Penis Size - Small Penis Syndrome

Other pages on penis size

What size are you?
Small penis syndrome (2)
Small penis syndrome (3)
Small penis syndrome (4)
Small penis syndrome (5)

Other pages on this site

The-penis.com - home page
Size survey - full results
Penis size erect and flaccid
The challenge of small size
One man and his small penis
What do women prefer?
Masculinity and penis size
Penis size: be a good lover
Male size and the vagina (1)
Living with a small penis
Small penis syndrome (1)
Women and the small penis


Penile size and the "small penis syndrome"

Continued from here: Penile size and the "small penis syndrome"

Ah - here's what the women were doing. About 85% of women were satisfied with their partners’ penile size, although only 55% of men were satisfied, with 45% wanting to be larger (and 0.2% to be smaller - which is a very real effect of having a large penis: many men with a big organ express a desire to be smaller, since intercourse can be difficult if not downright impossible).

While most women who reported their partners’ penis as small were not satisfied, men reporting a larger than average penis rated their appearance most favourably. However, one must always try and separate cause and effect in such surveys: the men’s positive body image might influence their estimates of penis size. It's possible to imagine how self-esteem might influence a man's view of his penile size.

It's also possible that the media might influence men, causing them to give greater emphasis to a belief that penis size is important to women, a belief that women want something different from what they really want.

Flaccid penile length is just a little less than 4 cm at birth and changes very little until puberty, when there is sudden and considerable growth. While some researchers have observed that the length of the stretched adult penis approximates the length of the erect penis, this is far from universally true, and the flaccid circumference is certainly a poor indicator of erect circumference. There is marked variation of penile size both for each man and between different men, with heat and exercise, as well as anxiety, all contributing to the variation.

Nonetheless, as you might expect for a subject of such enduring appeal, there have been several studies of penile size. The variability of the values recorded for length certainly reflects the different populations studied as well as different measurement techniques. In these studies erect length was typically 14-16 cm (5.6 inches - 6.4 inches). Average girth typically showed up as 9-10 cm for the flaccid penis and 12-13 cm (4.8 inches - 5.2 inches) for the erect penis.

Although these various studies showed a high degree of consistency around the measurement of penile length, there was one notable exception - a Korean study. There is a widespread view that Asian men have smaller penises, and this would seem to bear that assumption out. However, this propositions needs further investigation since other studies appeared to show few racial differences.

All of the studies appeared to show a consistent variation in length between the flaccid penis and the erect penis, of around 3-4 cm.

And, for those men who feel they have been shortchanged, a true micropenis is regarded as being more than 2.5 standard deviations below the average length, which equates to an erect length of less than 7 cm.

Around the issue of age, there seemed to be no evidence that penis size deceased with age: the informal observation that this is what happens may actually be due to the increase in body fat which surrounds the base of the penis in older men.

Pelvic surgery, specifically radical prostatectomy, does cause some penile shortening. This might be due to the prostatectomy, or it may be an association with the gradual onset of erectile dysfunction - a condition which tends to be caused by prostatectomy. The link would be the loss of smooth muscle within the penis or any associated fibrosis which would cause apparent penile shrinkage. So one may therefore ask if men who have severe erectile dysfunction do indeed have smaller penises than men of the same age who do not have erectile dysfunction. Unfortunately, there is little data on this issue.

What is the origin of small penis syndrome?

Small penis syndrome, also known as locker room syndrome, may be the result of childhood experiences when a boy sees his father's or brother's penis, or, more likely perhaps, might be the result of traumatic experiences during puberty when differential growth rates cause some boys to develop an "adult" penis before others do.

It's instructive to consider one study in which men visiting an andrology clinic with complaints of a small penis were asked when they thought the problem had started. (The problem presumably being their awareness of difference.)

About 63% said that their concerns started in childhood after a comparison of their penis with that of their friends, while only 37% said they thought the problem originated in their teenage years - which means that men mostly develop a sense of difference around penis size in their childhood, when in reality few boys really differ in size in the pre-pubescent years.

In many cases, the first adult penis that a boy will see is his father’s, which will both be bigger and look bigger if the man is standing above the boy, or the boy is looking down on his own penis. If his father is erect or semi-erect, then of course the size difference will be even bigger.....but one wonders if this is the real origin of small penis syndrome. That seems to me to be more likely to do with comparisons with members of the boy's peer group.

Relationships with others

It's also possible that fears about penis size can arise in adult life. One cause of this may be the breakdown of a relationship, or more specifically wounding remarks made by an ex-partner; of course it's also possible that a woman may say she cannot feel her partner's penis inside her vagina during normal sexual intercourse, especially if she is very well lubricated or very aroused. This can destroy a man's sexual self-confidence, causing him to feel inadequate in sexual situations, arousing his anxiety and perhaps inducing him to attribute his fears and doubts to the size of his penis. In such situations, his anxiety will be directed towards his erect penis, and a poor general sense of self-esteem may further erode the man's confidence.

Developmental issues

In some cases of course, there is a factual basis to the sense that a man has of being smaller or less well-developed than average. For example, some men have poorly developed or rather small testicles, so that when they wear underwear they have little upward genital bulge to show - tight jeans or swimwear therefore become something to avoid. Indeed, genital confidence can be considerably reduced if a man has small testicles and a perception (based on reality or not) that his penis is also small.

Continued here.