Average size of a man's penis..

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Average size of a man's penis..
49
Tue, 08-10-2004 - 4:01pm
I've been with only two guys and they both are about the same size. I've seen porn and, obviously, men like that are exaggerations of what the average male should be.

So what exactly is the average size of a man's penis? Also, what can he do (i.e. positions, toys) to make it more enjoyable if, say, he is not up to par?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-02-2003
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 11:27am
Men's penises come in two sizes.

1st is the size, if you ask them.

2nd is the actual size.

As a example. for some reason they all say a big 10", ever since Aerosmith had that song, My big ten inch",,,,, but for some reason when you actaully see it ,,,,, then you really see is a 10cm.

And yes size is nice but width is far better and able to hit that G spot much better.


Guys get a hint!

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-30-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 12:19pm
Just some comments about the statistics, since people seem to bring this up everytime this topic is discussed. There is no reason to think that the penis size statistics reported from scientific studies are not accurate. Its unfortunate though, that everyone is so hung up on "average". What people really want to know is what is typical, ie the size that most men are close to. THis number is only equal to the average if the frequency distribution is symetrical. Bear with me. The frequency distribution is like a row of categories. Each sample (penis length in this case) gets put in a category, like 1-2 inches, 2-3 inches and so on. In the actual studies I'm sure they had much finer categories. Anyways, the categories that have more samples in them (higher frequency) are stacked higher. If you had a lot of measurements in many many categories and the distribution was symetrical than you have the famous bell-curve. In the case of the bell curve the average is in the centre at the peak of the curve (the mode). But in real life, the distribution (=curve) is not likely to be symetrical. It is skewed one way or the other and the average will not be the same as the mode (the most populous category). The mode is probably a better measurement of what people intuitively think of as "typical". I have never seen the penis length or girth frequency distribution but I suspect that it is not symetrical. I further suspect that there are a number of really small penises pulling the average towards the small end. That is because of various conditions and circumstances leading to small penises, for example the not uncommon condition that is actually called micro penis. Ouch. THere are a probably lot fewer conditions leading to giant penises (I don't know of any). So the actual distribution, with small sizes on the left probably has a long tail and then a rise to a peak, and a more abrupt decline into the larger categories. Like some cruel person had taken the bell curve and pushed it to the right with their finger. THus the commonly reported average will occur to the left of the peak, or mode, which is what would be more typical. So the typical penis is probably larger than the average penis (but not likely too much larger). Of course I can't put any numbers to this and I could be way off on my assumptions so someone should actually look at some original studies and see how they present the data.

As to the little poll that was refered to in an earlier post: gtb was right, it is not scientific and not to be trusted. THe only think it tells you is what those particular people that responded say that they think. Unfortunately, when you get people that voluntarily find a poll, read it, and respond to it (like all internet polls or newspaper polls) you get what is called volunteer bias. It occurs because people that find and feel the need to respond on an issue generally are not representative of what the population at large thinks. THis can have an amazingly strong effect on the conclusions. If you want to be able to infer something about a larger population you either have to a) sample the entire population, or b) take a RANDOM sample of the population. Random in the statistical sense, not in the coloquial sense or just meaning haphazard.

I hope someone reads this, lol. I won't hold my breath.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-18-2001
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 3:48pm
Here is the distribution from the Kinsey study. It actually is a pretty good bell curve. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1) The men in this study measured themselves--I believe anonymously--so there may have been a lot of fibbing going on.

2) Newer studies, where the men are measured by somebody else, have the average at 5-5 1/2 inches. It'd be interesting to see the distribution on some of those, but I've never seen them.

3) As time has gone by, a lot of things Kinsey said have appeared to be less than completely honest, so who knows how real these numbers are.

FWIW, a friend of mine who had some wild periods in her life and claims to have been with over 100 guys says average length is about 5 1/2 to 6 inches (This came up in conversation one time when I was on the phone with her while watching one of those HBO "Real Sex" specials. The show did one segment in which a dildo saleslady said that her most popular model was 5 1/2". I was like, "Hmm, you think it'd be bigger than that." My friend replied that, "No, that's about average, 5 1/2, 6.") I never asked her how big the biggest or how small the smallest she ever saw was, nor did she ever say anything about girth except some weeks after the one time we fooled around a bit, she said I was thick. If you ask her, she'll say size doesn't mean much except that really big ones hurt. However, she did have this one boyfriend who was suppossedly huge, and she wasn't the least bit shy about telling everybody.

-----------

Length: Percentage of men

3.75" 0.2%

4.00" 0.3%

4.25" 0.2%

4.50" 1.7%

4.75" 0.8%

5.00" 2.0%

5.25" 4.4%

5.50" 10.7%

5.75" 8.0%

6.00" 23.9%

6.25" 8.8%

6.50" 14.3%

6.75" 5.7%

7.00" 9.5%

7.25" 1.8%

7.50" 2.9%

7.75" 1.0%

8.00" 1.0%

8.25" 0.3%

8.50" 0.3%

8.75" 0.1%

9.00" 0.1%



Girth: Percentage of men

1.50" 0.3%

1.75" 0.4%

2.00" 0.4%

2.25" 1.2%

2.50" 0.3%

2.75" 0.3%

3.00" 0.4%

3.25" 0.4%

3.50" 0.9%

3.75" 1.1%

4.00" 6.3%

4.25" 6.3%

4.50" 17.1%

4.75" 11.7%

5.00" 24.1%

5.25" 9.9%

5.50" 11.5%

5.75" 3.0%

6.00" 3.9%

6.25" 0.5%

6.50" 0.5%

6.75" 0.1%

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 4:28pm
Here is a very interesting article on the subject, which addresses the Kinsey study and a fe wrecent ones, including one done by Lifestyle condoms which made a bigger attempt at accuracy by not having the men measure themselves.

Leticia

http://www.betterpenis.info/size.htm

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-23-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 4:30pm

<>


bounxh0a-1.gif picture by dillbyrd

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 5:41pm
I wish you luck/success in finding a guy from now on that knows better, just like many of the women who post here already have.

C h a r a c t e r


above all else


Mr. Para

 

C  H  A  R  A  C  T  E  R

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 5:53pm
>>Christy_la1 gets so much of my respect for being honest with her opinion without jamming the, "it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference to most of us." speech.<<

Muttley, this may be as simple as a clarity issue and not necessarily an honesty issue. If a penis is too big, as many women have reported so often, then my friend, RAOFL!!, they couldn't possibly say that size doesn't matter or make a whole lot of difference. LOL, right?

Size, on its own, DOES matter because almost every single woman doesn't want something too big nor too small that they can't feel it at all. When a certain or size is mentioned, such as larger than 7" for example, then it simply won't be something many of them care to have...but size OBVIOUSLY matters, no denying that. ;)

Thats the communication I got out of this anyway, does that make sense?

C h a r a c t e r


above all else


Mr. Para

 

C  H  A  R  A  C  T  E  R

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-30-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 11:52pm
Its way cool that someone actually looked that up. Shawn, you actually answered the question of the original poster too. Since someone did all that work, I figured I'd help out a little with visualization. So here is a text graph of penis size frequency distributions. Looks like my assertion of skewness was wrong for length, but it looks good for girth. If this doen't show up properly try pasting it into notepad and make sure that text wrapping is deselected under the view drop menu. Then it should look ok. Seems like 6 inches is typical, at least for this study.

Length percentage of men

3.75" 0.2% ¨€

4.00" 0.3% ¨€¨€

4.25" 0.2% ¨€

4.50" 1.7% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

4.75" 0.8% ¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.00" 2.0% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.25" 4.4% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.50" 10.7%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.75" 8.0% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

6.00" 23.9%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

6.25" 8.8% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨���¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

6.50" 14.3%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

6.75" 5.7% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

7.00" 9.5% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

7.25" 1.8% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€��€¨€¨€¨€

7.50" 2.9% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

7.75" 1.0% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

8.00" 1.0% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

8.25" 0.3% ¨€¨€

8.50" 0.3% ¨€

8.75" 0.1%

9.00" 0.1% ¨€


Girth: Percentage of men

1.50" 0.3% ¨€

1.75" 0.4% ¨€¨€

2.00" 0.4% ¨€¨€

2.25" 1.2% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

2.50" 0.3% ¨€

2.75" 0.3% ¨€

3.00" 0.4% ¨€¨€

3.25" 0.4% ¨€¨€

3.50" 0.9% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

3.75" 1.1% ¨€¨€��€¨€¨€

4.00" 6.3% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

4.25" 6.3% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

4.50" 17.1%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

4.75" 11.7%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨��¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.00" 24.1%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.25" 9.9% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.50" 11.5%¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

5.75" 3.0% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

6.00" 3.9% ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€

6.25" 0.5% ¨€¨€¨€

6.50" 0.5% ¨€¨€

6.75" 0.1% ¨€

Also, for length, notice how round numbers on the inch and half inch are reported with a higher frequency than numbers on the quarter inch? Looks like they had a pretty serious problem with measurement bias. THose doing the measureing may have been doing a lot of rounding.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-24-2003
Fri, 08-13-2004 - 10:00am
Beautiful and eloquent responses, greenteabag and Tish.

I hope I didn't ruffle up your feathers too much, I'd just much rather have a complete answer than the simple -- it doesn't matter -- route.

<>

This is what I've been trying to explain, but keep getting shot down, probably because I am a guy.

Regarding penis size surveys, I have three gripes. One and phatgenes mentioned it (see, I read it!) is volunteer bias. If I had a 4" penis do you think I'd participate in a survey where four nurses and a doctor stand around to measure me? Not a chance. Secondly, has anyone ever tried getting completely engorged with a ragin erection in front of three or four people for show? Trust me, it's really really hard. Thirdly, the measuring is done along the top. Bone pressed against the pelvic fat yields about 3/4" more than not pressing down, yet it's never mentioned.

Regarding diseases/causes for megaphalluses here's one. Some people with sickle-cell anemia get priapisms that often last for long periods of time. Gradually, because of the prolonged painfully engorged state, the penis constantly grows.

Para1995, it does make sense. It's just that the responses are almost never, "If given the same attributes between two men that were exactly alike, with one exception - his penis, I would choose the guy with the penis that fits my vagina better." It's never not mattered. The whole package -- including penis size -- matters.

This subject comes up about twice a week. If we all had this three of four sentence mantra intact copied and pasted everytime, we wouldn't be having this discussion three times a week.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-18-2001
Fri, 08-13-2004 - 1:17pm
Muttley, I'm impressed by your persistance. Other people have tried to make that same simple arguement from time to time, but gave up long before they got the point across in the face of people who'd rather insist such physical characteristics are completely irrelevant. Oddly, it's perfectly acceptable for a woman to say she prefers a tall man, a muscular man, or a man with blonde hair, but let her say she likes one with a big penis, and suddenly she's looked down upon.

One frequent statement I haven't seen you mention is my all-time favorite: "It doesn't matter; he can make up for it in other ways." That one's completely oxymoronic. If one size is just as good as any another, what is there to make up FOR?