by Jason Stotts
It’s hard to be on the internet anymore without seeing ads for “penis enhancement” or techniques for making your penis bigger. This, of course, is advertisement at its most effective: playing to insecurities about sex. From watching porn, all men know that the average penis size is 8-9″ and so when they have puny 6″ penises they feel completely inadequate and, thus, they look to make themselves bigger. But, maybe instead of operating based on information gleaned from porn, perhaps they should look to the facts of the matter.
Let’s start with how to actually measure your penis. First, you should have an erection. For length, there are many ways to measure that will yield different results. One could measure from the top, the side, or the bottom. The standard for reporting is by measuring along the top of the penis and by pushing a ruler into the pubic bone until it stops (for this reason it’s called the “bone-press” method). For measuring circumference, you take a piece of string and measure around the penis and then measure the string. In order to get an accurate circumference, this should be done three times: at the base, in the middle, and below the head. These three numbers should then be averaged together to get the actual circumference. In order to give an accurate size of the penis, both the length and girth (averaged) should be reported.
Now, let’s take a realistic look at penis size.
1. The Ansell Numbers:
Ansell, makers of LifeStyles Condoms, has conducted research into average penis size. The survey found that the average length of the erect penis is 5.877 inches (14.928cm), with the majority ranging between the small 5.5 inch penis size (14cm) and the large 6.3 inch penises (16cm). [n=300]
2. The Kinsey Institute Numbers:
- According to Gebhard and Johnson (1979), the average erect penis of males in the US is 5-7 inches and the average circumference is 4-6 inches. See Penis FAQ & Bibliography for more information.
- More recent data (not yet published) indicates an average erect penis length is between 5 to 6 inches, and average flaccid penis length ranges between 1 and 4 inches.
- A study of 300 men (unpublished) conducted by Kinsey Institute researcher Dr. Erick Janssen from 1989-1993 returned a mean penis circumference of 122 mm (approximately 4.8 inches).
Drawing upon the results of 12 relevant studies, the review, detailed in the British Journal of Urology (BJU) International, finds that the average erect penis is about 5.5 to 6.2 inches long and about 4.7 to 5.1 inches in circumference.
About 90 percent of women actually prefer a wide penis to a long one, according to two studies included in the review.
What can we learn from this? Well, if you think the average penis size is 8″-9″, you’re amazing far off the mark. The average penis size across all studies is roughly 5.75″. Think about that for a minute. No really, keep thinking about the reality of 5.75″ and your perception of what a normal penis looks like. Go get a ruler, I’ll wait.
Our idea of what a normal penis looks like has been fundamentally skewed by the only place we see erect penises: porn. Not that this is bad in itself. I don’t watch the Olympics to see regular people compete, I watch it to see the best of the best. Porn is kind of like that…for penises.
However, this should give you some idea of whether you have a “normal sized” penis. At the same time, your partner’s satisfaction with you as a lover has more to do with how you use your penis, whether you take their pleasure as important, and so many other things. If you think that penis size is the only important aspect of sex; well, you’re simply doing sex wrong.
Of course, this brings us back to penis size and enhancement. Most of what you see advertised about increasing penis length or girth is absolute bunk. If there were a surefire way to increase penis size, you’d know about it. There is, however, at least one surgical procedure that does increase penis length. This procedure involves cutting the suspensory ligament that connects the penis to the pelvic bone. This makes your penis come out slightly more from your body, but at the cost of having it point straight down even when erect. See, what makes it point up is precisely that suspensatory ligament and without it, no erections reaching for the sky. So, if having a slightly longer penis is worth it to you, there is always that.
Realistically, though, it would be much healthier to simply reconceptualize what you think about penis size and realize that sex is about so much more than simply the size of your penis.