6 astonishing penis facts they didn’t teach you in biology

We bet they didn’t teach you you’re erection is 30% longer than you can see

By

School biology lessons can sometimes be a case of a teacher trying to impart the basic facts about sex to a group of giggly teenagers.

And while the trusty basics are a great place to start, there is so much more about penises and erections that we bet they didn’t teach you.

Our sexual health is something we should be all clued up about and our favourite Dr Danae Maragouthakis, from Yoxly, an Oxford-based sexual health start-up, is an Instagram doctor who knows all their is to know about our genitals.

We’ve already covered penis misconceptions, now it’s the time for the hard facts…

There are three types of erection

If you get an erection you may not think much about how you actually became aroused.

But, when your penis gets hard there are actually three different categories of erection it can fall into.

A bunch of bananas with one banana sticking up, suggestive of an erection
There are three different types of erections men can have

A subconscious erection is the first type. These hard ons usually occur when you’re dreaming – you won’t need physiological or physical stimulations.

Psychogenic erections are the result of sexual fantasies either fulfilled in reality or in porn, where your body responds to visual stimuli.

The third and final type of erection is the reflexogenic erection. This is an erection which happens because of direct physical stimulation to the penis.

You don’t need an erection to orgasm

We usually associate an orgasm with an erection but you don’t necessarily need to be hard to finish.

So if you can’t get it up, that doesn’t mean you can’t sometimes still have a satisfying end to getting it on.

Some people can experience an orgasm without being fully erect, while some men have reported being able to orgasm with just their prostate being massaged.

Penile stimulation isn’t always a necessity.

Up to half your erection is hidden

Your penis is actually a lot longer than it looks
Your penis is actually a lot longer than it looks

Men, your penis is actually a lot longer than it looks.

About 30% of the tissues that make up the male erection are internal, so you can’t see it from the outside.

This means a third or even up to a half of your hard on is hidden.

Penises have penile spines

Don’t panic, your penis doesn’t actually have spines! But, while humans don’t have penile spines, plenty of closely related animals do.

These spines are pointed, keratinised structures found in the genitalia of several animals, which may help to induce ovulation or enhance sensation during sexual activity.

Our distant relative – the chimpanzee – has penile spines, as well as cats, bats and cute fluffy koalas down under.

Myth: The penis is a muscle

Wrong.

Danae tells Metro.co.uk: ‘Some people believe that the penis is a muscle that can be exercised to increase size or improve sexual performance.

‘The penis is not a muscle. It looks like muscle because it gets hard when it fills with blood when it gets an erection but it’s actually made predominantly of spongey tissue and blood vessels.

‘When someone fractures their penis, they break the blood vessels that run in the penis and tear the soft tissue. It’s incredibly painful and really dangerous, that’s a medical emergency.

‘Seek medical attention immediately because if you compromise the blood flow to those tissues, they can die.’

Beetroot and oysters could give you better erections

Dr Danae also said that consuming foods that are high in Nitric Oxide can help blood flow, thus improving your erections.

Foods high in Nitric Oxide are dark chocolate, beets, garlic, watermelon and leafy green veggies.

You might finally have a reason to try oysters too! Foods that are high in zinc are important for good testosterone levels and sperm production.

This includes the divisive shellfish, as well as beef, chicken, nuts and beans.

As seems to be the rule of thumb for every part of your body, drinking plenty of water means you’ll be hydrated and promote healthy blood flow, which can only be good for your erections.

Beetroot and leafy greens could help give you better erections
Beetroot and leafy greens could help give you better erections

Smoking-related erectile dysfunction can be reversed

While there is a misconception that smoking can actually shrink your penis there is no scientific evidence to that point.

However, this doesn’t mean the effects of smoking on your body don’t take their toll on your sexual performance and satisfaction.

What you probably did learn in biology is that smoking constricts your blood flow, but they may not have touched upon the fact that means you won’t always get sufficient blood flow to your genitals.

Complete Article HERE!

‘Grower’ or ‘Shower’

— Scientists Define Categories for Penis Erections

Scientists say categorizing penis erection size could be helpful in certain surgeries.

By Bob Curley

  • In a new study, researchers are categorizing penises in terms of how much they grow during erections.
  • They label penises that are relatively large when flaccid as “showers” while those that are smaller at first and then grow substantially during erections as “growers.”
  • They say the classifications could be useful in some surgeries.

Size isn’t everything.

And, according to new research, when it comes to erections, where men start isn’t necessarily an indication of where they finish.

Some men are considered “showers” — having a visibly larger penis when flaccid — while others are “growers” — appearing smaller at first, but exhibiting a larger penis size when erect.

European researchers are actually defining the terms scientifically to see how many men fall into each category.

Their findings were presented at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Milan, Italy. The study hasn’t been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal.

Urologists from three hospitals in Madrid, Spain, studied 225 men, taking ultrasound scans of their flaccid and erect penises.

They concluded that men whose penis increased in size by more than 56% when erect can be considered “growers” while those whose penises increased by less than 31% should be categorized as “showers.”

However, less than half of the men studied fit either definition.

Researchers led by Dr. Manuel Alonso-Isa of University Hospital HM Puerta del Sur in Madrid found that 24% of men were “growers” while 25 percent were “showers.”

The rest fell in the middle.

“This study gives credence to the concepts of the fact that some patients will have more of enlargement of their penis than others with an erection,” said Dr. Stanton Honig, the director of male urology at Yale University in Connecticut.

”It does not comment as to whether men who have shorter penises are more likely to grow than men with longer penises, so further work is necessary here,” he told Healthline.

Why the study is important

The study had a serious purpose.

The researchers said that the findings could help physicians make surgical decisions.

“It is important to be able to predict if a patient is a grower or a shower as when we see them, they are usually in a flaccid state,” said Alonso-Isa. “If they grow a lot when they get an erection, it might mean they need a different surgical approach compared to someone who doesn’t grow much.”

Men who had longer penises when flaccid were more likely to be “showers,” the study found, while growers tended to have thinner layers of the tissue known as tunica albuginea, which surrounds the spongy erectile tissue inside the penis.

“This makes sense as the tissue is being stretched further,” said Alonso-Isa.

However, researchers were unable to establish any relationship between shower/grower tendencies and factors such as age, weight, or smoking status.

Experts said having a baseline definition of penile-growth characteristics could have medical and mental health benefits for men.

“This is a frequent area of concern for our patients and the emphasis should be on normalizing baseline and erectile length for all,” said Maarten Albersen, a urologist at the University of Leuven in Belgium.

How men may view the research

Dr. Nicole Prause, a sexual psychophysiologist whose expertise includes genital physiology, said the classifications in the study are “purely clinical judgment.”

“They are not tied to any other meaningful physiological, psychological, or relationship characteristic,” she told Healthline. “To me, the distinction appears to be just physiological: those with a shorter penis when they are flaccid are much more likely to have a larger relative increase.”

“What is interesting is that men are more likely to express dissatisfaction with their flaccid size,” she said. “This suggests that men, since they tend to be shorter when they are flaccid, are focusing on the ‘worst case’ rather than being excited to have such a large increase.”

Penis size not connected to sexual performance

From a human sexuality standpoint, the question of whether a man is a “shower” or a “grower” is largely irrelevant, Nancy Sutton Pierce, a California-based clinical sexologist, told Healthline.

That penis size is still a primary concern for men reflects “the false pretense the sexual gratification of women relies on the measurement of the penis,” said Pierce.

“If the women’s clitoris isn’t being stimulated in some way, shape, or form, she isn’t going to be having a lot of fun no matter how big or how small the penis is,” she said.

She advised men that “you are more than your penis size.”

Complete Article HERE!

Penises Have Gotten Surprisingly Longer Over the Past 29 Years, Study Finds

— The average length of an erect penis has increased 24 percent over 3 decades, from 4.8 to 6 inches, but researchers worry that negative environmental factors may be responsible.

By Don Rauf

While recent research has shown that average sperm counts and testosterone levels have been in decline for men over the past few decades, erect penile length has surprisingly been trending in the opposite direction, according to a new global study.

A team led by Michael L. Eisenberg, MD, the director of male reproductive medicine and surgery and a urology professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, analyzed penis measurements from 75 studies conducted between 1942 and 2021, which recorded this anatomical data from more than 55,000 men ages 18 to 86.

In the context of studies that have found decreasing sperm counts and testosterone levels, “We expected that we would see a similar declining trend when we looked at penile length,” says Dr. Eisenberg, who is also a specialist in male sexual function, “but we found quite the opposite.”

Researchers Looked at 20 Studies Involving 18,000 Males

The results, published February 14 in the World Journal of Men’s Health, identified an increase of 24 percent in the average erect penis length between 1992 (when the first erect lengths were recorded) and 2021. The change over those 29 years increased from an average of 4.8 inches to an average of 6 inches. The calculations were determined from 20 studies that recorded those measures in more than 18,000 males in that time period.

The pooled data also included measures for flaccid length and stretched length (a way to estimate erect penile length). All measures included were conducted by investigators and none were self-reported. The study team noted that erect length increased significantly over time in several regions of the world and across all age groups, while no trends were identified in other penile size measurements.

Eisenberg suggested that stretch lengths did not follow the same trend as erect lengths because there were differences in how measurements were taken, including how hard a clinician pulled for measuring. Techniques for measuring erect penises, however, appeared quite consistent.

Environmental Factors May Play a Role in Increasing Penis Lengths

“Our reproductive system is one of the most important pieces of human biology. If we’re seeing this fast of a change, it means that something powerful is happening to our bodies,” says Eisenberg. “We should try to confirm these findings and if confirmed, we must determine the cause of these changes.”

He suggested that a number of environmental factors may be involved, such as exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals in our surroundings (pesticides, for example). Some research has indicated that chemical exposure may be linked to boys and girls going into puberty earlier, which may affect genital development, according to Eisenberg.

He added that research has found an association between early pubertal timing and high rates of obesity and sedentary behavior, so that may be a driver behind the trend as well.

Could the Rise of the Internet Have Played a Part?

Larry Lipshultz, MD, the chief of the Scott Department of Urology’s Division of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, who was not involved in the study, found the results surprising given that most environmental and lifestyle factors seem to inhibit reproductive health.

He did propose, however, that the advent of the internet, starting in the mid-1980s, could possibly have played a role.

“You might possibly blame online porn, but that’s just a theory,” says Dr. Lipshultz. “The more someone has erections, there might be greater potential for better erections. The tissue would stretch more, hence would get longer.”

Bigger Is Not Necessarily Better

While some may view an increase in penis length as good news overall, Raevti Bole, MD, a urologist affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic who specializes in male sexual medicine and erectile dysfunction, stresses that people may put too much value on penis size.

“Overall I think the results are good in that they don’t show a deterioration [of the penis] — but at the end of the day penile length is very subjective, and I think there can be a negative to focusing on this,” says Dr. Bole, who was not one of the study researchers. “There’s a real emphasis on size in popular culture and social media, so I think it’s important for doctors to reinforce that bigger is not necessarily better. My point is size doesn’t necessarily correlate to sexual satisfaction. Patients can feel bad about penis size, and that’s a problem.”

More Research Is Needed

The next big step in terms of research for Eisenberg is to look at other patient populations (such as children and adolescents) to see if there are similar changes, because it may turn out to be an early indicator of a change in human development.

“Also, if there’s granular data on lifestyle factors or environmental exposures, we could try to understand why this may be happening,” he says.

Complete Article HERE!

How sex with a small penis can actually give you more pleasure – and how to tell your partner you have one

Only a small number of men have a micropenis, and it’s not necessarily bad news for their sex life

By Zahra Mulroy

[P]enis size is the butt of many a joke, and, wrongly, nothing will elicit a titter more than the mention of a micropenis

With 0.6 per cent of the male population affected, they remain comparatively uncommon, but the physical and psychological repercussions can be serious and the cause of much anguish.

There’s undeniably a stigma attached: “Size matters” , you’re less of a man if you have one, your partner will get no enjoyment out of sex with you – the list goes on.

But having a micropenis isn’t necessarily the dire news it’s assumed to be – at least, according to sex therapist Elizabeth McGrath .

McGrath counsels clients with micropenises, and their partners.

She helps them get the most out of their sex lives and will talk them through “clothed, non-genital touch” the Daily Dot reports.

“I really practice this work and I believe in it, primarily because sex is of our bodies,” McGrath said. “When it comes to sex and relationships, I believe there’s only so much talking can do.

“So much of what keeps people down, makes them feel awful, are these ideas about what good sex is, and it’s a box, a very, very small box,” McGrath adds.

“For somebody with a micropenis or their partner, not fitting in that box is very painful.”

So what does McGrath advise?

“There’s humping, there’s grinding, there’s rubbing the penis on the labia or on the side, and then it expands into ‘What kind of fun things can we do together?'” she explains.

“Look at it as an opportunity to find new things rather than focus on one way of doing it specifically.”

McGrath also goes on to recommend oral sex becomes the “main event” and suggests that toys be used too.

“I think any augmenting toys can be fun. But more importantly, is it comfortable and does it feel good? Are you doing it because you enjoy it or is it because you feel like it makes you more normal?”

As for breaking the ice with a new partner and being honest about having a micropenis, McGrath says a man shouldn’t stress about this, as it only reinforces the idea that it’s something to be ashamed of.

Complete Article HERE!

How to look after your penis

By Ed Noon

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The British are a nation of stoics, often too proud to admit we have a problem, and too polite to bother anyone else about it. Men are particularly bad at piping up about health issues, especially when it comes to our penises. Often, a source of embarrassment can be a simple lack of knowledge. Fortunately, the male anatomy is quite easy to understand, and learning what to say when seeing your GP can help avoid red faces. Read our guide from a working NHS doctor for how to keep your penis healthy…

Don’t use slang

The number of highly imaginative slang words that have been used to describe penises can leave patients embarrassed and doctors wondering. Keep it real and you’ll be taken seriously. Here’s a quick anatomically correct dictionary of our own for you to memorise and check off next time you’re in the mirror:

Penis and foreskin – no explanation needed.

Shaft – the main length of your penis but not including the glans (tip).

Glans/tip – the highly sensitive area at the end of the penis, usually covered by a foreskin, unless removed in an operation called a circumcision, with an opening for urine and semen to escape.

Meatus – pronounced “me-ay-tuss”, this is the medical name for that opening.

Testes – otherwise known as testicles or balls. All are acceptable.

Scrotum – this is the stretchy skin that forms a sack for your testes. A thin muscle allows the scrotum to contract, which it does so in cold conditions to maintain your sperm at a constant temperature.

Epididymis – behind and above the testes lies the area that stores the sperm made in the testes. Above the testes is a firm tube that carries your sperm from the epididymis (via the prostate which lies near your bladder, so it goes a long way) eventually out through your urethra to come out in the hole in the tip of your penis (yep, the meatus – well remembered).

Knowing just a small detail of anatomy can really take the embarrassment out of a problem when explaining things. So next time you notice that something’s not right, be confident and just tell your doctor “straight up”.

DIY penis maintenance

Many male problems don’t require the attention of a medical professional. Allow GQ to fill you in.

How to clean your penis

We often gaze in awe and talk excitedly about the nose-tingling, fungus-coated, ash-rolled, squishy goodness that is a well-stocked cheese counter. That’s not what you want people to experience when getting up close and personal with your penis. The “knob cheese” that is technically known as smegma, has a particularly vile smell and builds up when the area underneath a foreskin hasn’t been cleaned. This area should be cleaned daily (just pull back) along with the rest of your genitals, your bottom and the area in between, called the perineum. Use a mild soap as these areas can be sensitive.

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How to examine your scrotum

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men. For this reason, every week you should examine each testis (the plural is testes) in turn between your finger and thumb by rolling the skin over them. The most common symptom is a lump of any size but you should book an appointment with your GP if you have any new feelings in the scrotal area.

On a lighter note, most lumps in the scrotum aren’t cancer, and if it does turn out to be cancer, it’s one of the most treatable forms of the disease. You should get to know your balls like the back of your hand.

Maintaining an erection

Erectile dysfunction, or impotence, is unfortunately common from middle age onwards and it’s caused by a narrowing of the blood vessels that pump blood to create and maintain an erection. This narrowing may occur for a number of reasons but high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking are high on the list. Giving up smoking seems like a no-brainer, and maintaining a healthy body weight and undertaking regular exercise reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes.

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Protect your penis from STIs

STIs are invisible and often give no symptoms for many years so you won’t know if you’ve just passed one on, so you should always wear a condom. Available free at GPs and sexual health clinics, they significantly reduce the risk of the transmission of STIs but they’re nowhere near as effective if they remain unopened in your wallet. There are so many easy ways to get tested for STIs – a simple fingerpick test can detect HIV, and many GP surgeries have urine pots to test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea that you can pick up and drop off discretely without even making an appointment. No excuses.

Be careful with trimming

Many of us take pleasure in keeping neat and tidy. There are no hard and fast rules about what to do here, but a sensible one is to exercise caution. Be especially careful in the craggy terrain of your scrotum if shaving, where it can be technically more challenging to not make a tiny cut in the skin – this could potentially introduce harmful bacteria which could cause cellulitis, abscesses or worse, Fournier’s gangrene (Googling not recommended).

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Penis size really doesn’t matter to women

A 2015 survey of women presented with photographs of all types and sizes of penises published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that penis length was one of the least valued attributes. “Overall cosmetic appearance” came out on top. So no need to worry about whether your penis size is above or below average. Just keep it looking good.

Use your penis to keep it healthy

Make ejaculation part of your daily routine. Here’s why: a large Harvard study of nearly 30,000 men found the risk of prostate cancer was 33 per cent lower in men who’d ejaculated at least 21 times per month, compared to those who ejaculated only 4-7 times per month. This included ejaculations during sex, masturbation and, um, “nocturnal emissions”. Time to play catch up.

Complete Article HERE!

Much Ado About Very Little

Ya’ll are gotta get a load of this. It’s rare that one person can generate an entire column with his email exchange, but that’s what happened this month. The curious thing is that I was already preparing a column about men’s obsession with dick size when along comes this dude and practically writes the whole damn column on his own.

Check it out!

Dr. Dick,
My lover of 10 years just left me. The guy he left me for is 12 years younger. I will be forty-one in June. The primary reason that he left is because, and I quote; “you have a great body and are the most attentive lover I have ever had, but he has a ten inch dick! You cannot compete with that!” And he is right. I am only 7.5.
I have stopped going out. Every chat room online has guys that are 10 plus inches in them. So I have not been in chat rooms, gone to bars or stayed in touch with friends. The two guys I attempted to have sex with, one was a stripper who was on the cover of Inches the week after we met. The other one was an army guy that had a dick like a piece of polish sausage.
I never have been a fan of huge cocks, but now I want one. I want to be at least 9.5 inches. Can this be done through surgery? I understand that vacuum pumps do not really work.
Can you seriously offer some help or advice?
Thanks.
Without a Big One

Wow, WABO, you’ve come up with a really brilliant idea. Let’s all of us fight shallow with shallow!

p1.jpgHoney, you’re 41 and yet you apparently still have this adolescent GRASP on the whole dick size thing, huh? Too bad! I guess some folks just never grow up. And I hate to break the news to you, but all those guys on line, the ones with 10 inches…those are cyber inches, darlin. Cyber inches have no connection at all to real honest-to-goodness LIVE inches. Jeez, wake up and smell the coffee. You’re giving us homos a bad name.

Throughout history, men have obsessed about the size of their cocks. And when there’s attention of this magnitude paid to something this trivial, you can be sure there’s gonna be an entire industry poised to bilk the shit out of the willie worrisome, like you WABO. Hey, where do you suppose the term “snake oil” originated? Sheesh!

All of this unfortunate big-dick envy creates a never-ending parade of con artists tryin’ to sell a remedy, of one sort or another, to cure guys, just like you, of their “shame”. But, take it from Dr. Dick, the dick doctor; it’s all bullshit. And some of the bullshit is really scary and dangerous bullshit.

For every little peanut out there, (and if you are reporting your size accurately, you’re not little in any way shape or form) there is some kooky diet, ridiculous cream, bogus massage technique or worthless breathing exercise that is supposed to transform one’s mini-meat into the giant economy size. And let’s not forget the weights you can hang on your thang. Vacuum devices to pump up your thang. And of course the twenty-first century solution — cosmetic surgery — to put a happy face on your thang. The results are dubious if there are any results at all. And each has negative side effects, some of which are more revolting than others.

Here’s the last word on this — don’t waste your money on any of this crap. Or better yet, send me the money, and I’ll put it to good use. Here’s the very best advice I can offer a guy who is unhappy about the size of his schlong…learn to love what ya got and leave it the hell alone.

My overriding concern, WABO, is for your state of mind. I ask myself, what kind of person would chase after a faithless BF, disrupt an established value system and seriously contemplate physically altering his appearance with all the risks that that implies? I can only assume that this is just some kind of mid-life crisis that you’re experiencing and that this will pass with time. Hang in there, WABO.

Dr. Dick

Richard,
Or should I say Dr. Dick, although I am angry and hurt I am in no way experiencing a mid life crisis. In addition, if the correct way to measure the penis is from the base to tip topside…I have done so with a fabric tape measure. The tape breaks, or bends at just past 7.5. In my experience that is small.
Just curious…How big is Dr. Dick’s cock? How big are the cocks of the guys you hire for you films and productions. I bet there are none my size or smaller. I always find it interesting that guys like Ron Jeremy or the late Scott O’Hara delving out advice to men much smaller telling them to learn to love themselves. Gee that helps a lot at a bathhouse or a play party. Guys like that, like the guy my ex left me for, never have to worry about dropping there pants after a hot date with a potential boyfriend or fuck buddy and worry about being humiliated because of the size of there cock.
I guess if I were as well adjusted or as well hung it wouldn’t be a problem.
Without

Dear Without,

Here’s what I know.

WHAT IS THE AVERAGE PENIS SIZE? The average penis size when erect is only 5.7″ to 6″. Over 90% of men posses this size.r1.jpg

HOW TO MEASURE PENIS SIZE: The easiest way to measure the erect penis is to use a piece of string or similar and wrap it around the thickest part of the erect penis – this is usually very near the base of your dick, but the glans just below the head can sometimes be thicker.

Make a mark on the string where it meets the start of the string and then lay the string flat next to a ruler and measure the distance between the beginning and the end mark. This measurement is your penis circumference.

To find out your length, use a ruler (running along the top of your penis) to measure from the base of the penis, i.e. where the shaft meets the body, to the tip.

Dr. Dick

Dr. Dick,
I was able to find your profile online. You are quite obviously very well hung. Lucky for you. I have decided to talk to a surgeon in NYC that does this particular surgery. In addition, he is putting me in touch with men that he has performed this procedure on that have had success.
Since you are already hung well, I don’t expect you to understand. I imagine no one has ever left you because your dick was not BIG ENOUGH! I had hoped for some real and helpful advice. Instead I found your comments belittling.
Thank you,
Without

Dear WABO

t2.jpgDude, are you serious? You don’t know squat about me, girlfriend. And here’s a tip, the beauty part of free advice is you can either take it or leave it.

Belittling, huh? Curious choice of words in light of what we’re discussing. Take it from a professional; it is you who belittle yourself, not me. A big dick makes one a curiosity, it doesn’t make one interesting.

Have a ball with that surgeon. Maybe, if you spend a shit lot of money to get an extra inch of dick you’ll be a happier man. I doubt it, but I could be wrong.

While you’re at it, why not have the doctor put you in touch with the guys who aren’t success stories. Have you ever seen a botched dick job? Not pretty! I’d be willing to wager the cost of such an intervention that there are a lot more dissatisfied customers than satisfied ones.

The best of luck to you. Oh, and have a nice day.

Dr. Dick

Richard,
Are you a real Doctor? Would you be this insensitive if I were a paying patient? I have lost my lover to someone younger because he has a bigger cock. I have not had sex in months. The two times I tried the guys were hung huge. I don’t go out and I see no possible chance for happiness without being able to compete.
Tried three therapists…one fell asleep while I was crying. One said I was too angry for his experience, the last one was a woman. What do I do?

Here’s what you should do, WABO, drop all this pathetic self-pity routine and invest in something that will make you a more interesting person, something that does not call attention to your dick regardless of its size. Either that or you’ll find yourself even more alone and bitter than you currently are. So buck up, bubby, and pull yourself together. No more whining.

Dr. Dick