porn is a business built on selling fantasies, and penis size is no exception here.
Myth: The size of a man's hands or feet predicts penis size. Nope. There is no evidence that hands and feet correlate with penis size.
Myth: Real men don't have insecurities about their bodies or penis size. It is totally normal for any guy to feel some insecurities about this or that body part at some time. These feelings are situational or perceptual rather than based on fact. Every regular, healthy guy gets these feelings at some point, and having these feelings does not have to be a big deal.
Myth: Penises are simple and just work. Getting an erection and being able to ejaculate depends on mood, state of mind, age, and other factors. So it is not guaranteed that a penis will do what you want it to do on command.
This video by Dr. Bret Palmer covers some other penis myths.
But the real question here is whether women actually care about the size of said member. Reality: 85% of women are satisfied with the size of the partner's penis.
After speaking to sexually active twenty-somethings it was clear that most urban young people in India people do not actually believe that a bigger penis is a guarantee of more pleasure for women.
“Bigger is definitely not better. There's a sweet spot for penises too. If you're too big, oral sex is difficult and being rough can lead to actual bruising. Also finding XXL condoms in India is a nightmare,” said 28-year-old Vivek D from Bangalore. He wasn’t the only man to discharge the myth that bigger is better.
Twenty five year old Mayank A from Kolkata thinks that penis size doesn’t matter “unless it was way too inadequate”, which he defined as a penis that was only an inch long. “It matters how you use it, which is more important than the length. Also, I know a girl who complained that bigger penises hurt a lot.” This united most women who were interviewed.
So size does not really matter. But we really should solicit women's opinions on the matter, and we have.
Swarnima B, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from New Delhi, said, “Penis size doesn’t matter to me personally. In fact, I prefer smaller penises because it’s more comfortable. And they are also easier during oral sex.” She also opined that smaller penises were easier from the point of view of hygiene. Women were more or less concerned about the pain that a bigger penis would inflict during penetration.
Smaller penises, said Anamika E, 25, a production assistant from Mumbai, wouldn’t make me gag and some men want their entire penis taken in for deepthroat.
Another 25-year-old, Tanvi P, from New Delhi, in fact held a grouse against men with bigger penises. “Guys with bigger penises think they have aced their game by virtue of being bigger, which is not true. It’s more about the foreplay, afterplay and how well they understand my body,” she said.
However, not every women who was interviewed believed that the size doesn’t matter at all. Arunima R, a 26-year-old advertising executive, believes that one inch more or less than the average Indian size, believed to be around 6”, is a good size. However, anything more or less than that wouldn’t be satisfying.
On the other end of the spectrum, was a 27-year-old writer from Bangalore, Rushali P, who said, “Short ones don’t give the kind of pleasure that big ones do obviously. However, if the guy knows how to use it then it can be a joy ride. I’ve been with some men who have big penises but obviously don’t know how to use it and after a while it’s so boring!”
Women and men interviewed in metro cities of India confirmed that bigger penises do not give more pleasure, and most believe that penis size does not matter or that an average-sized penis was more than adequate. And by the way, the average length of a penis is 5.2 inches.
