A look between the sheets about sexual self-image
You cannot judge a man by the size of his penis. At least that’s what I keep telling them.
“Doilookfatinthisitis” is common for women, but equally terrible is men’s affliction: “Don’tyouthinkmypeniscouldbelargeritis.”
It’s inevitable that if you are sexually active with a male, you will be confronted with one of the following statements regarding his genitalia: I wish my penis were larger. I wish my penis had more girth. My balls are too small. My balls aren’t even. If we have kids, how do you feel about circumcision?
As far as balls go, here are some interesting facts from the book “Supersex” by Tracy Cox: One testicle hangs lower than the other to stop them from getting squashed as a man walks. Few are symmetrical and in 85 percent of males, it’s the left that’s lower and larger.
This brings to mind that song: “. . . hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow? . . .”
The Journal of Research in Personality studied the penises of Asian, Caucasian and black men and came up with the following results: Asian men are smallest, averaging 4-5.5 inches erect, followed by Caucasians with 6 inches and black men at 6.25-8 inches.
However, chances are he’ll continue to compare himself to some 9.5-11 inch porn star like Ron Jeremy or Chad Hunt and feel inadequate.
If you Google “penis enlargement,” you’ll get results 1-10 of 15,800,000. Is this all about the guys, or do the ladies also care about penis size?
Let’s look at the popular television drama, “Sex and the City.” Aimed at women and arguably one of the most popular television series of our time, “Sex and the City” had a lot of guest-starring penises.
The character Samantha Jones dumps one man because his penis is too small and then dumps another man because his penis is too large. Viewers see a dissatisfied Samantha asking, “Is it in yet?” or yelling, “Ouch!” during intercourse with these men.
Ladies (and gents), we might say we don’t care about penis size in our men. We might spout the familiar phrase: It’s not the size that matters but what you can do with it. But when it comes down to it, don’t we laugh and agree with Samantha when she dumps a man because sex with him and his penis just isn’t the right fit?
Going back to the familiar “Doilookfatinthisitis” and even “Doesmybuttlookbiginthisitis,” it’s become socially acceptable, normal even, for women to talk about their body-image problems, or fish for compliments with them as some might say.
I hate to admit to my own guilt in this matter, but I’ve probably spent hours in the last few years talking with my best girlfriend about how much we hate our boobs.
Women’s body-image problems aren’t limited to fat cells anymore, because men aren’t the only ones with self-consciousness about their genitalia.
It recently came to my attention that some plastic surgeons (including the ones on “Nip/Tuck”), are altering women’s genitalia through an invasive surgery to fit a social standard. Apparently there is a right and wrong way to look down under for ladies as well as gents.
This phenomenon of worrying about the sightliness of our ‘nether regions’ is completely ludicrous. Is there anything less attractive than someone saying, “Honey, do my labia look feminine enough?” Or, “Wouldn’t it be nice if my dick were an inch longer?” More importantly, what’s a partner supposed to say in response to questions like that without getting into trouble?
One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and our partners (besides multiple orgasms) is to stop being so judgmental and instead feel confident and secure about our bodies without worrying about how we compare to society’s standards of what’s hot and what’s not.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Ashleigh Oldland at ashleigh.oldland@thecampuspress.com.
