Penis Size - What is the Average?

What size is acceptable for a man's penis? What a loaded question, and one that is not particularly easy to answer. Information on the average size of a penis tends to be taken from what popular culture leads us to believe rather than what science tells us. There are scientific studies that have been performed to determine the average size of a penis, and we shall take a look at these findings first.

Here, I am going to give some figures taken from three studies of penis size. The studies were taken in laboratory conditions.

Average length of a flaccid penis - 3.4 inches (8.6cm) to 3.7 inches (9.3 cm)

Average length of erect penis - 5.1 inches (12.9cm) to 5.7 inches (14.5cm)

Average circumference of penis when erect - 3.5 inches (8.8cm) to 3.9 inches (10cm)

Ok, we now have some scientific studies to look at and I know that the measurements above are very different from the sizes that we hear about, read about and see on movies.

Why?

Well, chances are that many of the numbers that you see are taken from legitimate research sources by marketing companies. But why do they want to use inflated numbers? So that you feel bad about the size of your penis and purchase their product.

Facts on Penis Size

A flaccid penis can look large but can also stay the same size when erect.

Most men tend to see other penises when they are flaccid and this can make them assume that their penis is small when erect.

When porn movies are made the porn stars are chosen for their larger than average penis. Then add lighting, camera angle, and other techniques the penis can be made to look even larger. In fact just shaving the pubic hair can make things look larger on camera.

Problems with Research

One would think that determining the average size of a penis wouldn't be that complicated. Just go around the world taking thousands of measurements and then take an average. But there are some problems that have to be taken into consideration when trying to arrive at an accurate average size of a penis:

What is considered to be the penis size? The girth, the length or both?

If you are taking a length measurement, exactly where do you start?

Where would you measure for the circumference? The shaft, the head or the base?

Is the general population represented in the studies?

Do others take the measurements or are they self-measurements? It must be mentioned here, that self-measurements are usually larger..!

The reason that it is so difficult to answer the question, 'How large is the average penis?' is the simple fact that different studies have different answers to the above questions making it almost impossible to come up with a true average. Plus it is the view of researchers that the majority of men that are willing to participate in this type of study have larger than average penises so this sends the results awry to start with.

Source:

Penile Length in the Flaccid and Erect States - The Journal of Urology, Sept 1996