From the department of Questions It’s About Time Science Answered, Damn It, comes a long-overdue report from Observations of a Nerd. Grad student and science writer Christie Wilcox starts with a map of global differences in penis size, and ends up tackling the age old conundrum; is bigger really better? The answer, as so often in science, is an entirely unequivocal “kinda.”

The short answer is yes, but bigger isn’t always better. Think about it: at a certain point, you’d expect length would become… well, to put it bluntly, a big problem. After all, a woman’s vagina is only so deep. Studies tend to agree. Women almost unanimously report being able to feel the difference between men, but only 5% felt length correlated with pleasure (girth, on the other hand…)⁵. Furthermore, while empirical studies have found modest enhancements of length are preferred, the largest extensions were seen as less favorable³

Like any good scientist, Wilcox thoroughly breaks down the question, and meticulously footnotes the research upon which she’s basing her conclusions. She even discusses the weaknesses in the map that sparked her interest in the first place. Although if it’s even half-way accurate, it looks like the Cold War should have ended in a draw.

So it appears, for once, that science and common sense are on the same (modestly large) wavelength. Which should be of great comfort to the 90% of men who believe they’re of above-average endowment.

And lest we be accused of neglecting the anatomy of the non-penis-having half of humanity, here’s a map comparing breast size around the world.

Originally posted March 30,2011