Does Penis Size Matter?
(From a Woman's Perspective)

Written by: Angela Watson | Updated: January 9th, 2019

A man has many things to be insecure about in his lifetime, one that stands out in a very prevalent way is his penis size.

From teasing people who drive big trucks to an outright insult, those who are less well endowed might feel attacked by societal pressures and occasionally battle anxieties as to whether or not they perform sexually in a satisfying way for their partner. For far too many men the size of their genitals has given rise to feelings of inadequacy and reduced manhood.

Having a big penis is desirable, there's no getting around this fact. They're romanticized and sought after in the minds of many men and women. But much like other physical attributes, the real tastes held by society at large are varied and their reasoning nuanced. For some it's a matter of taste or a purely mental or physical thing, but just as height is an attractive feature it isn't to say women only bother with men above six feet tall. If someone is neither particularly small or particularly large it shouldn't lead to any embarrassment.

My Opinion

Even though I've been a married woman for over 10 years now, my previous partners have been all over the ruler as far as size is concerned.

For example: There was a guy I dated back in college that was very poorly endowed, I found it manageable and had no complaints about his penis. He was great with his tongue and fingers on top of it, so I had better things to focus on anyways.

Personally, I believe fretting over the size of your family jewels is pretty much a waste of your time. You'd be better off spending that time learning how to be more comfortable in your own skin and connect with yourself on a sexual level. I can guarantee more women are dissatisfied by a unnecessarily nervous partner than one who is "too small." The reality is that lots of men with average junk are lustfully stuck in the minds of many women on a daily basis.

You have what you were born with and have to make it work, being comfortable with yourself is essential to a gainful life inside and outside the bedroom.

What's The Average Penis Size?

Everybody's experience with penises is different. If you read anecdotes from women about the preferred length and girth of their ideal male partner, a lot of talk about "average" comes up. Genetics plays a huge factor in how well-endowed a man will be, and there is variance across the globe with different groups of people having different averages. All statistics in this article will be relevant to the USA to keep things consistent.

A 2014 online study of 1,661 men in the United States found that the average erect penis length is 5.57 inches long and 4.8 inches in circumference.  The data was collected by men in an online diary style fashion and to be honest I'm not entirely sure the specifics as to what the participants were told or how they collected their information. This study is the only reputable one I could find that didn't have glaring methodological flaws or an obvious bias at play. Ideally a study comes from a range of men across the USA who all reported accurately, and while this study falls in line with most similar studies and has a (relatively) massive sample size, the results should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt as the information is self-reported. Most studies place the average US penis size as being between five to six inches consistently since about 1996, with the threshold for large being somewhere around 6.3 inches and over.

So, if you're in the five to six inch range, congratulations! You're average!

Does It Matter?

Let's dispel the myth that bigger is the only way to go. The depth of the vaginal canal in women (length from the entrance of the vagina to the end of the cervix) ranges from 3 to 7 inches long. Different factors can affect the depth of the vaginal canal in an individual woman, as arousal can elongate the vagina to accommodate a penis. Very few women have a vaginal canal over seven inches long. Men with extremely large penises simply will never be able to experience the feeling of inserting their entire penis inside a woman. Men with extremely large penises also have the downside of needing a very talented woman to be deep-throated the way it goes down in pornos.

This is to say that while large penises are romanticized mentally, the physical truths might be less than ideal. A penis that is too big is uncomfortable for the woman and some couples don't even attempt sex unless properly aroused and/or lubricated to ensure everything goes smoothly.

But does size really matter in sexual performance?

Not entirely. Girth has consistently been more prized over length by women, while men tend to focus entirely on how long their dong may be. But truly, most women are satisfied with a normal penis, with those who are adamant about having a certain size being the minority, but they do exist. Psychology Today shared an article in which a study from over 25000 women found that 84% of women  are satisfied with the size of the partner's penis.

A bigger worry to men should be their confidence in the bedroom and their desire to satisfy their partner. The penis is not the only route for pleasure and a man who can deliver exceptional oral or digital stimulation is worth ten men with massive schlongs who have no idea what they're doing. Being confident in the bedroom and not letting your anxieties about your penis size affect you will lead to increased sexual performance as being a man who is more present mentally ends up being a man who delivers a much more satisfying experience. If you are really worried about the size of your penis and your ability to please your partner, then take time to experiment during sex with what gets her off the most and apply these during future sessions. Figure out what kind of stimulation works best by trying different positions and by thrusting with different techniques.

In Conclusion

So to put it simply, size doesn't really matter, but it does a little. Most women are satisfied with the size of their partner's manhood. The weirdest anxiety for me is that some men feel their lack of natural penile gift will result in them not being able to have sex. If you really think about it, a woman is not going to be able to tell the size of your penis from looking at you, and if anything it isn't your (probably not even) small penis stopping you from getting laid, its your constant anxiety about the issue wearing you down. If you are able to charm a woman into the bedroom, it's pretty much already accepted she wants to have sex with you and whether or not she walks out of the bedroom satisfied is up to you, not the size of your penis.

So, go ahead, have some sex!

About Angela Watson

I'm a sex therapist by day and a sex blogger by night. I love to crush the taboos surrounding sex toys and help people become more sexually liberated. There's no topic too risqué for me to cover and I hope to educate and inform my readers on all things sex. All things that concern the female anatomy or require a more clinical approach than my husband Don can provide is covered by me. Have any questions? You can contact me via email.

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