Finding that the other penis size nodes just plain come up short on the issue of penis size, (no pun intended) I hereby present...
Everything You Wanted To Know About Penis Size But Were Afraid To Ask
Sections:
You will find this node much more compelling (or, for that matter, disconcerting) if, before reading it, you decide upon your perceived size (moderate, average, or well endowed) and subsequently measure your penis size.
The erect penis is correctly measured from the top. The ruler should be placed in the V between the pubic bone and the top of the penis.
A brief history of penis size studies
In 1942, prompted by the "clinical need" "for more thorough knowledge of normal variation in the size of male genitalia,"
William A. Schonfeld and
Gilbert W. Beebe, performed the first widely-known
penis size survey. In 54 men between the ages of 20 and 25, they measured the mean erect penis length as 5.13". This estimate appears inaccurate, given the small data set.
The classic penis size study is "Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male" due to Alfred C. Kinsey, et al (1948), which had a sample size of 3,500 subjects. In this study, each participant was given a stamped postcard against which he would hold his erect penis, mark its length, and drop the postcard in the mail. As such, the participants never even handled a ruler. In this study, Kinsey found the average erect size to be 6.2".
William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson's 1966 study was the first to address the "phallic fallacy", the mistaken belief that size increase during erection is proportional to flaccid length. In fact, they found that the variation in flaccid size is much larger than variation in erect size and small flaccid penises increase more in size that long flaccid penises. Their abnormally low average erect size estimate, 5.2", is perhaps explained by the small data set (312 participants).
In 1988, Paul L. Jamison and Paul H. Gebhard averaged the data from the Kinsey and Masters studies. They commented that "the variability in penis size will be likely to continue to intrigue ... specialists in the study of human sexuality, as well as the general public." They found the average erect size to be 6.21", with a standard deviation of .77", which is to say that 95% of men will not be more or less than 1.54" inches from the average value.
What is the average size of the erect penis?
This is
the most frequently asked penis size question.
In addition to the above results, several informal (and perhaps inaccurate or skewed) web polls quote the following results:
Description Participants Estimate URL
Dr. Nick's webpage 6500 6.3" [1]
4-penissize 6000 6.1" [2]
Durex condoms 2800 6.4" [3]
LifeStyles condoms 300 5.9" [4]
DPSS 2500 6.3" [5]
Sources:
- [1] http://www.edu.uni-klu.ac.at/~amiklaut/Penis/Penis_Poll.htm
- [2] http://www.4-penissize.com/
- [3] http://www.durex.com/scientific/sizes.html
- [4] http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WolfFiles/wolffiles155.html
- [5] http://www.sizesurvey.com/
The short answer is: Probably between 6.1" and 6.3".
Q: What do you think is the length of the average man's erect penis?
A: 5-7 inches
(from The Kinsey Institute New Report on Sex, p. 18, excerpted at "The Penis Size Bibliography": http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/resources/bib-penis.html)
In addition to average erect penis size,
The Definitive Penis Size Survey contains many unexpected results regarding penis size. Some of these are presented here, in abridged form. All the results are available at http://www.sizesurvey.com/result.html
Richard Edwards, the author of this internet study, gives the following brief autobiography on his site:
"Since March of 1995, Richard Edwards, a nerdy, pseudo-science minded Canadian, transplanted to the wildly exciting suburbs of Washington D.C., has been tirelessly attempting to dissect penis fact from phallic fallacy. Towards this end, he has created 'The Definitive Penis Size Survey' which attempts to demystify a part of the anatomy which often produces either extreme pride or provoke intense anxiety."
The Definitive Penis Size Survey's results were culled from a sample size of 3100 subjects (adult and adolescent), who submitted information over the internet.
In light of potential objections that the data may be inaccurate, Richard Edwards explains his confidence in his data accuracy:
"My results are very close to that reported by Kinsey et al and the almost symmetric distribution of erect penis lengths, leads me to suspect that any residual and unavoidable contamination has been kept to a minimum."
Average erect length given self-ranked endowment status:
Status Average erect penis length
Modest 5.6"
Average 6.4"
Endowed 7.1"
Average number of different sex partners per year given self-ranked endowment status:
(The numbers may be slightly off, as I was forced to eyeball a bar-graph)
Status Average number of sex partners/year
modest 3.6
average 3.6
endowed 7.6
Mean length by race:
Race Mean length
caucausian 6.5"
african american 6.1"
hispanic 5.9"
east asian 5.5"
Size perception:
(The numbers may be slightly off, as I was forced to eyeball a bar-graph)
moderate average well-endowed
caucausian 5% 77% 18%
african american 0% 20% 80%
hispanic 8% 65% 27%
east asian (all) 40% 45% 15%
east asian (e.) 30% 50% 20%
east asian (w.) 55% 40% 5%
It is interesting to note that among East Asians residing in the East, 31% felt that they were generally of modest size, compared to 56% of those living in the West. Also of interest is that
african american subjects felt they were generally well endowed, "an opinion which was not borne out by the results of this study".
Average erect penis length increases until the age of 16.
"The average increase in penis size was 197.9%. However, for men whose flaccid penis measured 80 mm (3.1") or less, the increase was 263.2%, compared to 165.3% for those greater than this length."
Outside of the United States and Canada, 64% were uncircumcised. This compares to 40% of Canadians and only 15% of Americans.
There is a high correlation between erect penis length and height:
Height Erect penis length
64-65" 6.1"
66-67" 6.1"
68-69" 6.2"
70-71" 6.3"
72-73" 6.6"
74-75" 6.6"
76-77" 6.8"
>=78" 7.2"
With the exception of shoe size, there exists a significant but weak correlation for each of the body parts studied:
Body Part Partial Correlation Coefficient
middle finger to palm distance 0.25
length of thumb 0.25
length of big toe 0.18
shoe size 0.08
Average pornstar penis size
Most pornstars' penises are only slightly larger than average and are definitely not in the top 5% by size.
The following excerpt from http://www.rame.net/faq/part5.html, the rec.arts.movies.erotica FAQ addresses this point in greater depth:
Hart Williams observes:
Generally, most male penii in porn run about the same general size. For years, I heard "They're ENORMOUS!," but with a few exceptions (Holmes, Jeremy, Long Dong Silver [fave of Justice Clarence Thomas], almost all are 'a little bigger than average' (whatever the hell that means -- an actress told me). On the set, they were not intimidating, else this author is the same size and missed his calling -- and he doubts it, sincerely. Tom Byron, for instance, looks enormous, but he's pretty much the same size as anyone else. But, in his early days, he was a sub-6-foot male, and skinny, and it looked HUGE (this was a question from several early female fans of the biz).
...
Most males haven't seen another man erect close up, and the picture gives you no frame of reference as to the size of the actors, height-wise or pecker-wise. Back in the movie days, a monster shot of a spurting one-eyed- wonder-worm could be ten or twenty feet high on the screen. Talk about no frame of reference....
If you're worried about comparisons, a good way to judge is to look at the guys hands when they grab their own dicks, and compare it to yours. Most guys hands are about the same size, so you could use that as a frame of reference.
Tim Evanson, my reporter on the gay scene says:
The average gay porn star's height is 5'8". Thus any penis that looks 8" on film is probably only 6.5" or 7" in real life. Famous gay porn stars with "enormous" cocks are, really, much smaller:
Name Purported Actual Size
Jeff Stryker 10" 7.5"
Ryan Idol 9" 7"
Scott O'Hara 12" 9"
Alex Carrington 10" 8"
BJ Slater 11" 9"
Kris Lord 12" 8"
Often, gay porn stars clip their pubic hair or shave it entirely, enhancing the appearance of size. Most also shave their testicles, which enhances size as well. Several use a "cock pump" to enhance vascularity and size temporarily before oral sex or anal penetration. Many stars also use cock rings of leather or steel to enhance erections and trap blood in the penis -- causing a larger look.
Also, do not compare the "realistic" dildos often marketed as "modeled from Jeff Stryker's own penis" (the most famous examples being the Jeff Stryker, Kris Lord, and Foot Long Sean Davis models) to real penis size. Firms purposefully enlarge these dildos (so says my friend, who worked as a graphic artist at one).
O: I don't want to sound flippant when I ask this...
RJ: Don't worry about it.
O: How big is your penis?
RJ: Nine and three-quarters.
O: Nine and three-quarters.
RJ: They say 10 in some press, and I say fine. I'll keep the extra quarter-inch. They used to say that John Holmes was 14. He wasn't. He was 12. Which is still pretty massive! That ain't nothing to be shy about. In fact, he used to call me "Little Dick." I'd say, well, listen to this. I'd say, "Well, John, with you it's not sex, it's a pap smear. Once you hit bottom, where the fuck are you going to go?" We used to make jokes about that, you know. He'd call me "Little Dick," I'd call him "Pap Smear."
(Source: The Onion AV Club, http://www.theonionavclub.com/avclub3700/ron_jeremy_feature.html)
<wick> Should I split my penis size writeup into several nodes?
(r) Jurph says I vote for ONE BIG PENIS NODE
This does not deserve to be my highest reputation writeup.