What importance do women attribute to the size of the penis?
OBJECTIVE
A great deal of men consider that the size of the penis is directly proportional to its sexual power. Some men, who are worried that their penis is too small, wish to be considered for surgical lengthening or thickening procedures. The argumentation for this chiefly points in the direction of women. However, have women actually been asked about the extent to which they consider the size of the penis to be of importance from a sexual point of view? Or asked what they think about ideas surrounding the size of the penis in relation with actual sexual functioning?


METHODS
To address these questions, 375 sexually active women who had recently given birth at the University Hospital Groningen were asked a number of questions about sexual functioning and the importance they attach to the size of their partner's penis.


RESULTS
A total of 170 questionnaires were returned (response rate 45%); 20% of the women found the length of the penis important and 1% very important; 55% and 22% of the women found the length of the penis unimportant and totally unimportant, respectively. Opinions about the girth of the penis followed the same trend. Length was less important than girth: 21% and 32%, respectively. The women who found the girth of the penis important had the same opinion about the length of the penis (correlation 0.71, p=-0.001). Median division into two subgroups (girth important/unimportant; t-test) did not reveal any significant differences in relation with demographic data. Correlation analysis did not reveal any significant correlation between sexual functioning (measured with the NSF) and opinions about the girth of the penis.


CONCLUSIONS
Although clearly in the minority, a nevertheless considerable percentage of the women respondents attached substantial importance to the size of the male sexual organ.
Francken
A B
AB
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Groningen University Hospital, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands.
van de Wiel
H B M
HB
van Driel
M F
MF
Weijmar Schultz
W C M
WC
D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010413:Penis / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*