The proportion of the penis has been the subject of enormous interest and controversy for as long as anyone can remember. It was promoted as a marker of masculinity and manliness; it was even associated with sexual desire and fulfilment. The question is, however, how large do women want their penis to be? This essay attempts to explore this question with the aim of giving a deeper insight into what women would like to know about penis size.
Anatomical Perspective
However, before tackling female sex preferences, it’s vital to know the anatomy of the female genitals. The vagina is a thick, muscular organ that can take many different penises. The vagina is approximately 3-4 inches long and can reach 7 inches when you’re sexually stimulated (1). That would mean the size of the penis was not an indicator of female sexual pleasure and satisfaction.
Research Findings
Several experiments have been carried out to find out what women liked and disliked about penis size.
Study 1: Online Survey Insights
One of the first studies to come to mind is a long-term online poll that was conducted in 2015 through the site “Penile Size and the Perception of Female Appearance”. Those studies were done on more than 3,000 straight women, and the results indicate that preferences vary depending on the relational context in which penile size is assessed. Although for women the mean length and average circumference were recorded at 6.4 inches and 5.0 inches, respectively, in unplanned one-off sexual encounters, when it came to sustained relationships, the recommended sizes were somewhat smaller (6.3 inches and 4.8 inches respectively). This result would suggest that context matters a lot, and the optimal size may have to do with the type of relationship.
Study 2: Systematic Review Results
A 2014 paper titled, “What is the ideal penis size? “Synthesis review and design of nominal groups for penile size preferences” in the journal “Psychology of Men & Masculinity”, took the concept a step further, looking through the lens of past research. They systematically reviewed 16 studies to reach a consensus about what ideal women’s penis size should be. They found that the ideal sizing range was 6.3 inches long and 4.8-5.0 inches wide. Such critical appraisal places into perspective the possibility of working out such preferences systematically, in terms of the patterns that persist from study to study.
Study 3: Normalising perceptions
Another, similar study in 2013 in the “Archives of Sexual Behavior” attempted to help explain these views about normal size of the penis. In this sense, they reviewed 20 studies in developing nominal group techniques for normalising penis size perception. The net result of these studies indicated the penis to be on average 5.1 inches in length and 4.5-4.7 inches in circumference. The results here are instructive of the tension between self-reported and statistical standard deviations, the latter falling short of what is supposedly the socially desirable length, yet many men would feel unsatisfied by that fact.
Study 4: 3D Model Preferences
More in depth came to the debate in 2007 in a study published in the British Journal of Urology International, which asked 105 women to choose a suitable penis size from 33 three-dimensional representations. The average favourite length was 6.3 inches and the circumference was 4.8 inches. This was a fascinating study given the fact that the researchers at the University of California and the University of New Mexico reported identical preferences, which lends support to women’s preferences across methods.
Yet such studies were imperfect, in the sense that they only included a limited number of participants and surveyed women from specific geographic areas. Also, these analyses only measured the physical size of the penis and ignored other dimensions including sexual technique, fatigue and sexual enjoyment.
Preferences of Sexual Partners
You can also take into account what sexual partners like to see with regards to the size of the penis. Research published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine reported that women in committed relationships with men preferred a larger penis size than those not in a committed relationship (4). This implies that an interest in penis size might also have emotional and psychological influences.
Societal and Cultural Influences
Media and society have also contributed to women’s penis-sizing preferences. The media and pornography depictions of men with larger penises gave us a view that a larger penis was an aspirational, asexual prerequisite. It can lead men to desire a particular penis size, and women to demand a certain size from their sexual partners.
What size penis women like might depend on the culture in which they were raised. Some cultures may regard a bigger penis as a marker of status and authority; others may not, at least less.
The Importance of Technique
Other than size, what counts in most cases is skill, competence and shared enjoyment. A mastery of the bedroom, in foreplay, anatomy and communication, will only improve any experience big or small.
Some of them suggested that caring, skilled lovers tend to be better for us than those who are closer to the physical ideal.
Conclusion:
In short, there is no ‘correct’ answer as to what size penis a woman likes. Even if studies show that most women want a moderately large penis, other factors might contribute, including psychological and emotional connections, social pressures and cultural values. Either way, sexual satisfaction and enjoyment do not hinge merely on the size of the penis but on how the sexual encounter as a whole is constructed and the sex parties riveted together. Communicating, respecting and understanding the partners are the key to any sexual performance.
