That’s where things get a little more interesting. In 2002, a group of Greek researchers measured the body compositions, including height, weight, waist/hip ratio, finger length and penis length of fifty-two men, aged nineteen to thirty-eight. They found that age and body characteristics were not associated with size of penis except for the “index finger length, which correlated significantly with the dimensions of the flaccid, maximally stretched penis.” Another study—this one with 1500 men—found that length of index finger was significantly correlated with penis dimensions.
Men with small hands have always unnerved me, and now I have a reason why. As with correlating height to penis size, we could probably use a few more studies on this subject, but there is evidence that finger length may have something to do with hormones, which have something to do with growth of a penis. Researchers have speculated that the ratio of index finger to ring finger can provide clues to how much testosterone a fetus is exposed to in the uterus. Longer index fingers may be a proxy to higher amounts of testosterone in the womb, and therefore, larger penises.
As for difference in penis size between races, there is no apparent science behind this myth. A review of the literature published in the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI) in 2006 found no differences among races, despite the popular notion that “once you go black, you never go back.”
But what’s the point of all this penis study, anyway? It’s not necessarily to debunk notions of shoe and penis size; it’s to get an accurate assessment of what’s “normal.” Many men worry about the size of their penis. According to the BJUI review, almost 12 percent of men are concerned that their penis is too small, but anxiety over a small penis is somewhat unfounded. Micropenises—meaning a flaccid penis that measures less than two inches—are uncommon; only about 0.6 percent of the male population has them. That means that out of 1,000 men, only six would have a micropenis—probably the ones driving sports cars.
Most men fall within a normal range of penis size, which, according to the Kinsey Institute, a center that studies sex, gender, and reproduction, is between five to seven inches when erect. As we’ve all seen, men have a built-in system for turning a small, flaccid penis into a larger one; it’s called an erection. And, while men stress over the length of their units, most women are actually concerned with girth. Back to the BJUI review, which found that 90 percent of women prefer a wide penis. An informal survey of my friends found that girth overwhelmingly trumped length. After all, our vaginas are only about four inches in length. We would rather feel it going in than have it, as my friend likes to say, “slamming against my uterus.”
Men, apparently, have anxiety over their penises largely due to the same reasons that women have anxiety over weight. We see pictures in magazines of skinny women that are nowhere near the norm; men see erotica/porn with men that have penises like Dirk Diggler from Boogie Nights. Dirk and his fellow porn stars are a statistical anomaly.
Though women may like to speculate on the size of things, and none of this may be based on solid research, the size of a man’s penis isn’t everything. It has nothing to do with his virility. Most women are satisfied with their partner’s penis. Although bigger sometimes feels better, there is one urban legend that all men can take to heart: it’s not the size of the ship, it’s the motion of the ocean.
